TOKYO -- A dedicated Zoom video-conferencing device will debut in Japan this October that the company says will improve the comfort and efficiency of video calls for remote workers.
The display is a 27-inch touch panel with a built-in eight-microphone array and three webcams with a whiteboard capability. The product eliminates the need to set up a webcam or connect earphones to computers for Zoom calls, said ZVC Japan, the Japanese arm of California-based Zoom Video Communications.
The hardware, developed with conferencing-appliance manufacturer DTEN, is dubbed Zoom for Home - DTEN ME in the U.S. market and will come with a price tag of 90,000 yen ($845) here. Global sales are targeted at about 1 million units a year.
ZVC Japan has recently opened a second Japanese data center in Osaka. Business account holders with at least 10 employee users have surged to around 15,000 from 2,500 in just one year, the company said.
As the economy continues to reopen in Japan, people are starting to go back to the office. But "remote work enhances work efficiency, so businesses must incorporate telework into part of the new normal," rather than tapping it just in emergency situations, said Fuminori Saga, Zoom's country general manager in Japan.
