Zoom
Where Do I Start? | Meetings and Webinars | Participant Engagement | Audio & Video | Screen Sharing | Recordings | Best Practices | Need Help?
Zoom is available at no cost to all UND faculty, staff, and students for academic use.
Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing and collaboration platform that supports virtual learning and communication. With Zoom, faculty can create interactive online classrooms where students can join from any device—desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Students can share content such as PowerPoint presentations, documents, and videos directly from their devices, making Zoom an ideal tool for academic engagement.
Where Do I Start?
To get started with Zoom, you will need to do the following:
- Sign in to your UND Zoom pro account using the SSO option to install and access Zoom.
- Request Access for Cloud Storage for your recordings.
- Check system requirements, and test your meeting.
Zoom Sessions in Blackboard
You can streamline student access by adding a Zoom meeting link directly to your Blackboard course. This allows students to join class sessions with a single click—no searching through emails required.
There are two setup options:
- Create a new Zoom meeting and link it directly to your Blackboard course.
- Link an existing Zoom meeting that you've already scheduled.
For more information, see the Set up a Zoom Session in Blackboard Knowledge Base article.
Meetings and Webinars
Scheduling Meetings and Webinars | Host Control Features | Joining Meetings and Webinars | Recovering Deleted Meetings and Webinars
Zoom offers two primary formats for virtual events: Meetings and Webinars. While both offer similar features and functionality, they serve different purposes and offer distinct features.
- 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. Additionally, attendees in webinars cannot rename themselves.
Compare features in the Meetings versus Webinars help article.
Scheduling Meetings and Webinars
Zoom provides several ways to schedule both meetings and webinars. As a host, you can customize a range of settings—unless certain options have been locked by your Zoom administrator.
See the Scheduling Meetings help article or the How to Schedule a Meeting video for more information.
Zoom allows you to schedule recurring meetings with a single meeting ID and consistent settings. These can be set to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. You can also schedule recurring meetings with no fixed time, allowing participants to join at their convenience.
- Recurring meeting IDs remain active for 365 days after the last use.
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Once you schedule a meeting, a unique Meeting ID is generated. If you export the meeting to your calendar, Zoom automatically adds the join instructions to the invitation.
You can edit the calendar invite text to include additional details like:
- Course information
- Privacy policies
- Alternate access instructions
Note: Changes made to a meeting in progress will not apply until the meeting is ended and restarted.
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Zoom’s Scheduling Privilege feature allows users (such as executive assistants or team members) to schedule meetings on behalf of someone else.
- You can delegate one or more users to schedule and manage your Zoom meetings.
- You can also schedule meetings or webinars for someone who has granted you Scheduling Privilege.
- Both users must have a UND Zoom account.
- Assigned schedulers can also serve as an alternative host.
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Meetings and webinars share many core features, but they’re designed for different use cases:
- Meetings are ideal for interactive collaboration where all participants can share video, audio, and screens.
- Webinars are best for larger, presentation-style events where only hosts and panelists interact, and attendees watch in view-only mode.
If you’ve scheduled a meeting and later decide it’s better suited as a webinar, you can request a Webinar License from UND Zoom administrators.
Important Notes
- Webinar licenses are limited and approved on a case-by-case basis.
- Submit requests at least 48 hours in advance of your event.
- If the license is applied close to your event date, you can still create a meeting and send invitations in advance.
- Once the license is granted, your scheduled meeting can be converted into a webinar without needing to resend links.
Host Control Features
As a Zoom host, you have access to a wide range of features to manage and customize your meetings and webinars. Below is an overview of key host controls:
Zoom offers multiple methods to schedule a meeting. A host has control over the options for their scheduled meetings—except for settings that an administrator has locked for all users in the account or for all members of a specific group.
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For meetings or webinars that require registration, hosts can view and manage registrants before the session begins. This allows you to:
- Approve or deny registrants
- Monitor participant interests
- Resend confirmation emails
- Block unwanted attendees
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This option lets participants join a meeting before the host arrives. You can set this to:
- Allow entry anytime
- Allow entry 5, 10, or 15 minutes before the scheduled start time
If you do not select "Join Before Host," participants will see this message: “The meeting is waiting for the host to join.” If you're the host, you’ll see a login prompt to start the meeting.
