General guidelines
Following these suggestions will help make your online meeting or event participation as efficient as possible:
- Take steps to ensure your internet connection is as fast and stable as possible:
- Wired connections are usually better than WiFi.
- If using WiFi, sit in a place with a strong signal.
- Stop or pause applications that might be consuming bandwidth in the background (Dropbox and Google Drive syncing, downloads, etc.).
- Join the meeting from a quiet space where you will not be disturbed by noise, phone calls, colleagues, etc.
- Use a headset, earbuds or microphone that doesn’t pick up noise from the room. Adjust your microphone input volume (instructions for: Windows or macOS).
- Mute yourself when you’re not speaking. (There are keyboard shortcuts to make this faster.)
- Having a webcam is optional but it’s helpful to be able to see folks when they’re talking.
- Install & test Zoom in advance of the meeting (see below for details).
- Join the meeting a few minutes early, so you have time to work out any technical issues.
Install & test Zoom
We use Zoom for consortial events and meetings, which requires installation on your device.
Presenters will probably be more comfortable using a computer, but it is possible to present on a mobile device.
- Download Zoom prior to joining (you only need to do this the first time):
- Test your system to minimize technical issues.
Note: while it is possible to access Zoom on a computer without the plugin, the connection quality is noticeably lower and should only be used as a last resort. Hosts and presenters must use the Zoom plugin/app.