Getting Started with Zoom
Introduction to Zoom
Zoom is an enterprise video conferencing platform for facilitating online meetings, webinars and teaching. Sessions can be started by simply sharing a meeting link with attendees. This platform became popular for its ease of use, high quality audio and video experience, and the ability to view a large number of participants during a session. Zoom provides extensive configuration to meet specific teaching needs, and has a variety of features for interaction, such as polling, breakout rooms, and a collaborative digital whiteboard. Unlike personal video conferencing applications, Zoom provides session hosts with controls to manage all aspects of a session and determine which features will be made available to participants.
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Comparison between Zoom and MS Teams
QMUL supports two video conferencing platforms: Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Both platforms are accessible using your QMUL account, and available for online teaching, webinars, communication with students, meetings with colleagues and more. This guide compares the features and limitations of these platforms to help you select the application most appropriate for your individual teaching and learning requirements.
If you have previous experience using either of the applications, you may prefer to continue utilising it for teaching. However, you should remember the importance of consistency for student experience. Feedback has shown student frustration if they are expected to use different platforms across a single degree programme. Please check with your school which application your students will be most familiar with. Below is some general guidance for each application, followed by a detailed feature comparison for your review.
Each application may be set to update automatically, and features are subject to change at any time.
Zoom
Zoom is a user-friendly and popular video conferencing application that can be used from a desktop, mobile device, or web browser. It may be best if you plan to utilise breakout rooms, have a large number of participants, or for delivering public presentations. Zoom has a variety of security features and controls to manage participants. It is also well suited for presenting using multiple displays, with the ability to pop-out elements of the interface across your screens (i.e. Chat, Participant, and Polling panels).
Zoom is integrated in QMplus and can be used to set up sessions directly in module areas. Recordings are automatically stored in QMplus Media (Kaltura) and available for students to view in QMplus. It is a popular online teaching choice at QMUL.
MS Teams
Teams is primarily designed as a collaboration hub for your Office 365 account. Whilst it can be used for online teaching, it has been designed for group communication, collaborative file editing, and connecting with other users within an institution. Typically, Teams is best suited for meetings and communicating with colleagues. Teams workspaces and discussion channels can also be created for students enrolled in a module. There is currently no MS Teams integration with QMplus, and recordings must be manually shared via OneDrive or manually transferred into QMplus media for sharing.
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Comparison - at a glance
| Feature | Zoom | Microsoft Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 300 by default
Raise a ticket on the ServiceDesk to request licenses for:
|
Up to 1000 for Meetings with full interactivity capabilities. 1001-20,000 with view only capabilities. Raise a ticket on the ServiceDesk. to request a Live Event. Further guidance on MS Teams meetings, webinars and Live Events can be found here. |
| Joining methods | URL, QMplus, Outlook (via plugin). | URL, Outlook, Teams calendar, email. |
| Recording | Local file, Zoom Cloud, QMplus Media integration. | OneDrive. |
| Breakout rooms | Yes – Max 50 rooms. Automatic (random), manual, or pre-assign allocation via CSV upload. OR allow participants to choose their group. | Yes – Max 50 rooms. Automatic (random) or manual allocation.Meeting must have fewer than 300 attendees for breakout rooms to be available. |
| Captions & live transcription | Live machine-generated captions or manual via assigned captioner. View and search transcript with recording (Cloud player) or download text file. | Live machine-generated captions only. Transcript available for download through Teams calendar after a meeting. |
| QMplus integration | Yes, via External tool activity. | No. |
Comparison - additional features
| Feature | Zoom | Microsoft Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Enable/disable direct/private messaging and downloading chat transcript. | All chat visible in meeting Chat panel and Teams channels. ‘@mention’ users to generate notifications. Direct messaging to participants using a new Chat in Teams rather than in the meeting. |
| Q&A tool | Webinars events only. | Live events only. |
| User roles | Host, Co-host, Participant. | Organiser, Presenter, Attendee. |
| Polling | Yes. Polls can be created prior to a meeting using the Zoom web portal or during a meeting. | Yes, via 'Polls' and ‘Forms’ extensions. |
| Number of participant video feeds | Up to 49 participants. | Up to 49 participants. |
| Virtual backgrounds | Blur background, custom image, custom video. | Blur background or custom image. |
| File sharing | Share via chat. Whiteboard available on tool bar. Annotate on whiteboard and enable/disable participant annotations. Ability to save annotations. | Share via Chat, collaborative edit, secured via Office 365, collaborative edit documents using Whiteboard. |
| Join audio via telephone | Yes. | Yes. |
| Annotate screen / virtual whiteboard | Yes. | Yes. |
| Attendance reports | Yes. Available via QMplus course (if external tool used) & from Zoom web portal. | Yes - available in Chat after a meeting. Can be downloaded from Participants panel. |
| Share computer audio | Yes, and optimised for sharing video. | Yes, desktop app only. |
| Share additional camera | Yes (iOS and Android). | No. |
| Reactions | Raise hand + any emoji. | Raise hand + 5 emoji. Further emojis available in Chat panel. |
| Configure interface | Yes, pop-out panels can be arranged on screen, in addition to active speaker or gallery view. Pin participants video. | Spotlight speaker. Together mode. Restricted to single meeting window. |
| Security | Pre-register attendees. Remove from meeting. Limit to QMUL addresses only. Password protection. Waiting room. On-click ‘Lock meeting’. Turn off participants audio, video or profile. | Limit meetings to ‘Teams’ or QMUL users only. No passcodes. Enable 'lobby' prior to meeting. On-click lock meeting. Turn off participants mic or camera. |
| Sharing presentations | Share screen only. Annotate on slides and enable/disable participant annotations. | Upload slides into Teams or share screen. Allow participant to navigate slides. |
| Automatic recording | Yes. | Live Events only. |
| Web browser support | Yes. | Yes. |
Main features of Zoom
- Audio and video conferencing with a large number of participants
- Text chat, allowing participants to interact, ask questions, send private messages, and share files. This is particularly useful for meetings where attendees are restricted from sharing audio or video.
