Video conferencing through Facebook now possible, thanks to the new Messenger Rooms

When competition racks up ahead like Zoom which now becomes the go to tool for video conferencing during this pandemic, Facebook starts upgrading its own messaging platform to expand the capabilities of the app.

From the start, Facebook Messenger supports video chats for quite some time already but they were limited for two-parties and requires users to have an account on Facebook to use the feature.

Now, Facebook introduces Messenger Rooms where it cuts limitations from Messenger. With the new feature, users can host a video chat or conference from the web or through the mobile app where up to 50 participants can join in the video conference and participants need not to have a Facebook account at all.

People with no Facebook account will receive a link to the room you’ve just create and when they click on it they should be able to join in, that simple. The best part of it is that it’s unlimited.

When launching a room from the Messenger app, users can use AR effects and AI features like immersive 360 backgrounds and mood lighting effects. Users who creates the Room can choose who can see and join it or remove anyone from it. Also, when Rooms are created from a Facebook group, any member of that group can access it. It also has a lock much like an actual room where only a select of users are allowed to enter.

The new Rooms feature on Facebook Messenger will be rolled out in some countries this week and eventually becomes available globally in the coming weeks.