Information on zoom app.What is Zoom and how does it work? Plus tips and tricks
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- Information on zoom appYuan's competitor, Zoom, evolved quickly; the service launched in and had a million users by the end of the year. By , the company had a billion-dollar valuation. It became a publicly-traded company in and has grown into one of the biggest video conferencing solutions in use today.
Currently, research shows that Zoom is the most commonly used conferencing tool ahead of similar solutions like Skype and Google Hangouts. Though Zoom offers a lot of products and services to enterprise organizations, including Zoom Rooms which are conference rooms running dedicated software to make conferencing easier , video webinars , and even phone systems, Zoom's core product and the way most people know the service is Zoom Meetings.
Zoom Meetings are the audio and video conferences that allow two or more people to communicate online. Zoom Meetings happen in the Zoom app, and can be started and shared by anyone; these meetings can even be started for free via the app, if you have it installed, or via the Zoom web site.
You can also use Zoom on your phone or cast it to your television. You don't need a paid subscription to start using Zoom. In fact, if someone else sets up the Zoom Meeting and invites you, all you need to do is follow the instructions in the email invitation to start using Zoom. You'll need to click a link to install the Zoom app, and then enter the conference code to sign into the meeting to which you've been invited.
To start your own Zoom Meeting , you'll need a Zoom account, which you can create for free. Go to the Zoom web site and click Sign Up, It's Free at the top of the page and follow the instructions. Once completed, you'll be able to start your own meetings. Zoom offers several Zoom Meeting plans.
Here's a quick guide to help you upgrade or downgrade your Zoom account at any time. In addition to these pricing tiers, the video-call platform also offers plans built for educators , telehealth firms , and web developers.
Each comes with its own features and customer-support systems. Once you've decided on a plan, it's simple to download it whether on your computer or your mobile device. If you plan on using your computer, you'll want to head over to Zoom's official website and download it. Depending on the type of computer you're using, the process will be slightly different:. You don't need an account to join Zoom meetings , but you must sign up for an account if you plan on hosting, scheduling, and managing your own calls.
If you plan to use the platform often, whether for business or pleasure, we recommend downloading the app first, and then signing up for a Zoom account. If you don't have an account and just want to join a Zoom meeting, you can do this a few different ways. If you do have an account and want to schedule your first Zoom meeting , all you need to do is head to either the app, or your account page on the website, where you can click the "Schedule" option.
From there, follow the prompts. When this is set, you'll be able to invite meeting participants to join your conference call, which you can send via email, contact, or phone number. We've outlined a few different ways to send a Zoom invite , but the easiest way is to share the meeting join link, which you'll receive when you schedule or start a meeting.
Once you're up and running and depending on your plan, Zoom offers varying levels of tools to enhance your video call. Take note of these core features. If you're looking to get more out of Zoom, you may be interested in a few more settings and features.
Beyond simple tricks like knowing how to mute yourself and others on the call , you should familiarize yourself with the platforms advanced settings:.
In addition to these additional features, the platform offers a host of add-ons and integrations aimed at professionals, from adding Zoom to your Google Calendar or Outlook account. If you're subscribed to the Pro pricing plan or higher, you gain access to Zoom Rooms , the company's conference room software and hardware that can turn any room into an official conference room. This software connects a television or monitor with your computer, an external camera, and a microphone.
Put together, you can turn nearly any room into a professional-grade conference room. You'll then have clear audio. We've written a detailed guide on how to use Krisp right here. If you want to jazz things up a bit or don't want other people on the Zoom call seeing the awful mess of your home then there's good news as Zoom offers virtual backgrounds.
These are backdrops for your calls that include things like space, cityscapes and ocean-side views too. With Zoom virtual backgrounds, you can also upload an image of anything you want to customise your background. It's available for both iPhone and desktops.
It's fairly easy to get started with Zoom virtual backgrounds. On a Mac or PC, for instance, just open up your Zoom client, click on the "Setup" icon on the corner, and select "Virtual Background" in the side menu. Zoom provides a few virtual backgrounds. Click on the one you'd like to use. If you would like your own background, click on the plus sign above and to the left of the sample backgrounds, choose an image from your computer, and add it.
You can also add a virtual background during a meeting. In your Zoom client, click on the arrow next to the video symbol on the left, select "Choose a virtual background The company recommends using a green screen and a good webcam to get the best results, but it is possible to use a virtual background without a green screen too.
Login to your account and joining a meeting via your phone. Then click the three dots at the bottom of the screen and click the "more" menu. Then click "virtual background" and choose the background you want to use. As well as virtual backgrounds, it's possible to jazz up your Zoom calls by using filters.
These come in two forms and can be found in the same background settings as virtual backgrounds. You can choose either add simple colour shades to your camera sepia, black and white and such or select from several Snapchat-eque filters to add cartoon stylings to your camera. These might not be ideal for business calls, but should make things more entertaining with friends and family.
As well as virtual backgrounds, Zoom offers the ability to improve your looks when you're on a call. There's a feature called "Touch Up My Appearance" which is useful if you've not had your daily caffeine fix or are struggling with life in the home office. Touch Up My Appearance uses a filter to subtly smooth fine lines and it's meant to look very natural.
As well as recording Zoom meetings, you can also automatically transcribe the audio of a meeting that you record to the cloud. And, as the meeting host, you can edit your transcript, scan the transcript text for keywords to access the video at that moment, and share the recording.
To enable the Audio Transcript feature for your own use, sign into the Zoom web portal and navigate to My Meeting Settings, then go to the Cloud recording option on the Recording tab, and verify that the setting is enabled.
Choose Turn On, if need be. If the option is greyed out, it has been locked at either the Group or Account level, and you will need to contact your Zoom admin. With gallery view, you see up to 49 meeting participants at once , rather than the default 25, depending on your device. With the Zoom mobile app on Android and iOS, you can start or join a meeting.
By default, the Zoom mobile app displays the active speaker view. If one or more participants join the meeting, you will see a video thumbnail in the bottom-right corner. You can view up to four participants' video at the same time. If you want to view 49 people, you will need the Zoom desktop client for macOS or Windows. Once you have the desktop app installed on your computer, you must go to Settings and click Video to display the video settings page.
Then, enable the option "Display up to 49 participants per screen in Gallery View". Did you know that you can not only share your screen smartphone and desktop but also pause your screen sharing? Learn more here. You can share files directly from your phone while in the meeting and use the whiteboarding feature on your phone by writing comments with your finger. To annotate while viewing someone else's shared screen , select View Options from the top of the Zoom window, and then choose Annotate.
A toolbar will appear with all your options for annotating - such as text, draw, arrow, and so on. If you're in Gallery view you can see all the participants on the call at the same time. You also have the option to rearrange these, so if there are key people you always want to be looking at, you can just drag and drop to rearrange the order they are shown.
It's possible to use various shortcut keys during Zoom meetings to access features or change settings easily. These include a multitude of things but our favourites are:. That's right, Zoom will let you share a wide range of content on your presentation, including YouTube videos.
This is a bit of a sneaky option, because all you have to do is have the video that you want to share open in your browser. Then, when you want to share that, you just use the share screen option and pick the browser from the options. Note: you'll also need to tick the "share computer sound" option in that box to ensure that everyone on the call can hear the YouTube video as well as see it. You can find a more detailed guide right here.
Learn more Home Apps App news. Why you can trust Pocket-lint. Writing by Maggie Tillman.
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