Zoom Support

Below you will find the steps required to be able to fully participate in a Zoom meeting.

Zoom also has a comprehensive support section on their website: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206175806

1. Equipment/Network

Hardware installation must be authorised and supported by your IT team. It is likely that your device has been restricted, and you may require the support of your IT team.

The most important, and often overlooked, element for videoconferencing is the speed and quality of your network connection.

Ensure there is ample Internet bandwidth. To achieve the best performance, we recommend a minimum of 1.5Mb/s upload and download per device. Check your bandwidth using one of the online services such as SpeedTest.net
Your IT team may be able to dedicate a meeting room for videoconferencing and configure the network that guarantees a minimum bandwidth.
It is important to note that networks are extremely complicated, and bandwidth constantly fluctuates. You may be able to control the network locally but not as soon as it leaves the building.
We recommend using a wired Ethernet connection, which is more resilient and offers a better connection than WiFi.

What equipment do I need?

As a minimum you need a device with a camera, microphone, and speakers. The type/quality of equipment required is dependent on the size of the room and the number of participants in that room.

Your IT team will probably have a preference for specific hardware providers that will work with your device(s).

Room size	Number of people	Equipment
Very small	1-3	A modern laptop with an integrated webcam, microphone, and speakers may suffice.
Small	1-3	A modern PC with a webcam with built-in microphone, and external speakers. The monitor size depends on your preference, we recommend something larger than 24" to facilitate readability of presentations.
Medium	1-5	A modern PC with a entry-level conference camera. The conference camera will typically have an inbuilt microphone and speaker. We recommend a monitor no smaller than 24".
Medium/Large	1-10	A modern PC with a mid-level conference camera. The conference camera will typically have an inbuilt microphone and speaker. Instead of installing a large monitor you may opt to install a video-projector.

Most modern equipment is defined as Plug and Play and installation is as easy as plugging the device in. You may require the support of your IT Team for the relevant installation permissions.

Zoom have published official technical requirements.

Software installation must be authorised and supported by your IT team. It is likely that your device has been restricted, and you may require the support of your IT team. Before installing Zoom, please ensure you have installed an up-to-date, real-time, Antivirus solution.

Download Zoom from https://zoom.us/download
Select the Download button if the download does not start automatically.
Select Run
Zoom will install, and when complete will open.

Zoom has now been installed and a shortcut added to your Start Menu (Windows).

To make it easier to load Zoom in the future, you may wish to pin or create a shortcut. Options to do this can be found by right-clicking on the shortcut within the Start Menu (Windows).

3. Testing Zoom

If Zoom is not currently open, load Zoom from the Start Menu (Windows) or from your shortcut.
Select Join a Meeting
Type zoomtest for the Meeting ID, and type your full name for your Screen Name
When you join the meeting, you may be asked to Join Audio Conference by Computer. Select the button to enter the meeting.

Configuring and testing audio and video

The settings for the audio and video are found in the bottom left of Zoom. The up-arrow (caret) next to Mute contains the audio settings, and the up-arrow next to Stop Video contains the video settings.

Audio

Select Audio Options... from within the up-arrow menu next to Mute
Instead of selecting the red Leave Computer Audio button, select the blue text underneath - Test Computer Mic and Speakers.
Select Test Speaker to make sure your speakers are working. Make sure the correct speakers are chosen in the adjacent drop down box. You can set your preferred volume using the volume bar below.
Select Test Mic, and speak at a normal volume. Select the button again to hear your mic. Make sure the correct microphone is selected in the adjacent drop-down. We recommend unticking the automatically adjust microphone setting, this will ensure a constant microphone level,
We recommend that the two options below are checked/ticked Automatically join audio by computer when joining a meeting and Always mute microphone when joining meeting.
After completing the audio configuration, select the X in the top right of the pop-out settings window and the previous window to return to the test Zoom meeting.

Video

Select Video Settings... from within the up-arrow menu next to Stop Video
Ensure that the correct camera is selected in the drop-down.
After checking the video settings, you can return to the zoom test meeting by selecting the X in the top right of the pop-out settings window..

When all the tests are successful you are ready to join a Zoom meeting.

Hospice UK holds regular test Zoom meetings, we would love you to connect and say hello.

4. Join a Zoom meeting

Before joining a Zoom meeting, please let your IT team aware so that they can be on hand if required.

You will be sent an invitation for each meeting which will clearly reference a Meeting ID. Each Zoom meeting has a unique ID, typically a 9 digit number.

If Zoom is not currently open, load Zoom from the Start Menu (Windows) or from your shortcut.
Select Join a Meeting
Type the Meeting ID you received in your invitation into the Meeting ID field.
Type your full name into the screen name field if it has not been remembered by Zoom.
Select Join to join the meeting.

Sometimes you may receive a URL to join a meeting. This URL does not always work. We recommend copying the meeting ID from the end of the URL and pasting directly into Zoom.

During the meeting

When you first join the meeting your microphone should be automatically muted. Muting and unmuting your microphone can easily be done by selecting Mute in the bottom left corner of Zoom. When a red line is showing through the microphone icon it means you are muted.
Background noise is a big problem with video conferencing. Ensure you are in a private space away from noise, and ensure your microphone is muted when you are not talking.
If you are using a laptop and your microphone is unmuted, please do not type on the keyboard. Onboard microphones pick up local vibrations a bit too well!
Refrain from ruffling papers anywhere near a microphone/laptop/webcam.
Ensure that when speaking you are facing the microphone, which may be built into the camera.
Maintain a strong/confident voice when talking - conference microphones and applications will auto cut-off if a volume drops below a certain level.
Make sure your mobile phone is switched off.

Further Support

We cannot stress the importance of working with your IT Support Team to get Zoom up and running.

If you run into any problems make sure that your equipment is plugged into the correct slots, and that there is only one instance of Zoom running. It would be wise to close all other background applications before you join a Zoom meeting.

Have you tried turning it off and on again? That infuriating and frustrating phrase from IT Support desks the world over - but sadly solves 9/10 problems!

External Resources

Further support and training guides can be found on the Zoom website. The website covers every aspect of the Zoom application and offers free training.

Zoom has published a plethora of useful YouTube guides.

Drop us a line

If you have further questions, or have suggestions to how we can improve our web pages, please send us an email.