Getting Started with Online Services & Databases

• What is Zoom
• Log In / Profile / Settings / Scheduler
• Setting up a Meeting, Webinar, Event & Session
• Joining a Meeting, Webinar
• Hosting and Host Controls
• Roles: Panelist, Participants
• Practice Sessions
• Recordings & Transcripts / Clips
• Reports
• Troubleshooting
• Resources

What is Zoom

Zoom is an online communications platform that allows staff to connect with video, audio, phone, and chat. Using Zoom requires an internet connection and a supported device. Most new users will want to start by creating an account and downloading the Zoom Client for Meetings. Others can review the variety of solutions offered by the Zoom platform and determine which one best fits their needs.

Zoom Meetings, Webinars, and Events & Sessions are all virtual meeting options that differ in their intended use, the level of interaction, and the number of participants: 

• Zoom Meetings are ideal for small to large team discussions and collaboration. Meetings are designed for more interaction between attendees and hosts, and can include breakout rooms for smaller groups. 
• Zoom Webinars are best for presenting polished content to a large audience. Webinars are designed to be more educational than interactive, with participants typically in a listen-only mode. Hosts can use Webinar Reactions to get real-time feedback from attendees. 
• Zoom Events & Sessions is a step up from Zoom Webinars and Meetings, Zoom Events are made up of multiple sessions distributed over several days. Each virtual room can have over 100 interactive video panelists. Hosts can create recurring sessions events with the same or mixed settings and information.

There is a test Zoom meeting you can join to familiarize yourself with Zoom and test your microphone, speakers, and camera before joining a live Zoom meeting. For more information about this, go to Joining a Zoom test meeting. 

Log In / Profile / Settings / Scheduler

Access the Web Portal (https://zoom.us/signin) when you need to view, change your profile and settings, gather data, reports, and recordings, or create a meeting, webinar, event or session.

Note: It is not necessary to have Zoom desktop client or Zoom mobile app to schedule/join meetings. The differences are seen in their feature-rich experiences e.g.:

• Web Portal is good for: changing meeting settings; updating your password; watching a cloud recording
• Desktop or Mobile App is good for: chatting with another Zoom user; starting or joining a meeting with a couple of clicks; making a Zoom phone call

Login

Log in to the Zoom account using your designated service area email address and password.

1. go to https://zoom.us/signin
2. enter service area email address
3. enter password
4. click  Sign In

Profile

• Set up your Profile (i.e. click Edit) which includes Name and Display Name (Service Department or Service Committee); Location; Company Name; Department; City/District; etc.

• Upload the TPL logo

Settings

• Navigate to Settings and using the chevron icons, move to each of the tab options  at the top to set your meeting/webinar/event and/or platform preferences:
  • AI Companion > should be locked and/or OFF
  • General > allows you to change preferences related to starting or joining a meeting
  • Meeting / Webinar > allows you to set advanced options for the session. When you change a setting that impacts the session experience while a session is in progress, the setting change will not take effect immediately — the session needs to be closed and reopened. When a session is running, and the host makes a change to a setting that impacts the in-session experience, they will receive a notification that alerts them that they must restart any running sessions to apply the setting to the session.
  • Recording > allows you to set recording and permissions. Check out Enabling and starting local recordings and Recording to the Cloud 
  • Mail & Calendar > should not be configured
  • Audio Conferencing > is where you can enable different audio options such as:  showing international numbers link (ON); choosing where most participants call into/from the meeting (CANADA); masking phone number in participant list (ON); and global dial-in (CANADA)
  • Zoom Apps > allows access to productivity tools before, during, or after meetings. This is restricted by the presence of the meeting host, or the user that the meeting belongs to, rather than whichever participant currently has the host role. 
  • Whiteboard, Notes, Docs > are collaboration tools that can be enabled depending on the purpose of the session
  • Clips > offer the ability to create, edit, share, and manage video recordings. Check out Zoom Clips Demo.
  • Surveys > allow the creation and management of surveys, polls, and quizzes, collecting responses through shared links or after meetings/webinars. 