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When scheduling a meeting, you can assign another licensed UND Zoom user as an Alternative Host. This user can:
- Start the meeting on your behalf
- Manage participants as co-host
An email notification is sent to this user notifying them that they've been added as an alternative host, with a link to start the meeting—unless this notification is disabled in your settings.
Note: If you're not sure that "alternative host" is the right role for you, review Zoom's roles in a meeting.
As a host or co-host, you can manage participants' audio settings to reduce distractions:
- Mute/unmute individuals or all participants
- Prevent participants from unmuting themselves
- Use “Ask All to Unmute” to prompt users
- Enable “Request Permission to Unmute” at scheduling, which will prompt the participants for pre-approval to be unmuted by the host
Note: Due to privacy and security reasons, Zoom does not allow hosts to unmute participants without consent.
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Pin Video
- Pin video allows the host to disable active speaker view and only view up to 9 specific speakers.
- Participants can choose to pin one video on their end.
- Pinning a video does not affect cloud recordings. Only the host's view and layout will be recorded.
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Spotlight Video
The host can highlight up to 9 participants as the active speakers for everyone in the session. This feature is often used to spotlight a keynote speaker.
Zoom provides a variety of tools to encourage participant interaction:
- Polls
- Reactions
- Chat
- Breakout rooms
- Whiteboards (if enabled)
Hosts can use these tools to enhance student or audience engagement during their session.
With UND's Zoom Enterprise license, you can host up to two meetings simultaneously. However:
- Both meetings must be started by the original host
- Alternative hosts cannot start the second meeting
- The host may transfer hosting privileges and leave a meeting to begin another
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Joining Meetings and Webinars
There are several convenient ways to join a Zoom meeting or webinar:
- From an email invitation
- Through an instant messaging invite
- Via a web browser
- Using the Zoom desktop or mobile app
- By dialing in from a landline or mobile phone
- With a H.323 or SIP room system
We recommend downloading the Zoom application before your meeting. If not already installed, Zoom will prompt you to download it when you click a meeting link.
See the Joining a Meeting help article or view the How to Join a Zoom Meeting video for more information.
If you don’t have a microphone, speaker, or internet connection, you can join by phone using traditional teleconferencing.
This is useful if:
- Your device doesn’t support audio
- You’re on the go without smartphone access
- You can’t connect to the internet
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The Zoom desktop client includes a feature that allows users to join or monitor multiple meetings or webinars simultaneously. This is especially useful for support staff who need to keep track of several sessions at once.
To enable this feature:
- Use the join URL or visit zoom.us/join and enter the meeting ID
- Note: The Join button in the Zoom app will only work for the first meeting
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Participants who are unable to install Zoom can join a meeting or webinar using the Zoom web client on their desktop web browser. The Zoom web client offers limited functionality.
When clicking a meeting link, select Join from your browser (this option may appear after canceling the download prompt). Participants will be prompted to enter their name and then be able to join the meeting.
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Recovering a Deleted Meeting or Webinar
You can recover deleted meetings for up to one week after they were deleted. If you recover a meeting or webinar, invitations, links, and meeting/webinar IDs sent prior to deletion will still work.
Meetings or webinars permanently deleted from the trash cannot be recovered.
See Recovering a Deleted Meeting or Webinar for instructions.
Zoom provides a variety of tools to make your meetings and webinars more interactive, dynamic, and collaborative. Whether you're hosting a class, event, or group discussion, features like polling, quizzing, and breakout rooms can boost engagement and ensure active participation.
Zoom Polling
Polling allows you to gather feedback, test knowledge, or collect opinions during your meeting using single-choice or multiple-choice questions. Polls can be launched live and set to collect responses anonymously if desired. After the meeting, you can download a detailed report of poll results.
See the Conducting Polls in Meetings help article or watch the Polling for Zoom Meetings or Webinars video for more information.
