In a time when video conference calls are becoming the way business and education are taking place, ASOR wishes to share best practices for conducting these calls. We are pleased to share some tips for Zoom, a common application for video conferencing.
Please send comments, suggestions, and other best practices to ASOR (info@asor.org). Thank you to Craig Ball who published most of these tips on his website.
- Downloading the app to your computer makes using Zoom easier and allows you to better control a meeting if you are Hosting. Consider encouraging or requiring participants to create a Zoom User Account and to log-in for each meeting.
Don’t already have an account? Just Click “Sign Up Free”
- Recording the meeting’s video or audio is an option in order replay the conversation for future use. When setting up the meeting invitation, you have the option to choose saving the recording directly to your computer or to the Cloud, which will save the recording to your Zoom account.
- If you have chosen the option of saving the recording to the Cloud, you can access the recording once it has been transcribed. On the left-hand option bar, choose “Recordings” and you can search for your meeting’s audio or video recording.
- Sharing your screen can be a useful tool when trying to demonstrate something that is available on your screen. Once the meeting has been launched, you can choose to share your screen by clicking on the green central button labeled “Share Screen”.
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- Several options will show up of the various screens you can share. Including individual pages, such as Word documents or web pages.
- A PowerPoint can be central to any presentation or lecture. You can easily share your PowerPoint by following the steps for sharing your screen. Once you have chosen the PowerPoint and share the screen, you can launch the presentation to full screen.
ZOOM SAFETY
Here a few tips to ensure Zoom safety (ASOR will update this list as we receive suggestions).
- Do not share the Zoom account password, and use strong passwords for the Zoom account.
- Require a password when attendees join a meeting. This will ensure that only those with the password can join. These passwords should be changed for each meeting.
- Ensure that screen-sharing is turned off for members joining the conference if there are a more than a few participants in a meeting. If you require screen-sharing, take steps to ensure that you have a limited number of participants, and that the meeting password is a strong one that is not reused. Screen-sharing is becoming a significant problem because individuals are high-jacking a video conference with inappropriate and offensive content.
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- To remove screen sharing, the host must start the meeting and choose the arrow next to “Share Screen”.
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- Next, select “Advanced Sharing Options” to bring you the settings for screen sharing. Choose the setting “Only Host” for screen sharing.
- Require that attendees are authenticated by downloading the Zoom app. This step will require attendees to create a free Zoom account, so distribute instructions prior to your meeting.
- Expel an attendee. During the conference call, click on a user’s name and options will appear. Choose “Remove” and the attendee will be removed from the call.
Have a suggestion or another best practice? Please share them with ASOR.
