Getting started: Zoom Quick Start Guide

Logging in to Zoom

  1. Go to https://umsystem.zoom.us and sign in using your campus username and password.
  2. Edit your Zoom account profile as desired.
    • Upload a professional profile picture. Participants in your meetings see your picture if video is not enabled.
    • Personal Meeting ID: You may leave this as default or you may change it. We recommend using your university phone number as it’s easier to remember.
    • Personal Link: You can create a custom link that can be shared with your meeting participants at any time.

Install Zoom on your desktop or laptop

  1. Download and install the Zoom client on your desktop or laptop: https://umsystem.zoom.us/download
    Note: If you are using a university computer, visit Software Center to download the Zoom client. 
  2. Sign in using the SSO sign in option.
  3. Enter umsystem as the domain.
  4. Enter your username and password to log in.
  5. Select the New Meeting button (See Fig. 1).


    Zoom client screen with red arrow pointing to New Meeting button
    Figure 1: New Meeting button

Explore Audio & Video features in Zoom

When you launch Zoom, you should see a pop-up box that allows you to configure your audio settings.
You can choose the microphone on your device, or you can call using your phone (See Fig. 2).

image showing how to join by audio via computer or phone

Figure 2: Join audio with phone or computer audio

To use your computer, select the Test Computer Mic & Speakers button to make sure everything is working. You’ll see a toolbar on the bottom left with various audio and video options (See Fig. 3).

zoom toolbar

Figure 3: Audio and Video options

Label 1: Mute or unmute your microphone. You can also see this icon bouncing when you talk to indicate that your microphone is working.

Label 2: Select the up arrow to adjust audio settings, microphone selection or audio volume.

Label 3: Start or stop your Video broadcast.

Label 4: Select the up arrow to choose a different camera or to adjust video settings. You can change from widescreen or standard format.

Explore the other toolbar options

 (See Fig. 4)

zoom toolbar

Figure 4: Zoom toolbar options

See this Zoom guide for more details on the toolbar.

Schedule a Meeting

NOTE: If you are scheduling a Zoom meeting for all students in your Canvas course, please follow these instructions.

NOTE: If you are scheduling a Zoom meeting via Outlook follow these instructions.

  1. Select the Schedule icon. 
  2. A Schedule a Meeting window will appear. This window contains meeting options. The meeting options define the meeting details, including:
    • Enter a topic, or title, for the meeting. 
    • Set the date and time of the meeting. Leaders may also select to make the meeting recurring (use the same meeting several times). 
    • The tools that are available when the meeting begins:
      • Video when joining a meeting — This option determines whether the webcam (video) will be active immediately. The leader may turn off the webcam at any time. 
      • Audio Options — The meeting leader may engage only a telephone bridge, only VOIP (voice over IP), or both options for the meeting. This setting should default to our recommendation, which is the Both option. 
      • Meeting Options — Select to apply a password, allow meeting attendees to join the meeting before the host (leader), or choose to engage the Personal Meeting ID for this meeting.
      • Calendar — The meeting leader may choose to engage a specific calendar for this meeting. If the Other option is selected, the meeting invitation will automatically appear on the screen after selecting Schedule.
    • Keep in mind that the creator of the meeting is automatically the meeting host. The host may choose to:
      • Allow meeting participants the join the meeting before the host.
      • Allow meeting participants to access Audio and Video (webcam) immediately upon entering the meeting environment.
  3. To set the meeting, select the Schedule button.

Invite Participants to a Meeting

After scheduling a meeting, a meeting invitation is created that includes a link to the meeting and the meeting ID. Meeting hosts may choose to share this information with meeting participants in a variety of ways, including:

  • Copy the full meeting invitation and paste it into a new email.
  • Copy the invitation and paste it into a new announcement in the learning management system.

Starting a Meeting with the Zoom Desktop Application

Follow the steps below to start your Zoom meeting via the Zoom desktop application and engage your Zoom account. Please note that the meeting host may select the Start icon to begin the meeting at any time in case you need to start the meeting early. 

  1. Open the desktop application and sign in (choose the SSO option). 
  2. Select the Meetings icon at the top of the Zoom application window (See Fig. 5).
    Figure 5: Zoom Meetings icon
  3. If necessary, select the Upcoming tab and move the mouse over the meeting you wish to start (See Fig. 6).
    Figure 6: Upcoming meetings
  4. Select the Start button.

Additional Information for Scheduling a Meeting

To start a meeting early, select the Start button on the Upcoming tab.

To make a change to an existing meeting, such as changing the date or time, navigate to the Upcoming tab and select the Edit button for that meeting.

Modified on: Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 9:32 AM

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