To: Nebraska Extension Specialists, Educators and Assistants
Nebraska Extension is pleased to provide you an annual Zoom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_Video_Communications) license to support your growing video conferencing and meeting needs. The technology provides cloud-based video communication services offering both cloud meeting and webinar software. While similar to Adobe Connect and other video conferencing platforms, we believe you will find Zoom easy to use, dependable and flexible. Also, Zoom may be installed on any computer, phone or pad.
Our licenses are being purchased through Network Nebraska, the state of Nebraska’s multipurpose telecommunications backbone that supports state government, K-12 and higher education.
Terms of the arrangement include:
● Extension professionals i.e., specialists, educators and assistants, will be issued a Pro license, which will allow an individual to host up to 50 connections per meeting with no restrictions as to the number or duration of meetings they initiate.
● In addition:
○ The organization has access to 5 large meeting rooms, which will enable up to 100 connections per meeting.
○ 1 webinar room, which will support up to 1,000 view only participants.
Installing Zoom
We will begin enabling accounts this week (June 7-10). When doing so, you will receive an email from Zoom notifying you that your account has been created or upgraded in the case you may already be using a free or paid version of Zoom. Just follow the instructions in the email to verify your email address and begin using your Zoom account.
For first time users, a link in the email will direct you to your “profile” page and prompt you to create a password. Once you’ve done so, you are ready to use Zoom from your desktop or laptop computer.
The first time you use Zoom either through your personal account to initiate a meeting or as a participant in a meeting someone else has initiated, you will be prompted to download what is referred as the “Zoom Launcher Plugin.”
Once your account has been established and the plugin installed, you will have two options for initiating a meeting: 1) you may visit http://www.zoom.us/ and login to you profile page or 2) launch the Zoom app (Zoom Launcher Plugin). Either works, but the app provides an easy and convenient way to launch and manage Zoom meetings, which you can and will likely wish to make available through your dock (Mac) or taskbar (Windows).
Support for Mobile Devices
If you wish to install Zoom on your mobile phone or pad you may do so by 1) accessing the App Store on your device or 2) visiting the Zoom Download Center (https://www.zoom.us/download) located at the bottom of your profile page. Zoom like many commercial providers, maintains and supports a diverse number apps to support various functions and services.
Learning Center
Zoom provides users multiple learning opportunities that are accessible from your profile page. These include:
● Attend Live Training - https://www.zoom.us/livetraining
● Video Tutorials - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKpRxBfeD1kEM_I1lId3N_Xl77fKDzSXe
● Knowledge Base (and Support) - https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
● Zoom FAQs - https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/sections/200277708-Frequently-Asked-Questions
We HIGHLY encourage you to access these and/or other resources you may locate through a Google and/or YouTube search to learn how to use and take advantage of what Zoom has to offer. For instance, here is a tutorial describing Zoom meeting basics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgkDOUIktr8) through use of the Zoom app.
Recordings
When you wish to record a meeting as a host simply select the Record option. Zoom will record the meeting in three formats, an audio and two video files (MP3 and MP4). With regard to storing and managing recordings the way in which they are stored varies:
● Desktop/Laptop Computers: Recordings will be stored on your local computer and when the meeting is ending you will be prompted about the recording. When you wish to provide others access to recordings you may locate them on Box or perhaps another Cloud service, i.e., YouTube, etc.
● Phone/Pad: Recordings will be stored in the Zoom Cloud (https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203741855-Cloud-Recording). Your Pro account enables up to 1GB of Cloud storage. Recorded meetings may be managed or shared online by logging in to your account and visiting the My Recordings page. Local recordings cannot be made using a mobile device.
Reserving a Large Meeting or Webinar Room
As previously mentioned, the organization has access to 5 large meeting rooms that will support up to 100 connections per meeting and a webinar room supporting up to 1,000 view only participants. To reserve these services, please use the Schedule a Zoom Meeting form (https://ssp.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8eVcJVBYf1BgV8N).
Other notes...
● Zoom optimizes bandwidth (https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-Requirements-for-PC-and-Mac) to provide the best experience possible based on the participant’s network. With many offices taking steps to upgrade their Internet service, we anticipate Zoom will operate quite well. However, should you experience difficulties in effectively connecting and participating in a video conference, you may need to consider upgrading the quality/data speed of your Internet connection.
● While we anticipate Zoom will become a de facto tool we use to conduct video conferences, Adobe Connect supported by UNL will continue to be an option.
In summary, we believe Zoom will provide you with a new and powerful collaboration tool. We encourage you to begin using it and learning about it by accessing the many Zoom tutorials, FAQs and other resources you have at your disposal. If after reviewing such resources you have questions, please feel free to contact Dan Cotton, dcotton1@unl.edu; Jillian Hoistad, jhoistad2@unl.edu; Michael Riese, riese@unl.edu; or your district technology support person.
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Dan C. Cotton
Director, Integrated Technologies, Nebraska Extension
Coordinator, Extended Education, College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
211 Agricultural Hall
P. O. Box 830703
Lincoln, NE 68583-0703
402.472.8841 (office) | 402.617.9969 (cell)
Email: dcotton1@unl.edu
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcotton1
Twitter: @dcotton | web: extension.unl.edu