My workplace uses Zoom for all of our internal and client meetings. Therefore, I use a number of Zoom features and integrations to maximize my efficiency and provide the best possible experience for my clients. I highly recommend utilizing these suggestions if you are also a regular Zoom user for work or personal use.
Content
- 1. Sync With Google Calendar to Automatically Send Meeting Links
- 2. Change Settings to Avoid Disruptions
- 3. Use Gallery View to See All Participants
- 4. Enable Advanced Screen Sharing Features
- 5. Try the Annotation Options
- 6. Set up Otter.ai or Similar Transcript Tool
- 7. Automatically Save Recordings to Cloud Storage
1. Sync With Google Calendar to Automatically Send Meeting Links
One of Zoom’s most convenient features is its seamless integration with Google Calendar. Syncing Zoom with Google Calendar lets you avoid confusion and saves time by sending meeting links automatically. This is especially useful for recurring meetings, as the link will always be available to all participants through their calendar.
To set up your Google Calendar with Zoom, go to the Zoom App Marketplace, and search for the Google Workspace integration.
Once installed, you must grant Zoom access to your Google account. After a few clicks, every meeting on your Google Calendar will receive a Zoom meeting link automatically.
2. Change Settings to Avoid Disruptions
Working remotely is great, but it comes with its fair share of distractions. Luckily, you can minimize interruptions, like background noise or unintentional disruptions, during meetings by changing just a few settings on your Zoom account.
For example, set yourself to be muted upon entry to all meetings. This prevents background noise from others, especially if you are working at home with dogs or other family members. From either the web app or desktop app, go to Settings -> Audio, then enable Mute my microphone when joining a meeting.
Similarly, you can enable a Waiting Room so that people cannot join before you (or any host who uses your account). Log in to your account on the Web, navigate to Settings -> Meeting -> Security, then toggle the Waiting Room setting to on.
You can control several other settings as well, including disabling chat functionality, turning off (or on) screen sharing, and video controls.
3. Use Gallery View to See All Participants
Usually, Zoom meetings are meant to be collaborative. Therefore, you want to be able to view everyone at the same time. You get to control who you can see by changing your setup from Speaker View (where only the speaker is displayed) to Gallery View (where you can see up to 49 users’ video feeds simultaneously).
During any meeting, whether or not you are the host, click the View button in the top-right corner of your Zoom window. Next, select Gallery to display a grid of participants.
4. Enable Advanced Screen Sharing Features
Screen sharing can be a great way to teach or collaborate in a virtual setting. However, Zoom will default to allowing everyone to share their entire screen, which can be problematic in certain situations. By enabling some more advanced screen share settings, you can display what you intend to without distractions, whether it’s a specific application, a portion of your screen, or even just audio.
To control who has the ability to screen share, go to Settings -> In Meeting (Basic) -> Screen Sharing. You can select who can share, how many people can share at one time, and whether people can take over the screen share.
However, these aren’t the only advanced features: you can find more within live meetings. Simply click on Screen Share at the bottom of your Zoom window to open the controls.
Some settings you can change include:
- Which sections of your screen or applications you share
- Whether you wish to share sound
- Whether you want to share documents, even from cloud storage
- The layout you want for your screen share view
- Additional options, like secondary camera views, sharing video files, and using AirPlay to display something
5. Try the Annotation Options
Annotations can clarify complex points and encourage collaboration. It’s a great way for people to highlight items, draw attention to what others need to see, or to add visuals for verbal explanations. This is probably one of my favorite Zoom features.
Using the annotation tool is easy. While screen sharing, click the Annotate button in the toolbar.
Use tools – like a pen, highlighter, or text box, to annotate your screen. You can clear the annotations with the Clear button.
6. Set up Otter.ai or Similar Transcript Tool
I often struggle to capture everything said during a meeting. When that happens, it helps if I have a transcript to look back on. Zoom does record videos, but for me, just having the conversation in written format is easier to follow.
There are several tools you can use to capture transcripts, but the steps here are for using Otter.ai, as I prefer it.
Once you set up an account with Otter.ai or a similar tool, check your recording settings by going to Personal -> Settings -> Recording.
Check that the following options are set up:
- Cloud recording: Enabled
- Record audio-only files: Enabled
- Allow cloud recording sharing: Enabled
- Automatic recording: Enabled
- Record in the cloud: Enabled
- IP Address Access Control: Disabled
- Require users to authenticate before viewing cloud recordings: Disabled
- Require passcode to access shared cloud recordings: Disabled
- Set recording as on-demand by default: Disabled
Afterward, you must return to your transcription service (Otter.ai), and connect to Zoom and the transcription platform. The steps for this may vary based on your transcription program, but most are pretty straightforward.
7. Automatically Save Recordings to Cloud Storage
Although transcriptions work well for ideas spoken during a meeting, you may also need to view the video footage at a later date. Zoom makes it relatively easy to save recordings, but they can take up a ton of space on your hard drive or in Zoom’s storage. Thankfully, tools like Zapier make saving recordings automatically on Google Drive or Dropbox easy.
You will need both a Zoom and Zapier account. Once you integrate these two platforms, you can make a zap with the “New Recording” event as the trigger.
Go to Google Drive, and create a folder where you want the recordings to be uploaded. Return to Zapier, and set the action as Upload File with Google Drive, then specify the folder you created.
With a few small adjustments to your Zoom settings, you can cut down on meeting distractions, and save time. Read on to learn how to integrate Zoom with other tools like Slack and automate other parts of your workday.
Image credit: Canva. All screenshots by Megan Glosson.
Megan Glosson –
Staff Writer
Megan Glosson is a freelance technology writer based in Nashville, TN. She has extensive experience working with everything from printers to smart home systems. Megan has created thousands of articles for online publications and company blogs, including How-To Geek, Clean Email, and Review Geek. In addition to her freelance work, Megan is the Senior Content Manager for a digital marketing agency. When she’s not writing, you will probably find Megan playing board games with her partner and two children or swimming in the pool. You can check out Megan’s entire portfolio on her website, https://www.meganglosson.com/.
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