Zoom Basics

Go to mdacc.zoom.us to sign in with your MD Anderson credentials.

Download the desktop app to host or schedule meetings.

• MD Anderson staff should download the Zoom app for their desktop from the Software Center. You should only have to download the app this one time.
• Go to your start menu on your computer, search for software center.
• Open the software center and search for Zoom.
• Download the “Zoom Meeting Outlook Plugin” to schedule meetings and “Zoom Meeting Client”.

Before you start meeting in Zoom, there are a few global settings you may need to change. Each of these requires you to log into https://mdacc.zoom.us

Share Files Through Chat

1. Log into https://mdacc.zoom.us.
2. Go to “Settings” and “File Transfer”.
3. Once this is set, you can go to any Zoom meeting room, open the chat window form the “More” menu, select the “File” icon, and choose a file form your computer to share.

Set Up Recording

You have to change your settings in order to record during a Zoom meeting

1. Login to Zoom at mdacc.zoom.us.
2. Go to "Settings", "Recording" and "Enable Recording".

Once you have enabled recording, you can open any Zoom meeting you are hosting and choose “Record”. Your recorded meetings will save to your local “C” drive. You can change this by opening the Zoom app, going to “Recording” and selecting a new Local Recording location.

Screensharing

You will not be able to share anything in Zoom until you turn on your screen sharing capabilities.

1. Log into https://mdacc.zoom.us
2. Go to “Settings”
3. Toggle on “Allow host and participants to share their screen or content during meetings”

Notifications for Leaving and Entering the Room

You can turn off room notifications for people entering and leaving the room in the Participants panel.

Before a Meeting:

1. Login to mdacc.zoom.us.
2. Select Settings from the menu.
3. Scroll down until you see the option Play sound when participants join or leave.
4. Toggle this option On or Off.
5. Once enabled, you will see additional options: “Play sound for” “Everyone” or “Host and co-hosts only”.

During a Meeting:

1. Select the ellipsis in the participant panel and uncheck “Play sound when someone joins or leaves”.

• Through Outlook
  • To schedule a meeting through Outlook, you must first download the app (see download instructions under "Sign into Zoom").
  • Go to “Schedule a Meeting”. A window will pop-up in Outlook.
  • Choose your meeting settings (see more detail on meeting settings in the “Settings to Consider When Scheduling” tab below).
  • Invite attendees and send.
  • The Zoom meeting room information will automatically be included in the invite.
  • If you would like to edit or change your classroom settings once an invitation is sent, open the Outlook invite and selecting “change settings”.
• Through the Website
  • Go to https://mdacc.zoom.us and sign in.
  • Go to "Meetings" and “Schedule a Meeting”.
  • Fill in meeting details and "Save".
  • Click on your meeting title and choose “Outlook Calendar (.ics)” to add the invitation to your Outlook calendar.
  • Select attendees you want to invite.
  • If you would like to edit or change your classroom settings once an invitation is sent, open the Outlook invite and selecting “change settings”. Alternatively, you can go back to the Zoom website, click on the meeting title and choose “Edit”.
• Through the Desktop App
  • Open Zoom from your system tray (bottom right-hand corner of your screen). If you don’t see the icon, search for Zoom from your Start Menu.
  • Make sure you have selected “Home” and choose “Schedule”.
  • Fill in meeting details and choose "Schedule".
  • An outlook invitation should open. Add attendees you want to invite and send.
  • If you would like to edit or change your classroom settings once an invitation is sent, open the Outlook invite and selecting “change settings”. Alternatively, you can go back to the Zoom website, click on the meeting title and choose “Edit”.

When setting up a Zoom room for class, there are several settings you should consider.

• Video: You can disable video capabilities for participants. Video can affect the speed of the Zoom room so you may not need everyone to have their video on.
• Audio: Telephone and computer audio is the default. It is recommended that you allow both options as it gives more access points. For instance, someone may need to call in using a cell phone due to internet connectivity issues.
• Recurring meeting: You can set a recurring meeting when scheduling through Outlook. This means that each class or meeting occurrence will use the same meeting ID and settings.
• Enable Waiting Room: The Waiting Room adds an extra level of security to your Zoom room. The Waiting Room allows you to control when or if a participant can join the meeting room. Attendees will “wait” until you admit them. You can admit one attendee at a time or check the boxes next to their names to admit multiple people at once.
• Mute Participants upon entry: By selecting this option, you will ensure that participants microphones will be off until they choose to turn them on. This helps to control the sound level in the room.
• Alternative hosts: Add alternative hosts in case you are unable to make the session or you are going to be late to the session. This will allow the alternative host to begin the session without you. Additionally, an alternative host will have the same privileges as you. They can join in the same session with you and help to manage the chat box, waiting room, etc.

Quality audio is essential to an effective class. here are some best practices for audio.

• The best quality sound will be achieved by using a headset with a microphone. This will reduce the possibility of background noise.
• If you do not have a headset, you can try using a webcam with a microphone or the native microphone in your laptop. Be aware that both of these options will feed in a lot of extra background noise and you will need to continuously face the microphone in order for your attendees to hear you.
• Test your microphone and video ahead of time. This will give you time to troubleshoot.

• Hosts
  • When you schedule a meeting, you can choose to “Mute participants on entry”. This is listed under the “Advanced Options” in the meeting invite.
    
  • You can also choose “Mute Participants Upon Entry” once the meeting begins by selecting the three dots at the bottom of the participant window.
    
