Amazon Chime, a new video conferencing service, has been announced by Amazon.
In what marks yet another new service from Amazon rivaling big players like Microsoft, the new cloud based service will allow businesses to make voice/video calls either in groups or one-on-one from desktops and mobile devices.
Amazon Chime also offers the ability to call pre-approved members all at once rather than rely on passcodes to join, and a visual component that allows members to see who has joined the call to avoid the usual cries of “who just joined?”
Jeff Barr, Chief Evangelist, AWS, said in a blog post: “This is a new unified communication service that is designed to make meetings easier and more efficient than ever before. Amazon Chime lets you start high-quality audio and video meetings with a click. Once you are in the meeting you can chat, share content, and share screens in a smooth experience that spans PC and Mac desktops, iOS devices, and Android devices.
“Because Amazon Chime is a fully managed service, there’s no upfront investment, software deployment, or ongoing maintenance. Users simply download the Amazon Chime app and start using it within minutes.”
The service is a move by the company into yet another market and puts it in direct competition with the likes of Microsoft Teams, Cisco Spark, and Skype which is also owned by Microsoft. Just last month Slack introduced it’s Enterprise Grid in its effort to eliminate emails at work.
The market for conference calls is well and truly tapped, but it remains a poorly optimised service almost entirely across the board. If Amazon Chime is as simple to use as the company says then it could have a significant edge over the rest of the competition.
Amazon Chime is now available for download, with a free basic edition that includes just the calls and messages. The Pro version can cost up to $15 per user and comes with a 30 day free trial.
