Zoom FAQ

Licensing and Sign in

Who can get a Hampshire Zoom license?

Employees needing to host Zoom sessions with more than two participants longer 40 minutes can get a Hampshire Zoom licensed account. When you sign in (see below) for the first time, your account is automatically created.

How can I sign in to my Hampshire Zoom account?

Go to zoom.hampshire.edu and click on "Sign in." When directed to a Hampshire sign in page, enter your Hampshire account information. Once you are signed in you can edit your profile, view and change settings, and schedule meetings. You can also download and sign in to the Zoom App. When signing in to the Zoom App or from zoom.us be sure to select sign in with SSO and enter "hampshire" in the company domain field.  You will then be directed to a Hampshire sign in page.

I'm an employee, and I'm not sure if I really need the fully licensed version. Should I still sign in and get a license?

We have not purchased licenses for every employees so if you don't expect to host sessions for more than 40 minutes with more than two participants, let us know you don't need the full account. We can make your account a basic level in the Hampshire system that does not take up a license. There are no restrictions or limitations when attending Zoom meetings.

Can Hampshire students use the Hampshire license?

We can have unlimited basic users (unlicensed) in our account. Students that log into the Hampshire Zoom will automatically get a basic account that does not use one of our licenses. With a basic account, the meetings you host will be limited to 40 minutes if you have more than two participants. There are no restrictions or limitations when attending Zoom meetings.

There are a few instances like TA's, student workers, or divisional projects that a student will require having a Zoom license. Please reach out to the IT Help Desk to inquire about licenses available for your circumstance.

Students using a basic Hampshire Zoom account will have their access removed upon conversion to an alumni account. Alumni can always use a free Zoom account on the non-Hampshire zoom.us site.

Can I use a departmental Hampshire account with Zoom?

If you want to use a departmental account, you can, but please limit the number of licenses your department is using by asking the Help Desk to downgrade any individual accounts to basic accounts when possible. Meetings hosted in a basic account will be limited to 40 mins if you have more than two participants, but there are no limitations on attending meetings. If you would like us to change any account to basic, please email the Help Desk.

Using the Zoom App Client

We recommend you use and update the Zoom App for the best experience. It is important to check for updates inside of the app on a regular basis, or visit the Zoom download page to always get the latest release.

Get Automatic Updates in the Zoom Client

You can turn on automatic updates right in the Zoom client. Here’s how it works: 

• In Settings, under General, select the ‘Automatically keep my Zoom up to date’ checkbox to apply automatic updates.
• You will be prompted to enter your computer account credentials to give automatic updates permission to run, but it will only be required when enabling this setting.
• Once a new version of Zoom is available and you’re not in a Zoom Meeting, you will be prompted to update. If you’re in a meeting, you will be prompted with the update immediately after it ends.
• You may also express a preference for how frequently to receive updates. The ‘Slow’ option, selected by default, provides less frequent updates and focuses on maximizing stability. The ‘Fast’ option allows you to adopt the latest features and updates as soon as they become available. When critical security updates are involved, updates will go to everyone.

For more information about automatic updates, view the Zoom Blog post Get automatic updates in the zoom client.

Features

I've seen or heard about breakout rooms, co-hosts, polling, and other advanced features, but I don't see those options in my meetings.  How can I get these features?

Many of the advanced features need to be first turned on in your settings. Go to zoom.hampshire.edu, sign in, then click on settings on the left side menu. Scroll through the settings and decide which ones you want to have on or off. If you ever want to experiment with various settings, please ask an IT support staff member to join you in some testings.

How to Add Pronouns to Your Zoom Profile

With the Pronouns feature, you can add your pronouns directly to your user profile. Note: You must update the Zoom desktop client to 5.7.0 or greater to use the Pronouns feature. When you add pronouns to your profile, they are visible to your Zoom contacts as part of your Zoom profile card in the Zoom desktop client and mobile app. You can also choose when or if your pronouns are shown during a meeting that you host or join, or webinar that you are the host or panelist for. Webinar attendees’ pronouns are never visible.

• Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
• In the navigation panel, click Profile.
• On the right side of your name, click Edit.
• In the Pronouns field, enter your pronouns.
• In the How would you like to share your pronouns? select your preference.
• Click Save

​For more help with the Pronouns feature, please visit the Adding and sharing your pronouns help article in the Zoom Help Center.

What can hosts do that a co-host cannot do?

Co-hosts do not have access to the following controls as they are only available as host controls in a meeting:

• Start closed captioning and assign someone or a third-party to provide closed captioning
• Start live streaming
• End meeting for all participants
• Make another participant a co-host
• Start waiting room (co-hosts can place participants in the waiting room or admit/remove participants from the waiting room)

Co-hosts also cannot start a meeting. If a host needs someone else to start the meeting, they can assign an alternative host in the meeting set up. This alternative host must have a Hampshire licensed Zoom account. For more information, view the Zoom help center article and video Host and Co-Host Controls in a Meeting.

Can I use Zoom with my Moodle course site?

Yes, our Zoom/Moodle integration makes it easier for you to display the meetings and recordings related to a particular course in one place that is readily available to you and your students. Any meetings you create from a Moodle course will display only in that course and not in others. Please view our Zoom/Moodle Integration page in The Moodle Guide for Faculty for steps to add a Zoom activity to your course.

Live transcription

Zoom has a variety of options for creating closed captioning which provides subtitles of the spoken in-meeting communications. In meetings, the host or another meeting attendee assigned by the host can provide manual captioning, an integrated third-party closed captioning service can provide the captioning, or Zoom’s live transcription feature can automatically provide captions. If you are unable to provide captioning manually or with a third-party service, the live transcription feature can be used, but has limitations.

Starting Closed Caption or Live Transcript in a meeting

To start Closed Caption or Live Transcript in a Zoom meeting or webinar:

1. In a Zoom meeting or webinar you are hosting, click the Closed Caption CC icon or Live Transcript CC icon if that feature is enabled. 
2. Select one of the following options:
   • Assign a participant to type: Assigns a participant to type closed captions during the meeting.
   • I will type: Opens the closed captioning window for you to manually type closed captions.
   • Copy the API token: Copy the URL you can provide to a third-party closed captioning service to integrate the service with your meeting.
   • Enable Auto-Transcription: This allows the system to start providing live transcription. Participants will be notified that this service is available. This option is only available if enabled in web settings.

For more details about these options, please visit the Enabling and managing closed captioning and live transcription page in the Zoom Help Center.

Virtual Backgrounds

The Virtual Background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom meeting. This feature works best with a physical green screen and uniform lighting to allow Zoom to detect the difference between you and your background, although a physical green screen is not required. You can upload your own images or videos as a virtual background, or use nothing and just blur the background instead.

Visit Changing your Virtual Background image in the Zoom Help Center to learn all about using virtual background images in Zoom. You can browse and download virtual backgrounds from a collection curated by Zoom here.

Security and Access Management

The sharp increase in the use of Zoom has exposed some security concerns either with Zoom's own security protocols or with bad actors infiltrating meetings to cause mischief or spread malware. Zoom has created a list of guidelines to ensure that your meeting is secure, but below are some important ones we want to call your attention to.

Waiting Room and Passcode Requirements as of September 27, 2020

Starting September 27 2020, Zoom requires that all meetings have a Passcode or a Waiting Room enabled for all paid accounts. Please visit the Zoom support page FAQ Meetings Waiting Room and Passcode Requirements, September 27, 2020, for additional details and suggestions.

Can I control who can enter my meeting?