Advanced Polling and Quizzing for Meetings
Advanced Polling enhances the standard polling feature by adding more question types, such as matching, ranked choice, short answer, and long answer. You can also assign correct answers to turn your poll into a quiz for knowledge checks or assessments. Polls can be conducted anonymously and detailed reports—showing each participant’s responses and timestamps—are available after the session or can be enabled during the meeting.
See the Conducting Quizzes in Meetings help article for more information.
Breakout Rooms
Breakout rooms allow the host to split a Zoom meeting into smaller, isolated sessions—ideal for small group collaboration, discussions, or workshops.
Key features:
- Up to 50 breakout sessions per meeting
- Participants can be assigned automatically or manually
- Hosts can allow participants to select their own breakout room
- Hosts can move freely between rooms to facilitate discussions
Breakout rooms are fully separated in terms of audio and video from the main meeting, offering a focused and private environment for group interaction.
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Audio & Video
You can join a meeting’s audio in two ways: via computer or telephone.
Want to try things out? Join a Zoom test meeting to test your audio and get familiar with meeting controls.
You can test your video camera with Zoom before joining the meeting to ensure the camera is working properly.
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When joining a meeting as an attendee, you can preview your video before you join. While previewing your video, you have the option to update video settings such as your virtual background or video filters. Additionally, you can test your video at any time when you are not in a meeting.
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Zoom provides multiple video layout options depending on whether or not someone is sharing their screen:
- Speaker View: Focuses on the person speaking.
- Gallery View: Displays up to 49 participants per screen in a grid.
- Floating Thumbnail Window: Keeps the meeting visible while multitasking.
When screen sharing is active, use Side-by-Side Mode or combine with Speaker View for better visibility. You can also pin or spotlight up to 9 participant videos for customized layouts.
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Using a dual-monitor setup allows you to separate content and participant videos across two screens. For example, one screen can show your presentation while the other displays participant videos in Speaker or Gallery View.
This is especially useful for:
- PowerPoint presentations
- Viewing speaker notes privately
- Monitoring participants while sharing content
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Zoom provides several built-in video tools to enhance your appearance and environment:
- Video filters and touch-up features for professional presentation
- Virtual backgrounds for privacy or branding
- Studio effects for light makeup or facial enhancements
These features can improve video quality and personalize your Zoom experience.
Screen Sharing
Zoom's screen sharing features make it easy to present content, collaborate visually, and deliver engaging presentations. Whether you're leading a class, meeting, or webinar, Zoom allows you to share a variety of content types during your session.
While in a Zoom meeting or webinar, you can share:
- Your entire desktop or mobile screen
- Specific applications or windows
- A selected portion of your screen
- A whiteboard for real-time collaboration
- A locally stored video file
- Device audio
- Content from a second camera
- Your iPhone or iPad screen (via AirPlay or cable)
See the Sharing Your Screen or Desktop on Zoom help article or view the Share Your Screen, Video, or Audio video for details.
Zoom’s built-in video player allows you to play high-quality video clips directly in your meeting or webinar. This method provides smoother playback and hides the playback controls from participants.
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You can share your device’s system audio during screen sharing for a seamless multimedia experience. This is especially useful for sharing videos, music, or any presentation where sound is important.
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Take your presentations to the next level by overlaying your video directly on your slides. With the Slides as a Virtual Background feature, you appear in front of your slides, creating a more immersive and engaging presentation.
Note: Sound, transitions, or animations embedded in slides are not supported.
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Zoom Whiteboard is a collaborative tool that allows users to brainstorm, draw diagrams, leave sticky notes, and work together in real time. Whiteboards can also be saved, exported, and shared with others both during and after the meeting.
Note: Zoom Whiteboard can be shared internally or externally with anyone that has a Zoom account, with the option to export and save.
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Screen Sharing Features
Requesting or Giving Remote Control
The remote control feature allows you to take control of another participant's screen in a meeting. You can either request remote control of another participant's screen or the other participant can give control to you. Once given permission, you can control their mouse and keyboard and even copy text from their screen to yours.
See the Requesting or Giving Remote Control help article for more information.
Side-by-Side Mode for Screen Sharing
View a shared screen alongside the speaker’s video using Side-by-Side Mode. You can also adjust the screen and video pane size to your preference. Additionally, webinar hosts can enable Side-by-Side Mode for all attendees.