Scheduler

Zoom Scheduler provides users with the ability to create timeslots of availability for attendees to then select a preferred time on both parties’ calendars. It supports connecting with Zoom Calendar, Google Calendar, or Microsoft 365 calendar. Users can schedule both one-off and recurring meetings, which can be one-on-one or one-to-many. Additionally, customizable email notifications can help remind, confirm, and follow-up with participants after the meeting. The feature leverages the Zoom platform to connect users to their calendar, where they can generate slots of scheduled availability for attendees to then select a preferred time on both parties’ calendars. 

Check out Getting Started with Zoom Scheduler.

Setting up a Meeting, Webinar, Event & Session

To  help you decide whether to set up a meeting, webinar, event & session, consider the purpose and level of interaction and the number of participants. For more information, check out:

• Meetings and Webinar Comparison 
• Meeting and Webinar Feature Comparison
• Zoom Meetings and Webinars Comparison by Platform
• Zoom Meetings vs. Zoom Webinars Feature Comparison

Note: Event & Session is not part of the subscription so the decision is either Meeting or Webinar

 For Meetings

• Scheduling and customizing a meeting with registration
  • enable registration for a meeting
  • customize registration options
  • customize registration emails
  • manage meeting registrants

 For Webinars

• Scheduling a webinar without registration

Check out:

• Viewing upcoming meetings or How to view your meetings

Joining a Meeting, Webinar

There are various ways participants can join a Zoom meeting.

• via Zoom desktop or mobile app
• via web browser
• via other methods (e.g. email or calendar invitation)

Each Zoom meeting has a unique meeting ID that will be required.

If participants are joining the meeting by telephone, they will need the teleconferencing number.

• click the Zoom link from the email or calendar invitation OR copy/paste the Zoom link to the browser
• click Open Zoom Meetings

Note: By default, Zoom meeting invitations designate which dial-in numbers are toll-free by adding “Toll Free” in paren'theses after the number. If there is no paren'thesis after the dial-in number, then it is likely a toll number. When dialing-in, the Meeting ID and Passcode are required.

Check out:

• Registering for Zoom Sessions events
• Joining Zoom Sessions events
• Joining a Zoom meeting without an account
• Ensuring accessible dial-in numbers
  • How to check what dial-in numbers are available to you as a host
  • How to determine if your dial-in number is toll-free when you are a participant
  • Find your local number at Zoom International Dial-in numbers
  • How charges are calculated if you decide to use a toll number

Hosting and Host Controls

For Meetings

• Basic in-meeting navigation
• Changing security settings in a Zoom meeting
• Host
  • Signing in and claiming host during a meeting
  • Starting or joining a meeting as the host
  • Using host and co-host controls in a meeting
  • Best practices for hosting large meetings
  • Hosting multiple meetings simultaneously
  • Enabling and adding a co-host
  • Passing host controls to leave the meeting
• Participants
  • Using waiting room
  • Restricting meeting capacity
  • Managing participants in a meeting
  • Muting/unmuting participants in a meeting
  • Spotlighting participants’ videos
  • Viewing participant attendance status in a meeting
  • Reporting inappropriate behavior in a meeting
• Understanding time limits for Zoom Meetings
• Understanding meeting participant limits
• Saving in-meeting chat

 For Webinars

• Getting started as a Zoom Sessions host
• Managing webinar attendees and panelists
• Promoting panelists or attendees
• Demoting panelists or attendees
• Muting or unmuting participants
• Allowing panelist to start their video

Roles: Panelist, Participant

• See My Video
• Hide My Video

 For Meetings

• Waiting for the host to start meeting/webinar
• Participant Controls in a Meeting
• Joining a meeting with the invite link
• Starting a meeting without the host present
• Joining a Zoom meeting anonymously
• Profile cards in Zoom Meetings and Team Chat

 For Webinars

• Sending a file in meetings and webinars
• Declining a meeting invite with a message

Check out:

• Zoom Events roles and permissions 
• Understanding Zoom Sessions roles
• Getting started as a Zoom Sessions attendee

Practice Sessions

Practice sessions are a way for the host and other panelists to rehearse a webinar or event before it goes live. When scheduling a Webinar, you can Enable Practice Session under Options. Practice sessions allow the host and panelists to:

• test settings and features
• run through the webinar without attendees
• perfect the webinar event
• transition from practice mode into live broadcast mode 

Only the host, alternative host, or panelists can join a practice session in Zoom. Others cannot be in a practice session with you unless they are the host, alternative host, or panelist. 