• Enable Waiting Room: You can enable the Waiting Room feature. This security enhancement is one of the best ways to protect your Zoom sessions by giving you control over who can join your meeting and when. The virtual Waiting Room can be enabled for every meeting (in your settings) or individual meetings at the scheduling level. Watch one of Zoom's brief videos to learn how to enable Waiting Rooms and manage participants or view this Zoom help center article.
• Lock your meeting: You can also lock a session after everyone has entered so no one else can join.  Once everyone is in a session, click Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants window at the very bottom, click More ^ and select Lock Meeting.
• Remove Participants: From that Participants menu, you can mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that to kick someone out of the meeting. When you do remove someone, they can’t rejoin the meeting. But you can adjust your settings to allow removed participants to rejoin in case you boot the wrong person.

Meeting IDs

It’s best practice to generate a random meeting ID for your session, so it can’t be shared multiple times. This is the better alternative to using your Personal Meeting ID, which is not advised because it’s basically an ongoing meeting that’s always running. Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events. When you share your meeting link on social media or other public forums, that makes your event … extremely public. ANYONE with the link can join your meeting.

Use Meeting Passcode

Meetings should require passcodes for an added layer of security. Passcodes can be set at the individual meeting level or enabled at the user, group, or account level for all meetings and webinars. View the Zoom Help Center article on Meeting and Webinar Passcodes for more details and instruction.

How can I control screen sharing?

Zoom recently updated the default screen-sharing settings for education users to give instructors more control over what students see and prevent them from sharing random content. Sharing privileges are now set to “Host Only,” so teachers, by default, are the only ones who can share content in class.

However, if students need to share their work with the group, you can allow screen sharing in the host controls. Click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options. Under “Who can share?” choose “All Patricipants” and close the window. You can also change the default sharing option to All Participants in your Zoom settings at zoom.hampshire.edu.

I've heard using the Zoom app is less secure. Can I use Zoom in my web browser?

By default we have enabled the option to display "If you cannot download or run the application, start from your browser." when joining a meeting. Click on the start from your browser to join the meeting in your browser instead of the app. We suggest you use Chrome as other browsers do not let you join the computer audio. You can find instructions for uninstalling the Zoom software on a Mac here, but note that two different procedures depending on which version of the Zoom client you have. 

What are some best practices for securing my Zoom meetings?

Zoom comes pre-stocked with numerous security features designed to control online classrooms, prevent disruption, and help educators effectively teach remotely. Here are some best practices provided by Zoom for securing your virtual classroom. Check out this Zoom blog posted on April 8, 2020, to review the new enhancements for ensuring the security and privacy of your account. To update to the latest version of Zoom, visit their download page. To get more tips and tricks for securely using Zoom, check out Zoom’s YouTube page or the Zoom Blog.

Webinars

What is the difference between a meeting and a webinar?

According to the Zoom Meeting and webinar comparison help page,

The Meeting and Webinar platforms offer similar features and functionality but have some key differences.

Meetings are designed to be a collaborative event with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance. Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio and screen.

Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, Chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees. Attendees in webinars, can not rename themselves as well.

For more detailed webinar information and feature comparison, please view Zoom Meeting and webinar comparison.

Can I schedule a webinar?

We use a dedicated IT account for scheduling and managing webinars up to 500 participants. If you have an event you believe would benefit from being in the webinar format, please send an email to Rae Ann Wentworth-Cadieux with the details of your event.

Can I record my meeting?

All Zoom hosts can record locally to their computer unless this feature has been disabled by their Zoom account owner or admin. Hosts who are Licensed can also record to the Zoom cloud. In a Zoom meeting, press Record to start the recording. Learn more about local recording and cloud recording. 

Where do I find my recording?

By default, local recordings are saved to your documents folder. Cloud recordings can be found on the Recording page of your Zoom web portal. Learn more about locating your recording.

Get Help

How can I get more help?

If you have any questions or problems, please let us know at helpdesk@hampshire.edu or enter an IT Ticket (login required).  Additionally, Zoom has excellent documentation and video tutorials on their Zoom Help Center. 

Weekly live trainings

Join Zoom for a live training to learn the basics of Zoom and ask questions live.