- Screen sharing, allowing the broadcast of your desktop screen, just a specific application (like PowerPoint or your web browser), or a mobile device (iOS only). Remote control also allows you to temporarily grant control of your PC to another participant – useful for joint presentations.
- Digital whiteboard that can be collaboratively edited by participants
- Annotation tool – meeting participants can add annotations while screen sharing as a viewer or the one that started sharing their screen. You can also use annotation tools when sharing or viewing a whiteboard.
- Polling – quickly create multiple choice polls for participants
- Meeting recording, both local files and cloud storage, with pause and resume functionality. Cloud recordings will be automatically transferred to your QMplus Media account.
- Breakout rooms to divide participants into smaller groups. During breakout sessions, participants can be granted features that may not be permitted in the main room, such as the ability to share audio, video, or screens. Breakout groups can be randomly generated, or registered participants may be pre-assigned to specific rooms in advance. Note: Breakout sessions are not captured by the main meeting recording.
- Reactions allow participants to visually communicate with the Host, with options such as ‘Raise Hand’ to indicate a question, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for quick responses, and ‘speed up’ and ‘slow down’ to help manage the pace of the session.
- Closed captioning and transcripts – Zoom has several options for generating text for online meetings. Zoom can generate live ‘machine-generated’ captions during a session. Transcripts can be made available alongside a cloud recording, allowing viewers to search for keywords from the session. A transcript from the Chat discussion can also be provided – helpful for viewing questions or comments which may not be accessible in the recording audio. Click here to view our detailed guide.
- User roles – each session can have a primary Host, Co-Hosts, and Participants, each with different permissions. This is particularly useful for large sessions where you may not want attendees to have full access to audio, video, or screen sharing features. Hosts can promote specific Participants to Co-Hosts to quickly grant additional functionality (i.e., for student presentations or Q&A sessions).
- Security menu to quickly manage any malicious or undesired activity during a meeting. This menu allows the Host to restrict participant access to features, lock meeting functions, and immediately suspend all activity in case of emergency. There are also a number of security features available in your Zoom profile to prevent unwanted users from accessing meetings or recordings.
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Download Zoom
Even if you are already familiar with Zoom, there are specific steps required to access your QMUL account.
Please note: if your Zoom desktop client is logged in with a personal or external account when opening a meeting link, this may restrict your ability to host or manage QMUL sessions.
- Navigate to the Zoom Downloads page and click ‘Download’ under the Zoom Client for Meetings heading
- Open the Zoom installer file and follow the on-screen prompts to install the application (this may require Administrator privileges on your PC)
- Alternatively, the first time you attempt to join a Zoom meeting on your PC, you will be prompted to download and install the Zoom Client
- Note: Zoom can be used via your web browser, but this is not recommended for hosting meetings as it may restrict access to some features
- For mobile devices, the Zoom app can be installed via the iOS App Store and Google Play store
Sign in to Zoom
- Go to https://zoom.qmul.ac.uk
- Sign in with your usual QMUL login and password, (using your letters/numbers email, e.g. abc123@qmul.ac.uk).
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Switching accounts on the Desktop Client
If you need to switch between personal or external accounts and your QMUL account, follow Zoom's guide on Switching between multiple accounts.
If you require further guidance or support when accessing your QMUL account, please contact the IT Service Desk.
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