See the Side-By-Side Mode for Screen Sharing help article for more information.
Sharing Multiple Screens Simultaneously
Hosts using the Zoom desktop client can allow multiple participants to share their screens simultaneously during a meeting. This can be useful for a real-time comparison of documents or other materials by participants. To make full use of this feature, enable the dual monitors option in the Zoom client settings.
See the Sharing multiple screen simultaneously help article for more information.
Recordings
Local Recording | Cloud Recording | Additional Recording Features | FAQs
Zoom offers local and cloud recording options, allowing you to capture and save your meetings or webinars for future viewing, sharing, and documentation.
Local Recording
Local recording is available to all users. Local recording allows participants to record a meeting's video and audio locally to a computer. The recorded files can be uploaded to a file storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive or a streaming service like YuJa, YouTube, or Vimeo.
See the Recording Locally on Your Computer video.
Finding and Viewing Local Recordings
If you are recording your meeting or webinar locally, you can locate the files on your computer, convert them if needed, and view or share them.
See the Managing Computer Recordings help article.
Cloud Recording
Cloud recording is available by request for use in courses. When you record a meeting and choose Record to the Cloud, the video, audio, and chat text are recorded in the Zoom cloud. The recording files can be downloaded to a computer or streamed from a browser.
See the Starting a Cloud Recording help article or view the Recording to the Cloud video for more information.
As a user, you can view, delete, and share your cloud recordings. Admins can manage recordings across all accounts.
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Audio transcription automatically transcribes the audio of a meeting or webinar that you record to the cloud. After this transcript is processed, it appears as a separate VTT file in the list of recorded meetings. In addition, you have the option to display the transcript text within the video itself, similar to a closed caption display.
The transcript is divided into sections, each with a timestamp that shows how far into the recording that portion of the text was recorded. You can edit the text to more accurately capture the words or to add capitalization and punctuation, which are not captured by the transcript.
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You can delete local recordings from your computer or cloud recordings from your Zoom account. Deleted cloud recordings go to Trash, where they are kept for 30 days until they are permanently deleted.
Note: Cloud recordings are automatically deleted at the end of the academic year due to limited storage. Notification will be sent in advance.
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When you click a video recording on the My Recordings page, the playback video launches in a new browser tab, which includes controls for Download and Share. You can also set a playback range for the shared video so that it starts and ends at the times you specify, removing unneeded portions from the beginning and end.
Playback range does not trim your recordings. If the recording is downloaded, it will still be the original length, regardless of the playback range you set.
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Additional Recording Features
Zoom will always notify meeting participants that a meeting is being recorded. It is not possible to disable this notification. For participants joining by computer or mobile device, the screen will display a recording notification. For participants who joined audio by phone, they will hear an audio prompt when they first join the meeting if it is already being recorded or at the time that recording is started.
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There are several recording layouts for local and cloud recordings, depending on the video layout of your meeting. The recording layout follows the video layout of the participant or host that started the recording. For example, if the host grants permission to a participant to record, and the participant starts a local recording while in active speaker view, the recording layout will be in active speaker view.
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If you are having your participants join the meeting before or without the host, you may want another participant to start a recording.
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Cloud recordings of meetings or webinars can be made on-demand and require viewers to register before receiving access. Recording registration can be customized with custom fields and manual or automatic approval. The link to access the recording will not change, but once the on-demand option is turned on for a recording, it will take viewers to the registration page, instead of directly to the cloud recording.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Local and Cloud Recording
Have more questions about recording? From storage to sharing, the FAQ has you covered.
Best Practices
Meeting Security
There are measures that can be taken to increase the security of your Zoom sessions and reduce the chance of unwanted attendees. We recommend using as many of the options as you reasonably can without impacting your meeting operations. If you are discussing any sensitive or confidential information in your meetings, these measures become that much more important.
For recommendations on improving privacy and security, see the Zoom Security Best Practices article.
Classroom Management
Faculty can help students thrive in virtual classes by setting clear expectations and using Zoom’s features effectively. The tips below cover preparation and best practices for managing Zoom sessions to create an engaging and organized learning environment.
