Zoom is a cloud-based solution for video and audio conferencing, mobile collaboration, and online meetings and Webinars. Zoom's web-based conferencing uses high-quality video and audio and is accessible on MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android mobile devices. Additionally, Zoom can be used with conventional phone lines for audio conferencing.
Topics covered in this guide
Note: Alumni, Emeriti, and Retirees with IT Services are not currently eligible for UW-Madison Zoom.
Anytime you are ready. If you are already familiar with Zoom this may be a good time to adopt UW–Madison Zoom. If you have never used Zoom before, please consider using a UW–Madison supported tool you are familiar with until you have an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the service.
If you currently have an existing Zoom account that is associated with your @wisc.edu email address, prior to logging into the UW-Madison Zoom service, please see our Zoom migration article for instructions.
If you do not currently have a Zoom account associated with your @wisc.edu email address, you can create your account by going to https://uwmadison.zoom.us and logging in. For more information please see our Getting Started document for your first steps, additional Zoom resources and training options.
Yes.
Zoom can be accessed via a modern browser or desktop client - see UW-Madison Zoom - Getting started article for instructions.
You will use your UW-Madison NetID credentials to access Zoom. See above for who can access UW-Madison's Zoom implementation.
All UW-Madison faculty/staff/students will be assigned the educational license, everyone else will have the basic license. Campus leadership is currently reviewing licensing designations for all other UW-Madison affiliates.
Office 365 service accounts are not automatically activated for Zoom. Please see UW-Madison Zoom - Getting Started with Service Accounts if you want to request activation for your service account.
Anyone with a valid email address. Depending on the settings for the meeting, participation can be limited to those with a Zoom account (any Zoom tenant or consumer Zoom is fine).
Yes. As long as they are logging into their personal Zoom account via the web client using the same email account they were invited with.
DISCLAIMER: There is a setting which can be disabled that would allow any unauthenticated user to attend the meeting anonymously as long as they have the meeting URL. We do not support or recommend allowing unauthenticated users to attend your meetings because you could be subject to Zoom Bombing. Learn more about this setting.
Yes. You can save in-meeting chats to your computer or the Zoom Cloud either manually or automatically. If you save the chat locally to your computer, it will save any chats that you can see—those sent directly to you and those sent to everyone in the meeting or webinar. If you save the chat to the cloud, it will only save chats that were sent to everyone and messages sent while you were cloud recording. Learn more.
Yes. There are 3 video layouts when no one in the meeting is screen sharing: Active Speaker View, Gallery View, and floating thumbnail window. When someone is screen sharing, you can use Side-by-side Mode or view the screen share with Active Speaker View. Any of these layouts can be used in full screen or windowed mode, with the exception of the floating thumbnail view. Learn more.
Yes. By default, automatic recordings are disabled. Your recording settings allow you to enable or disable recording features for your meetings. These settings control the availability of recordings and the protection of our students. The UW-Madison defaults have been vetted and put in place by the UW-Madison Cybersecurity Office. Learn more.
Yes. Local recordings don't support the following features:
If you require these features, use cloud recording.
Frequently asked questions about local and cloud recording.
Yes. After 150 days, your cloud recording will be deleted. UW-Madison's use of Zoom’s Cloud Video Storage System was never, and is not, intended to provide persistent hosted storage for sharing or playback. The cloud recording feature is intended to accommodate easy recording and transcoding of recorded content directly to Zoom’s service. Learn more about this setting. If you need to save your recording for future use, we recommend storing them in a video hosting service.
Yes. Your settings allow you to enable or disable features for your meetings. These settings control the availability of your meeting features, such as breakout rooms and chat. The UW-Madison defaults have been vetted and put in place by the UW-Madison Cybersecurity Office to support classroom use. People who are using UW-Madison Zoom outside of the classroom may want to adjust these settings to meet their needs. Learn more.
Yes. Zoom allows you to schedule meetings with multiple occurrences, so that each occurrence uses the same meeting ID and settings. Learn more.
There are a handful of participant settings you can control within a meeting or virtual classroom (webinar) setting.
Anyone within the event can be assigned to be a host or co-host.
In the case of passing host controls to another user, if the original host is a licensed UW-Madison Zoom user, then the meeting can continue for an unlimited amount of time once the controls are handed off, even if the user who received the host controls is external (a non-UW-Madison user) to our tenant - the only caveat is that the control can only be passed to the external user (a non-UW-Madison user) after the external user has joined the event.
Yes. Zoom allows you share your screen, but with some restrictions. Learn more.
Yes. Learn more.
Yes. The polling feature allows you to create single choice or multiple choice polling questions for your meetings or webinars.
No. At this time, we have not purchased any licenses for Zoom Rooms. If you would like to provide feedback regarding this feature, please submit your request per our Zoom Advisory so that leadership can review and process your request.
