Zoom basics

Camosun has acquired a limited number of licensed Zoom accounts. Faculty who taught at least one course during  Fall 2020, Winter 2021 or Summer 2021  will automatically be provisioned with a Zoom licensed account.   The licensed account provides the full suite of options, up to 300 attendees in a session, and no limits on the length of the session.  All other Camosun employees will be provided a basic account (100 attendees, sessions limited to 40 minutes with 3+ participants, and 100 attendee limit).    Employees who need to upgrade a basic account  can request a licensed account through their workplace leader and a form on the ITS Service portal.  Visit the ITS Service Portal for detailed information on Camosun Zoom accounts. 

To get started go to the Camosun Zoom portal, where you will provide your Camosun credentials to access your account.   Before you start hosting sessions,  download the desktop app, and spend some time setting up your profile and options. For information on how to download and install the desktop app see instructions provided by Camosun ITS. 

If you have been using another Zoom account, refer to the instructions to merge these accounts. 

It's important that you take care to merge an  existing Zoom account (either free or paid) you are currently using for instruction, with your new Camosun licensed account. 

Follow the instructions provided by Zoom to complete this important step. 

Account consolidation with associated domains (Zoom Help Center)

Take some time reviewing your account settings. Zoom provides over 100 options, so setting up options at the account level can save you time as you set up classes, and will limit choices you need to make once the meeting is underway.   

The following settings are identified as ones that instructors will want to consider changing from the defaults provided. 

Meeting settings: 

• Only authenticated users can join meetings
• Host video/start meetings with host video on
• Private chat/allow meeting participants to send a private 1:1 message to another participant.
• Sound notification when someone joins or leaves
• Meeting Polls/allow host to use 'Polls' in meetings. Hosts can add polls before or during a meeting.
• Non-verbal feedback/allow meeting participants to communicate without interrupting by clicking on icons (yes, no, slow down, speed up). These icons are found in the Reactions menu in the toolbar, and when selected, they display on the participant's video and in the participants list until dismissed.

 Recording settings:

•  Local recording/Allow hosts and participants to record the meeting to a local file
•  Auto delete cloud recordings after days
•  Recording disclaimer/Show a customizable disclaimer to participants before a recording starts