Download the Zoom Client
Create your Zoom account and download the Zoom client. Make sure you are signing into your account using SSO (single sign on).
Check your Bandwidth and Signal
Wired internet is better than wireless for Zoom. If you must use wireless, try to remain close to the wireless router to better improve your connection when possible. Please use the internet speed test to make sure your internet is optimized.
Test the Audio
This will ensure your speakers and mic are working properly before class begins. Here is how to test your device audio.
Practice Hosting
In general, Zoom is quite easy to use, but you may want to practice a couple times prior to your first class session. Test your audio/video and become familiar with how to share your screen, etc.
Setup the Blackboard-Zoom Integration
Use the Zoom Blackboard integration to add Zoom to the Blackboard course site.
Review Zoom Tips and Tricks
Learn more about helpful tips and tricks to use in Zoom.
Add Virtual Class Information to Your Syllabi
Include information about virtual class attendance in your syllabus. Be sure to indicate whether students are required to join the session live or if watching the recording is acceptable. Include information on student participation and whether or not cameras/microphones will be required.
Remind Students of Code of Student Life
Remind students that the Code of Student Life expectations do not change with online or hybrid teaching and learning. If a violation occurs, appropriate actions will be taken as they would with inappropriate behavior in the classroom.
Provide Information on Joining
Make sure students are aware of how and when to join the Zoom session, and provide a link to the Zoom Getting Started knowledge article.
Remind Students of Class Etiquette
Virtual classrooms are just like in person meetings and classrooms. Remind students that everyone can see and hear each other, so it is important to make sure they are properly dressed and avoid behavior that would not be acceptable in the classroom.
Use a USB Headset
If you will be joining the session from your office or home, a USB headset will provide better audio than your computer’s built-in system. Try to hold sessions in quiet, indoor locations to control ambient noise. UND (University of North Dakota) recommends this model: Logitech H390.
Be Early
We recommend you have your session open 10 minutes early to allow students to join before the class starts. Students who do not log in with their UND credentials will be brought into a waiting room. You may need to admit these students into the room.
Have your Content Ready to Share
If you are sharing documents or content, have this ready before class begins. You should also check with everyone to make sure they are seeing what is being shared. If you do not want your emails or other private content visible to your participants, you should also close these prior to your meeting/class.
Take Attendance
Have students use the thumbs up emoji or type "here" in the chat window.
Manage Participants
The Manage Participants panel will help you to do the following:
- View a list of all participants (students)
- Show who is speaking and who has their microphone and camera turned on
- Mute or unmute participants and turn participants' cameras on/off
- Remove disruptive students, or put them on Hold
Record Meetings and Save Chat Logs
You can record meetings to the cloud, or to your local computer. If recording from a classroom, it may be best to use cloud recording so you do not need to wait for the recording to process.
- At the beginning of the Zoom session, notify students if the sessions will be recorded. Students who do not wish to be included in the recording should leave their camera/microphone off and not participate in the chat.
- Chat logs can be saved manually or automatically based on settings.
Use the Chat Function
You can send questions or statements to everyone or privately. Here is how to use in-meeting chat
- Designate a student or TA to monitor chat to track questions.
- Stop periodically to address questions in the chat. Don't try to monitor chat continuously.
Remove Offending Students from the Meeting
This function is found in the Participants Window (See the Managing Participants in a Meeting tutorial for more information).
Escalate Offensive Behavior
Use appropriate procedures to address concerning behavior, just as you would in the classroom.
Need Help?
TTaDA offers a variety of professional development workshops and events for faculty and staff. Check out our workshops on Zoom.
- Register for an upcoming session
- Watch an on-demand training video
Instructional Design Consult
A team of Instructional Designers are available to provide assistance to instructors, administrators and staff. They provide instructional design assistance for fully online, flipped, hybrid, blended and traditional face-to-face courses.
UND Tech Support
UND Tech Support provides support to students, faculty, and staff by providing technology tools for success in and outside of the classroom.
Zoom Training and Tutorials
Zoom has a wide variety of training resources including video tutorials and live training sessions. Consult the Get Started with Zoom help article to access these resource.