Zoom FAQs
General Questions about Zoom
- How do I set up a University of Richmond account?
- What’s the difference between free Zoom accounts and Zoom accounts available through UR?
- UR Zoom accounts, which can be accessed using your existing NetID and 16-character password, have permission to record meetings and hold larger and longer meetings. Free accounts are restricted to 40 min per session when three or more people have joined.
- What kind of hardware, software, or internet connection do I need to access Zoom?
- With so many institutions relying on Zoom, will they have the capacity to handle the traffic?
- We contacted Zoom with this concern. Zoom does not anticipate any downtime / impact to service.
- What is the difference between Blackboard, Panopto, and Zoom?
- Blackboard is a content management system that is automatically populated with your student roster and can be used to communicate with students, distribute course materials, collect assignment submissions, and administer tests and exams.
- Panopto can be used to record lecture and desktop capture (e.g. software demonstrations) videos. When accessing Panopto through Blackboard, these videos are automatically uploaded directly to your course for easy distribution to students. Videos recorded using other platforms (e.g. Zoom) can also be uploaded to the Panopto area of Blackboard for distribution.
- Zoom is a videoconferencing platform that can be used to hold synchronous meetings (e.g. class discussion, office hours, peer tutoring) and includes audio, video, polling, whiteboard, text chat, and screen sharing functions. Meetings can be recorded and distributed for asychronous playback.
Accessing Zoom
- How many participants can be in a live Zoom meeting?
- Is there any lag in the connection, or will I be able to see and hear my students clearly?
- Because Zoom is web-based, its performance depends on the network connection for both the host and the participant.
- Can hosts and participants located internationally access Zoom?
- Can hosts and participants who don’t have a UR account still participate and/or co-host my Zoom meeting?
- As long as the person who created and is hosting the meeting has a UR Zoom account, anyone else with or without a UR account can join the meeting and be given co-host status.
Creating & Recording Zoom Meeting
- How do I set up a meeting?
- How can I customize the URL for my meeting?
- How many co-hosts can a meeting have, and how do I give them access?
- I have set up a recurring meeting. Do I need to send separate invitation emails for each session?
- No, you do not need to send multiple invitations. The link will remain the same for each instance of the recurring meeting. You can ask participants to save the invitation email, add the Zoom meeting link as a bookmark on their computer or mobile device, or send the link as part of a calendar invitation.
- I am using Zoom in multiple courses. Do I need to set up separate meetings for each course?
- You can, but you do not have to. You can use your pre-generated Personal Meeting ID and/or link for all of your meetings; just distribute the URL and tell the appropriate groups when you will be available (and provide them with the password, if necessary). Or, if you want to place restrictions on who can access each meeting, you can create separate rooms which will each have a different link and different access passwords. Visit this Zoom support article for instructions on requiring a password to enter a Zoom meeting room.
- Can I record Zoom meetings and share them later? If so, how?
- Can I record Zoom meetings to the cloud and share them from there?
- No, cloud recording (i.e. recording directly to Zoom servers) is not available. Instead, we are recommending that hosts record Zoom meetings locally and distribute them via Panopto in Blackboard. Visit this Zoom support article for instructions on creating local recordings with Zoom, and this SpiderTechNet knowledge base article for instructions on uploading Zoom recordings to Panopto. Please do not share Zoom meetings by uploading the video files directly to Blackboard or Box. Visit this Remote Teaching @ UR article for more information.
- Can I use Zoom to record videos (demonstrations, lectures, etc) that are meant to be watched asynchronously, or can I only record synchronous sessions?
Host Tools & Controls
- How do I toggle between the various Zoom tools – screen sharing, breakout rooms, video, whiteboard, etc?
- Each host or co-host has access to a number of different tools along the bottom of the screen, and each tool works a little differently. Visit this Zoom support article for an explanation of the tools available and links to instructions for starting and stopping each tool.
- How do I switch back and forth between sharing a presentation and sharing something else on my computer (e.g. a website)?
- Make sure the new application you want to share (e.g. your web browser) is open, then select New Share and select that application as the preferred source. Visit this Zoom support article for instructions.
- Can I present from a PDF instead of a PowerPoint presentation?
- Yes. Open the PDF first, then share your screen and select the PDF as the preferred source. Visit this Zoom support article for instructions.
- How do I set up a poll?
- How do I turn on the whiteboard?
- As the host, select Share Screen and then Whiteboard. Visit this Zoom support article for further information about sharing a whiteboard.
- How do I send a file through chat?
- How do I create breakout groups?
- Can I give control to a participant or group of participants so they can give a presentation?
- As the host, expand the menu next to Share Screen, then select Advanced Sharing Options and change “Who can share?” to All Participants. Visit this Zoom support article for more information on screen sharing.
Participant Controls
- Can participants access private messaging during a Zoom meeting?
- Can participants pick their own breakout room?
- How can I assign a participant to a breakout room when the rooms have already been created?
- How do I reconvene breakout groups?
- Notify participants that the rooms will be closing using the Broadcast function, then click the Close all rooms button. Visit this Zoom support article for instructions.
