Video Conferencing Services is currently testing Zoom (zoom.us), a simple-to-use video conferencing tool that provides HD quality audio and video for up to 25 simultaneous PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, and/or Android device connections. Zoom features include screen sharing from PC, Mac, iPad, and iPhone users; recording and playback of meetings; host control of participants; and instant messaging in meetings.
Zoom will be at the ITL conference March 4-5 in the K-State Student Union. A workshop is scheduled Monday afternoon, and a demonstration booth will be at the showcase Tuesday.
Meetings can be spontaneous or scheduled via the zoom.us client, and users can join without an account via an invite link sent by the meeting host. Zoom.us can be useful for staff meetings, student group meetings, virtual office hours, and many other uses including talking with friends and family.
Currently, there is a zoom.us Meeting Connector located on campus, so signing up for the service with your “ksu.edu” or “k-state.edu” email address will allow you to connect using the Kansas State University Meeting Connector rather than the zoom.us server. This will allow for more reliable, secure connections as well as provide more detailed data of usage by K-State users to VCS.
The Meeting Connector will be available until June 1, at which time your account will become a “free” account and meetings with 3+ participants will be limited to 40 minutes. There has been no agreement with K-State made for the use of the service at this time.
To use zoom.us from your PC or Mac:
- Visit zoom.us in your browser.
- Select “Host a Meeting” and sign up with your “ksu.edu” or “k-state.edu” email address to be added to the Kansas State University group (this will allow you to use the full-featured service with unlimited meetings until June 1).
- You should receive an activation email from zoom.us to activate your account; click on the link in the email to activate, and you will be asked to create a password.
- Follow the prompts to download and install the zoom.us client.
From your iPad, iPhone, or Android device:
- Search for zoom.us in the App Store (iOS devices), or the Google Play Store (Android devices).
- Download the zoom.us app.
- Follow instructions 2-3 above.
For more information on how to sign up and use the Zoom.us client, visit the zoom.us support page.
If you would like a short demo of zoom.us, or for more information, please contact Lukas Haselwood (lhaselwo@k-state.edu, 785-532-5995 option 2 for Video Conferencing).
