My mother in law has dementia and is deaf. She can enjoy family conversations on the portal as she can lip read. BUT because of the dementia she cannot answer the Portal herself.If she saw here daughters face on screen she would just start chatting.
Come on Facebook think out side your own narrow confines and make this device truly useful. GIVE IT AN AUTO ANSWER option!! It's almost a social obligation to do so.

There is an auto answer feature on iPad FaceTime which I have been using for several years but I really want something like this on a large Tv so my mother can see the family on a large screen. It would be such an amazing product if that was available. Please work on this feature.
For those who are interested the iOS iPad FaceTime auto answer feature is available via
iPad settings, Accessibility, call audio routing, set it to automatic and slide over the button for auto answer calls and then set the number of rings before accepting.

Come on FB - let’s get this feature sorted - mines gathering dust until we get it

My 92 year old Mom has a thick southern accent and memory problems. Auto Answer equivalent to "Drop-In" on Echo Show is a must have. Unfortunately she can't see a small screen any more.

As a Cisco Telepresence support professional, and former Tandberg Canada Service and Support, and I'm a huge advocate of the Facebook Portal's. I'll have to chime-in and echo everyone's sentiments, having Auto-Answer is an essential option-feature to have with the Portal devices, for travel-pet connections, as a personal preference and use option, if not only for use with the elderly or medically challenged.

Telepresence as a whole has had this basic auto-answer function for well over two decades, and the Portal devices are not only fantastic, they really help bring the industry into the mainstream. What's stunningly ignorant, is the missing Auto-Answer?

I'll also add that for my own use, the auto-answer would really be an asset for us when traveling and keeping live-contact with our pets, there's a huge marketing opportunity right there.

However, I also have several Portals, a Plus and TV, for a major reason.
Being in the US, have a Portal Plus in my mother's house in Ottawa Canada, along with recently gifting another to my aunt in Halifax, Nova Scotia to facilitate them staying connected with each other. Both, are elderly, and my mother has Dementia, so the Portal unit is a family-essential item.
Having Auto-Answer, is the missing link here, and it's not only needed, but long-overdue.

I've been asked by colleagues about the Portal unit's, and this missing essential feature discussed.

C'mon FB Sales, Support, BU and Developer teams, please take a few minutes and engage, and listen-up and deliver on this one would you?

I figured out a workaround with Portal so I can create what is more or less an auto answer ! I installed a Ring camera near the Portal. The Ring camera has a built in speaker. I use my iPhone to call into the Ring camera and activate the microphone. Then on my iPad I call the Portal via Messanger. When I hear the Portal notification I talk into the iPhone and say “Hey Portal answer” the Portal hears the Ring camera and connects the call. It works like a charm and doesn’t rely on my mother who has dementia to answer the Portal call.

Glad I found this thread while researching the pros and cons of Portal. This feature is the *main* reason I cannot buy it. It's exactly the feature I need for my parents.

If auto answer is a security concern have auto answer disable the video and only enable audio when auto answer is enabled

The lack of this feature (auto-answer) is what will prevent me from purchasing Portal for my mother with dementia. I will purchase the Amazon Echo Show instead :(

Same issue as everyone here, having voice commands for calling does not appropriately allow elderly people of ethnic communities to use this software along with people with disabilities and memory issues. The Skype feature of auto answer is great but my grandfather can't use a laptop any more. This would be a fantastic solution and innovation for people everywhere.

Hey everyone we just figured out a work around. Create a room in portal on your loved ones device. Then invite yourself to it. When you leave the room you can drop back into it at anytime. Don’t ever close their room. Since my grandma can’t move around no one can push it to **** it off. Their screen will just say “waiting for others to join” they don’t have to push anything. Just pops up when you go back to room live.

ATTENTION FACEBOOK/PORTAL PROGRAMMING TEAM: There are more request for the "drop-in/Auto Answer" feature for the Portal than any other feature.

You have already completed features that were requested more recently and with less request than this one.

The Amazon Echo has this feature, so there is already code than can be used as a guide. And as far as privacy issues, the Echo has them and they could be used as a guide.

Why is this feature taking so long to act on?

I have been working with dementia patients for 10 years— now in a prestigious nursing care facility. When the Portal came out about half of the residents’ families bought their parents the unit, every one of them thinking it would be an upgrade over Facetime. What a mistake. FACEBOOK is missing an opportunity here to lead the way in remote communication with the elderly and instead they’re treating the Portal likes it’s a Beta tester from the 90’s. It’s a buggy, half-baked Echo wannabe that offers no meaningful innovation other than catering to FB’s proprietary Messenger. It is a step backwards from Skype and Facetime, and I regret having recommended it to any of my clients and their families. Shame on me for assuming Facebook would have programmed an auto-answer feature for trusted friends and emergencies. Absurd, inexplicable, and borderline careless.

Back to the Ipad we go.

We need to communicate with elderly relatives who are in lockdown and cannot use the controls! Facebook, we need drop in now!

Also it would be good to go straight back to TV after the call. Portal interrupts the TV but doesn’t go back after a call. At the moment I have to call my confused elderly Mum after a portal call to talk her through getting her TV back on!

hi . My dad has dementia and isn't a big star with technology. How many times I tried to explain him. I have bought him an echo 8 from amazon. with this device you can drop inn into his house and talk to him without he has to do anything. So it is a bit entering the privacy of a person without his permission, but in my case my dad loves it when I call him as a surprise and it is a great way to keep an eye on him. I have more tips for you if you need them. My mail is peterkoning7@hotmail.com. Im using a google home hub a Facebook portal and an echo show. Each one of them has their one benefits to stay in contact with your loved ones.

I specifically bought Portal for my mom who is in a memory care unit with dementia. The only way we can use it now is to ask the aide to go in and answer it for her. Auto-answer from specific family members would really be a blessing.

Please get this done.

On a side note there seems to be apps that one can install...

Do any of them have auto answer?

Portal is the perfect device for elderly, non-tech users. Auto-answer would really help families that are dealing with vision or cognitive problems. Ditto the comments on users and their families suffering from dementia.

Auto answer would be really useful, it could be restricted to specified accounts for security, it would make a huge difference to people with dementia, please help