To ensure a positive and safe meeting experience, review and follow these best practices before you host your first meeting: 

  • Avoid using your Personal meeting ID for classroom teaching. Why? Anyone with your personal meeting ID can join your meeting room at any current or future scheduled meetings.
  • Zoom Security Button 

Zoom has added a great feature. The Zoom Security button consolidates several key meeting control features in one place. While you are in the Zoom app, you can find the security button at the bottom of the app.

Picture of the Zoom app while hovering over the Security button

Using the security button you can manage some of these key items:

  • Enable/disable waiting room:  This feature requires you to admit or deny entry to participants.  We recommend you enable this feature as it is a very effective way to keep unwanted visitors out of your meeting.
  • Enable/disable screen sharing:  Screen sharing is enabled for all participants by default, and any person at any time can take control of what is being showed to other participants.  Disabling “Share Screen” for participants to allow only the host to share the screen.
  • Enable/disable Chat:  Chat is enabled by default.  Disabling Chat will not clear the Chat history.
  • Lock/unlock Meeting:   Lock the meeting to deny any more participants from joining.

Here are the other key controls you should know how to operate:

  • Know how to enable/disable annotation during a meeting.  The annotation feature allows participants to draw on your screen share.  You can toggle this on or off at any time during a meeting.  Under the “More” menu, select the “Disable participants annotation”.

Picture of Zoom app with the Disable participants annotation link highlighted

  • Know how to clear the screen of drawings.  During a meeting you can clear the screen of any drawings made by using the Annotations menu and selecting one of the “Clear Drawings” options.

Picture of the Zoom app while clicking on the Clear button.

  • Know how to mute/unmute participants.  During a meeting you can mute or unmute participants at any time by selecting “Mute All”.  Note: If this menu is not visible, click “Manage Participants”.   You may want to uncheck the “Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves”.

Picture of the Zoom app while clicking on the Mute All button

 

Picture of the Zoom app with the update prompt highlighted

Last but not least… keep your Zoom client up-to-date to ensure you have the best and safest Zoom experience.

If you are prompted to update your Zoom app, apply it right away.

 

Picture of the Zoom app with the Check for Updates link highlighted

You can also pro-actively check for updates by clicking on your initials in the upper right hand corner of the Zoom app, and selecting “Check for Updates” and following the prompts.

If you have questions or issues, please contact the Help Desk. Thanks!