Issues with Taking a HomePod to the work office?

Hardware
1

I’m considering taking one of my HomePods to the office. I have my own office, but the HomePod would use a WiFi network shared with coworkers.

Aside from possibly locking down personal requests, are there any other issues I should be aware of? For example, do I need to reset the HomePod before I take it out of my house, or will it work seamlessly once I plug it in at the new location?

2

I‘d set restrictions on who can airplay to your homepod. This prevents other people from randomly playing music in your office when you’re not expecting it.

Here‘s a handy tutorial: https://www.imore.com/how-secure-airplay-homepod

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3

It only needs WiFi access to the Internet, so I would expect it to work as soon as you log it in to the new network.

Have you considered the ramifications, real or imagined, of having an open microphone in your office? That is what your co-workers, customers, etc. might think about it?

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4

I have two paired HomePods at home but I don’t want to take them to the office.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0cPrxkoeBldSav1KqRrivgrqw#Town_and_Country,_MO

I’m thinking of putting an Echo Plus and smart plugs in the office with my voice profile set. That way I can have music, set early morning office routines, lighting, etc. I’m at the office at around 6am so this would be a nice touch and the voice profile keeps anyone from activating the Echo. Although not nearly as good as the HomePod, It has decent speakers, good enough for a work environment. Also, there is a lot of misinformation about what the devices record. And, before a meeting I would turn the mic off.

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5

Thanks for the information on what is needed. Regarding the microphone, my understanding is that all voice traffic is anonymized and encrypted, so, unlike the Echo, Apple couldn’t access it even if they wanted to:

6

What kind of WiFi network does your workplace use (how is it secured?) HomePod doesn’t support networks that have either a captive portal (not very likel for a workplace) or enterprise-class authentication (802.1x based, sometimes called WPA Enterprise).

Depending on the workplace, if you have and IT support group, and especially if you have an IT security team, I’d check with them about whether this would be permitted.

7

We have a Ubiquiti Unifi, system, using regular WPA personal, so I should be good. I’m also fortunate in that I our IT guy is willing to work with us on issues.

8

I’m in week two of using a couple Echo Dot devices around my home, naturally the idea of bringing one to the office has floated up for me as well.

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