Attendees cannot join while the webinar is in practice mode. You must click Start webinar.

Check out: Using Webinar Practice Session

Recordings & Transcripts / Clips

There are different ways to manage and store recordings in Zoom.

For computer recordings, users can use this feature to record meeting video and audio directly to their computer. The recordings are saved in the default Zoom recording folder on the system. Computer recording is not supported on iOS, iPad, or Android devices.

For cloud recording, the video, audio, and chat text are stored in the Zoom cloud. These cloud recordings can be downloaded to a computer or streamed from a browser.

Check out:

• Providing Consent to be recorded
• Managing, Trimming, and Sharing Cloud Recordings
• Zoom Clips Demo
• Managing Computer Recordings
• Trimming Cloud Recordings
• Deleting Computer or Cloud Recordings

Reports

Various types of reports can be accessed via the Zoom web portal e.g. Usage Reports and User Activity Reports. These reports provide insights into meeting and webinar statistics, attendee lists, polling results, registration details, performance metrics, Q&A sessions, and survey responses. Different reports can be generated e.g. meeting usage reports, registration reports, poll reports, survey reports, and attendee reports. Some reports can only be generated after the meeting or webinar has ended, while polling reports can be generated during a live session.

Meeting reports (e.g. attendee lists and polling results) can be retrieved for the last 15 months, with a search range of up to one month at a time. If a meeting is not started in 30 days, expires, and is batch deleted by Zoom, the registration reports for the meeting are also deleted. When webinars are deleted, all associated reports remain.

Check out:

• Getting started with Zoom reporting
• Generating meeting reports for registration, Q&A, polling, and surveys
• Accessing the meeting attendance report
• Generating webinar reports

Troubleshooting

Common Zoom issues and fixes

• Can’t join a meeting: check your meeting ID and password; Verify your internet connection is stable; or update the Zoom app to the latest version. 
• Audio problems (no sound, echo): check your microphone settings in Zoom; ensure your microphone is selected as the correct input device; use headphones to avoid feedback loops. 
• Video issues (camera not working): check if Zoom has permission to access your camera; select the correct camera from your device settings; restart your camera. 
• Sign-in problems: double-check your login credentials; clear your browser cache and cookies; reset your Zoom password if needed.
• Poor video quality: adjust video settings in Zoom to lower resolution if necessary.; check your network bandwidth
• Meeting crashes or freezes: close unnecessary applications running in the background; restart your computer.

• Troubleshooting Zoom Meetings
• Troubleshooting sign-in issues 

Resources

• TPL
  • TPL Zoom Guidelines 
  • Online and Social Media Policy 
  • Programming Policy 

• Administration:
  • Getting started as a Zoom Sessions admin
  • Getting Started with Zooms Meetings Administration – Learn more about managing settings for your account, users, and roles. 
  • Best Practices for Admins and Users
• Meeting or Webinar/Event?
• Meetings:
  • Before the Meeting > preparing for a meeting, learning how to join and navigate a Zoom Meeting and understanding audio and video basics, and how to schedule a meeting. 
  • During the Meeting > more on in-meeting chats, reactions, screen sharing, personalizing the meeting layout, and recording meetings 
• Troubleshooting
• Zoom Blog and Release Notes (for new product and feature announcements)
• Zoom Events Hub – on-demand and upcoming content
• Zoom Glossary 
• Zoom Knowledge Base and Support (Zoom Learning Centre, Show Me Video Tutorials, Zoom Sessions Support)
• Zoom Privacy Statement
• Zoom Videos on YouTube 

Revised: January 22, 2025