No. This feature requires audio conferencing plan for Zoom. If you would like to provide feedback regarding this feature, please submit your request per our Zoom Advisory so that leadership can review and process your request.
Yes. Please view the Zoom device support list to see if your device is supported and can be managed. Learn more.
If you need to activate your device, please contact the Zoom Implementation/Support Team at zoom-support@doit.wisc.edu.
Yes. The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one by one, or hold all attendees in the Waiting Room and admit them all at once. You can send all participants to the Waiting Room when joining your meeting, or you can allow participants from your Zoom account and participants at specified domains to bypass the Waiting Room. Learn more.
Yes. Zoom provides multiple options to live stream an event. Important: While YouTube can be used to stream live events, the YouTube application is not covered by the UW-Madison G-Suite terms of service and is not supported. Learn more.
Yes. The whiteboard feature will allow you to share a whiteboard that you and other participants (if allowed) can annotate on. Learn more.
Yes. The Virtual Background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom Meeting. Learn more.
UW-Madison also has preset virtual backgrounds that can be used within Zoom.
Yes. Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 100 separate sessions/rooms with each room containing up to 1000 participants. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time. Learn more.
Note: Only the host can manage breakout rooms.
Yes. There are 3 video layouts when no one in the meeting is screen sharing: Active Speaker View, Gallery View, and floating thumbnail window. When someone is screen sharing, you can use Side-by-side Mode or view the screen share with Active Speaker View or Gallery View. Any of these layouts can be used in full screen or windowed mode, with the exception of the floating thumbnail view. Learn more.
Yes. Follow steps outlined within the add Zoom for Outlook add-in article. Note: Zoom recommends using the web client to modify/manage details/settings for the event since it will allow you to see all the settings available on the event.
Zoom is contractually required to protect the privacy and data of the UW-Madison licensed users. We have also implemented additional security controls to protect our users. See Terms of Service and Privacy article for more information.
No. It can be, but it is not by default. HIPAA Zoom requires a specific account configuration to ensure BAA compliance. We will have more information on a HIPAA compliant Zoom offering in the coming weeks.
UW-Madison’s WebEx instance is a fully supported, HIPAA compliant tool available now for those use cases as needed. If you are a part of the UW-Madison Health Care Component, contact your HIPAA Privacy or Security Coordinator with questions about the applications best suited for creating, storing, and sharing PHI.
Please contact the DoIT Help Desk and provide your HIPAA requirements for further discussion with the Zoom support team.
Yes. Zoom’s solution and security architecture provides encryption and meeting access controls so data in transit cannot be intercepted. Zoom does not have access to identifiable health information and we protect and encrypt all audio, video, and screen sharing data.
“Zoombombing” is when an unauthorized person or stranger joins a Zoom meeting/event/chat session and causes disorder by saying offensive things and even photobombing your event by sharing pornographic and hate images. UW-Madison Zoom - Secure Meetings and Webinars.
Zoom integration with Canvas is now available with limited support. Individuals who do not have experience with Zoom are encouraged to continue to use BlackBoard Collaborate while we work towards increasing documentation and support availability for this integration.
Live transcription and documentation will be available by the end of January 2021.
No.
Please contact the DoIT Help Desk.
As we roll out the UW-Madison Zoom service, we will be relying on the excellent documentation and resources provided by Zoom. You will notice limited UW-Madison Knowledge Base documentation and training information initially. We will be expanding on these resources as we continue to move forward.
As always, please contact DoIT Help Desk with any questions or feedback that you may have and we will do our best to get your questions answered as quickly as possible.
DoIT is not staffed to provide this support. You are encouraged to view training sessions for an introduction to the Zoom application. Zoom’s Support Center also provides recorded video and live webinar training options.
You will be prompted to migrate your zoom.us account to UW-Madison's Zoom tenant. Learn more.
Please contact UW-Madison Business Services Department to discuss your needs and understanding campus requirements/restrictions/policy.
The main difference between the two is the Basic Licenses allows for up to 100 participants with a 40 minute time limit for each meeting. The UW-Madison Education License allows for up to 300 participants with a 24 hour limit for each meeting (Compare the complete list of features offered by the different plan types). Other additional features include:
The Meeting and Webinar platforms offer similar features and functionality but have some key differences.
Meetings are designed to be a collaborative event with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio and screen. Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, Chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees. Attendees in webinars, can not rename themselves as well.
If you see lots of participants and no Q/A feature, then you are in a meeting.
Yes. Your meeting will automatically end based on the idle time, type of account, number of participants. These time limits apply to meetings and webinars regardless of the device used to start the meeting (client, app, or phone). Learn more.
All participants except for hosts/co-hosts.
Please review the Zoom billing management article for complete details. You can also contact Zoom billing (billing@zoom.us) if you have further questions.