Zoom Host Guide

Technical Things to Know

Once you’re set up with a Zoom account, you can access it by signing into the WSE Zoom landing page https://wse.zoom.us/ or by using the meeting client that can also be downloaded from this page. 

Please see the Zoom Quick Start Guide for more information on signing in and customizing your Zoom account:

The Zoom desktop app icon looks like the one below. Click on it and sign in via SSO.

You will need to Sign In if you are Hosting the meeting (unless your co-instructor is hosting the meeting from their location, then you will Join a meeting with the provided Meeting ID). You need to sign-in to your account to be able to record a meeting.

Instructions for Zoom app:
Upon launching the software, the main dialog box appears as shown below (also called the “Home” screen).

If you scheduled a meeting it can be found in the scheduled events area.

You can Schedule a new meeting by clicking on Schedule.
 

Meetings

The scheduled events area displays your upcoming scheduled or recurring meetings. 
NOTE:  You will need to click on the meeting to see the Start button for your meetings.

To take action on a scheduled meeting, choose one of the following options:

• Start: Starts the pre-scheduled meeting listed in your upcoming
• Edit: Edit or update your scheduled
• Delete: Selecting delete will permanently delete your scheduled
• Copy URL: Copy the web link for the so that you can paste it into an email, Canvas Announcement, etc.

Connecting Audio

You can Join by Computer Audio using your Microphone or Join by Phone. You also have the option to Test your speaker and microphone.
 

What to Know About Audio

Feedback: 

Audio feedback sometimes occurs during large group meetings, but there are a few things you can do to prevent (or at least minimize) distracting feedback.

• Ask participants to mute their audio until ready to speak
• Mute all participants if needed

How to Mute Audio:

Your own audio is muted by clicking on the microphone in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

  
Audio is muted     Audio is not muted

As the host you can mute others.

• Mute an individual by rolling over a name in the participant list and clicking on “Mute”.
• Mute all participants at once by clicking on the “Mute All”

The Zoom Menu Bar

 The Zoom menu bar appears after you have started a meeting.

You can:

1. Mute/unmute audio
2. Stop/start video
3. View a list of participants
4. Conduct a group or private chat
5. Screen share your desktop or specific application window
6. AI Companion - start meeting summary
7. Record the meeting (Cloud or Locally to your computer)
8. Host Tools (Disable or Enable settings for participants)
9. Reaction emoji's/Raise Hand
10. Whiteboard
11. Breakout Rooms – See this guide for more information: Using Zoom Breakout Rooms
12. Polls/Quizzes
13. Third party captioning
14. Apps that are turned on and available for use (apps such as Timer)
15. More - Additional tools that can be added to the tool bar, drag and drop to the tool bar. You can also remove apps by dragging them and dropping them in the More area.
16. End meeting for all (Assign a Host if you need to leave a meeting still in progress)

Sharing Your Screen

1. Clicking on Share.
2. Click on the item you want to display. If you want to play a video make sure to check the box to Share Sound.
3. Click Share once you have made your selection.
   
   
    
4. For local videos on your computer, not from a website like YouTube, use the Advanced tab.
   
   
   
   When you are done sharing your screen:
   
   1. Click Stop share.
   2. The view immediately switches back to video.

Chat

The chat feature provides you and your participants the ability to chat during the session. You can send private chat or group chat messages.

1. Click on Chat.
2. Type a message and hit “enter” on your keyboard to send a chat to Everyone. You can also message an individual participant via private chat.
3. Click on New Chat. Search for the name of the participant you want to privately chat with.
   
   
4. The three dots in the upper right will allow you to change who Participants can chat with.
   
   

Below the text compose box, customize your message by clicking any of the following options.

• Format icon : Format the text by adding bold, italics, underline, text color, and more.
• Emoji icon : Click an emoji to add it to your message.GIF icon : Send a GIF as part of your message.
• File icon : Send files in chat, as well as send a file from a third-party file sharing service.Screenshot icon
•   Take a screenshot and send it as a message by clicking and dragging to capture a portion of the screen.

