Raspberry Pi4 - Video Call Answering device to help non-techy-isolated people

There is a simpler way to be honest,  So with zoom there is the chromium extension that can be used with the raspberry pi.  (Just click on the apps icon in the browser hit up the store and search for the extension)   This making it fairly simple to add the feature you want directly within that.

zoom on the chromium store - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zoom/hmbjbjdpkobdjplfobhljndfdfdipjhg?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon

zoom scheduler on the store - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zoom-scheduler/kgjfgplpablkjnlkjmjdecgdpfankdle?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon

If at anytime the video (webcam) starts to lag or become unusable you can try my fix here.

Fix Raspberry Pi Webcam Freezing Lagging Jittering issue

Sign in to the Zoom web portal , [ Meeting Settings ] and then click.

Go to the Auto Answer Groups in Chat　 option on the Meetings tab and make sure the settings are enabled.

If the setting is invalid, click the status toggle to enable it. When the confirmation dialog is displayed , select [On] to confirm the change.

It is an auto attend feature.   you may have to have the initial setup done by someone else if the person is not tech smart but in the end you will get the result without having to write extra scripts along the way.

Hope this helps and good luck with your project. 

I would put something together with more detail if needed when I can get sometime to do so here.

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Thank you Wesley! Your reply has brought into lights many of the Zoom features I haven't noticed before.

However, it looks like if I use the Zoom extension of RPi in this task, the device would return to RPi's opening screen upon every reboot/restart, which then requires the usual mouse click confirmations and "join meeting" inputs.

That's why I still want to try writing some web automation scripts to solve this puzzle. The people I'm trying to help cannot handle anything more than an ON/OFF switch.

I found this video, and understand the concept of it, but don't know how or where to place the codes.

Just a thought... I have not looked to see if it will provide the functionally you are wanting.

For firefox you might want to look at greesemonkey

For chrome you might want to look at tampermonkey

Tampermonkey/Greesemonkey scripts are used to run userscripts. Userscripts are little computer programs that for example add download buttons to YouTube pages, cleanup your Facebook timeline or help playing an online game.

Thanks, Mike! But I'm not very techy by nature, and being able to set up a device through BalenaCloud is already a stretch

Into all the tools that I've taken a glimpse, the Python web automation libraries seem to be the one which, in time, I'll be capable of using.

The problem still lies in how and where I can include the lines of code in the disk image file.

And one more question:

on the project page, it says the wifi settings (SSID and password) can be changed when the device is moved to another location. But it doesn't mention how to change them. Would be grateful if someone can help!

After you power up the Raspberry Pi:

On the top of the main panel (menu, shortcuts, and clock) there is a network symbol next to the clock.  When you click on the network symbol you will see a list of available wifi access points (SSIDs), which you then click on the one you want to use and provide the necessary password.

This is different from NOOBS. Once the RPi is powered up, it automatically launches the Jitsi Meet.

The Balena Cloud setup allows me to input wifi settings from the Dashboard, then the disk image is downloaded and flashed onto an SD card. It works perfectly, but I don't know where and how to change the wifi settings if I move it to another home.

I would need to understand what is being put on the SD card that you downloaded and installed on a raspberry pi.

What is installed on the image you are downloading?

Are you using autostart to automatically run the Jitsi Meet application?

The Balena dashboard allows me to add and change the Device Service Variables through some input fields. There is also a terminal where I can have remote access to the RPi as a root user, but I have no real work experience with CLI.

If you can give me some step-by-step guidance, I should be able to follow, hopefully, ^^

I can change the LAUNCH_URL variable by typing in any web address. Since Jitsi does not require any sign-up or registration, it automatically pops up the meeting page.

You are totally right!

In jitsi, rather ambigously hiding in the setting menu, there is a box that I need to uncheck - "Enable pre-meeting screen".

Thank you Mike!