  • During a meeting, you can select the “Mute All” button in the participants panel to mute everyone (Alt+M is the keyboard shortcut). You can also mute an individual by hovering over their name in the participants panel and choosing “Mute”.
    • Under the participants panel, you can click on the ellipsis (three dots) for more sound options. You can deselect the option to “Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves”. This is most effective when giving a presentation to a large group.
• Participants
  • Mute and unmute yourself by clicking on the Mute button in the bottom left-hand corner of the meeting room. You can also use Alt+A as a shortcut to mute yourself.

• Hosts
  • When scheduling a meeting, you can choose “Off” for Participants under the Video section of the meeting information. This will disallow the attendees to use their video if you think it will be distracting or take up too much bandwidth.
    
• Participants
  • Use the video camera icon during a meeting to select which video device you would like to use, and to turn your video on and off. You can also select a virtual background from the video icon.
    
  • Go to Settings in the Zoom app or mdacc.zoom.us and select “Turn off my video when joining a meeting”. This will set your video to be off until you are ready to turn it on.

The participants can't hear me:

• Make sure you are not muted.
• Open your Zoom app, go to Audio, make sure you have selected the correct microphone and check the microphone volume.
• If all else fails, leave the room and re-join with audio.

I can’t hear the participants:

• The volume on your computer (in your task bar) may be low or muted.
• The volume in your Zoom settings may be low or muted. Open your Zoom app and adjust your Speaker volume.
• If all else fails, leave the room and re-join with audio.
  


• Make sure your participants are unmuted. Ask the participant to unmute themselves or look for the microphone icon next to their name in the participant window. You can unmute them as the host.

I can hear background noise:

• Advise attendees to mute themselves when they are not actively speaking.
• In the participant window, you can see microphone icons next to every attendees' name. If you see active microphone icons, you can selectively mute a participant. You can also select “Mute All” at the bottom of the participant window to mute everyone but the host.

You can turn off room notifications for people entering and leaving the room in the Participants panel.

Before a Meeting:

1. Login to mdacc.zoom.us.
2. Select Settings from the menu.
3. Scroll down until you see the option Play sound when participants join or leave.
4. Toggle this option On or Off.
5. Once enabled, you will see additional options: “Play sound for” “Everyone” or “Host and co-hosts only”.

During a Meeting:

1. Select the ellipsis in the participant panel and uncheck “Play sound when someone joins or leaves”.

• Join from an Outlook invitation
  • Open your outlook invitation and click on the meeting room link.
  • Zoom will ask if you want to join with Audio. Choose your audio option.
  • Zoom may ask if you would like to join the room with your video on or off. You can choose yes or no.
  • Note: You can change your settings in the desktop app or through the Zoom website so that these options are selected automatically. (See settings)
• Join from the website or desktop app
  • You can only join meetings you have scheduled from the Zoom website or desktop app.

When you enter a Zoom room, the controls are at the bottom of your screen

• Microphone icon
  • Mute and Unmute yourself
  • Select your audio device
  • Test your speaker and microphone
• Video camera icon
  • Turn your video on or off
  • Select your camera
  • Choose a virtual background.
• Security
  • Enable or disable the waiting room
  • Allow users to share their screens, chat, rename themselves, unmute themselves
• Participants
  • Open the participants panel so you can see who is in attendance. This panel also allows you to “Mute All” participants or “Mute Participants on Entry”.
• Polls
  • Launch a poll that you created ahead of time on the Zoom website.
• Share Screen
  • Share your desktop, a slide deck, a browser or a whiteboard.
• More
  • Open the chat panel
  • Start closed captions (this requires a person to actively type out the closed captions)
  • “Record on this Computer” allows you to record your session.
  • Start a breakout room or rooms

• Hosts
  • Share your screen during a meeting from the share icon. You can choose to share your desktop (screen 1), a whiteboard, an internet browser, or PowerPoint slides.
    
  • Allow participants to share: Go to your “Advanced Sharing Options” under the “Share Screen” button to select who can share. You can choose “All Participants”. This would allow anyone in the room to share. Alternatively, you can make a participant a “Host” or “Co-host” by clicking on the “More” button their name in the participant window and choosing “Make Co-Host”.
  • New Share: Once you begin screen sharing, your meeting controls will move to the top of your screen. You can switch what you share by selecting “New Share” and choosing a different application or screen to share.
  • Pause Share: Freeze your screen share by selecting “Pause Share”. This will freeze the screen for participants but allow you to move around your desktop without participants seeing your movements.
    
    
• Participants
  • You can share your screen if the host has given you host or co-host privileges. With privileges, share your screen from the share icon. You can choose to share your desktop (screen 1), a whiteboard, an internet browser, or PowerPoint slides.

Room controls move to the top of the screen once you begin sharing your desktop, slides, etc. They are largely the same, but there are a few of note:

• Participants: Reopen your participant window if needed. Your participant window will not show in the attendee view. This may be needed if you wish to mute participants
• New Share: Change the window or application you wish to share without exiting sharing.
• Pause Share: By pausing your share, you will freeze the screen for participants. This allows you to navigate your desktop without the viewers seeing. When you are ready, you can unpause the share.
• Annotate: Once you share your screen, you can begin annotating. Annotation allows you to write, draw, etc. You can disable participant annotation in the “More” menu.
• More: Reopen your chat window, start breakout rooms, record the meeting, etc.