Press Enter or click the send icon to send your message.
 

How to Record a Session

To record a meeting you’ll need to either be the host or alt-host, or the host must grant permission to record.
Instructors- Before recording Zoom Meetings in your classes please see the article Zoom Recording Best Practices for Privacy.

Record the session by clicking Record.

1. You can record Locally to the computer you are using or to the Cloud. 
   We recommend recording to the Cloud.
2. Click Stop Recording to end the recording (note: this ends the recording but not the meeting).
3. After the meeting the recording will process and produce an MP4 if you recorded locally or if you recorded to the Cloud it will send you an email with a link to your recording.

AI Companion

The Zoom AI Companion is an intelligent virtual assistant integrated within the Zoom platform, designed to enhance meeting experiences. Meeting hosts can streamline their meetings by automating tasks such as note-taking and follow-up actions. Through natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, the AI Companion can transcribe discussions, summarize key points, and generate actionable insights. 

Use of the AI Companion must be manually enabled in meetings by a Host or Co-host by clicking the AI Companion button in the Zoom toolbar. 

A popup window will advise participants of the usage of the tool, prompting them to accept or leave the meeting.

Ultimately, the Zoom AI Companion empowers meeting hosts to focus on facilitating meaningful discussions while minimizing administrative responsibilities. More information can be found in JHU's post about generative AI meeting assistants.

End a Meeting

Conclude the meeting by clicking End Meeting in the bottom right-hand corner of the menu bar.

How to Get Help With Zoom

Best Practices - Do's and Don'ts

The following list of items to be aware of before, during, and while conducting a Zoom session were established to promote a stress-free and successful meeting.

Updating your Zoom Client

Be Proactive – Avoid Issues by Updating the Zoom Client When Prompted  
You might be prompted to update upon launching the Zoom Client application. Please update if you receive this message. Or you can manually check to see if there are updates.

Please Keep in Mind...

Zoom is a cloud-based service, so no internet connection = no Zoom. If you or your participant(s) are experiencing internet connection issues, Zoom will not work for you.

Further Information: The Zoom Knowledge Base

Would you like to know more about Zoom? For more information, visit their knowledge base: http://support.zoom.us/home.

Common Zoom Troubleshooting Steps for PC

The following steps should be used to help correct any technology issues while using the Zoom system

Audio Issues

Can’t hear the other participants in the meeting?

1. Make sure your computer speaker volume is turned up
2. Make sure your speakers are selected for the active output in Zoom
   1. In the Zoom meeting, click the up arrow next to Audio and select Audio Options > Test Computer Mic & Speakers
   2. Click the Test Speaker button, if you hear audio this is setup correctly. If you do not hear audio, use the drop down box and select a different output and press Test Speaker again. Repeat this step until you hear audio.

Other participants can’t hear you?

1. Make sure you have the correct internal/external microphone setup in Zoom
2. In the Zoom meeting, click the up arrow next to Audio > Audio Settings
   
3. Click the Test Microphone button; you should see green bars in the volume meter when you speak
4. If you do not see the green volume meter bars or hear the audio message you recorded, use the drop down box and select another mic and repeat the process.
   

Do the other participants hear echo when you talk?

If so, this means that you are the source of the echo. Things to check:

1. Case 1: Both the computer and telephone audio are active. You only need to use one source of audio.
2. Case 2: Computer or telephones speakers are too close to each other
3. Case 3: Multiple computers with active audio are in the same conference room. If you are in a conference room with multiple devices, disconnect computer audio from the other devices.

Do you hear echo when other participants talk?

• If so, then they are the source of the problem. There is really nothing you can do other than ask the person who is the source of the echo to try the options listed above.

Video Issues

Can’t see the other participants in the meeting?

• Their camera may be off, you can ask them to turn on their camera.

Can the other participants see you?

• Make sure your camera is turned on, plugged in and selected in Zoom.
• Make sure your camera is selected in the video section. If it is not, use the drop down to select the correct camera.