Audio & Visual (AV)

• There may be multiple reasons why audio and/or video is not functioning correctly related to speakers, headphones, microphones, camera, settings/permissions, etc.

• Be sure to check your Zoom Desktop Client Audio and Video Settings

Some general questions to consider:

• In your system preferences or security/privacy settings, did you give Zoom appropriate permissions to access your microphone/camera (e.g., webcam blocked)?

• Did you allow camera/microphone access when joining a meeting?

• Is your camera off? Microphone muted?

• Is your computer’s audio setting muted/too low or high?

• Is your Zoom audio setting (input and output) muted/too low or high?

• Is there a faulty connection with your devices/cables?

• If your device is plug-in, is the cable fully inserted in the input jack?

• Is your Internet (Ethernet/WiFi) connection reliable?

• Do you have a strong enough bandwidth? Do you need a WiFi booster?

• Are you using Bluetooth devices or have a cell phone nearby that may interfere with service?

• Are other people using your network and affecting your bandwidth (esp. streaming services like Netflix)?

• Have you tried leaving/re-joining the meeting?

• Have you tried closing/relaunching the Zoom desktop client or app?

• Have you tried restarting your computer or device?

• Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling the Zoom desktop client or app?

• Is your Zoom account updated?

Control/Organize View

• • Zoom has these video layouts: Active Speaker, Gallery View, Immersive View, & Mini.

  • Gallery View is what lets you see everyone on the Zoom call in a grid format. Depending on your computer’s CPU, you can display up to 49 participants in one Gallery View page

  • If more than 49 people are in the meeting, 49 thumbnails are displayed on each page. You can use the arrow to switch between Gallery View pages

  • You can scroll through pages in Gallery view to see up to 1,000 participant thumbnails

Customizing Gallery View Organization

• • Participants and hosts can now customize how videos are arranged in Gallery View. This is done by clicking and dragging videos the order participants’ videos show on their screens in Gallery View mode.

  • Individual attendees may customize this for their own displays without impacting the meeting settings, or by the host to give all meeting participants the same custom view (ala assigned seating)

  • 3-minute video demonstration of rearranging thumbnails in Gallery View

  • Hosts can apply or release custom changes to thumbnail orders in meeting View options (where you toggle between Gallery/Speaker View):

    • Select “Follow Host’s Video Order” to apply custom Gallery View Order to meeting participants

    • Select “Release Video Order” to return to default Gallery View order

  • Zoom update 5.9.0 allows meeting hosts to save custom gallery view order where they can save the customized gallery view order for subsequent meetings. The customized gallery order is saved to each unique meeting ID, which allows the host to load the saved customized gallery order to avoid continually customizing the gallery order for each meeting

Gallery View Default Thumbnail Organization

• • According to Zoom’s Help Desk/product engineers, there is no regular rule for the Gallery View video thumbnail order and arrangement. However, the design is supposed to show as follows:

1. Yourself

2. Meeting hosts (if different than yourself)

3. Other participants with video (ordered by whoever comes first based on Zoom’s meeting server)

4. Non-video participants will be displayed after participants with video (unless hidden by participant)

Immersive View

• Access via "View" option at top right of Zoom screen

• Allows you to recreate the feel of a classroom by placing 2-25 video participants onto a single virtual background "scene"

• Participants are automatically placed onto provided scenes

• Host can place participants manually or automatically, as well as place themselves in the front of the "classroom" scene

• Host may also press the "+" button when selecting Immersion View to add their own custom background with 25 seat capacity

• Need to enable this feature in your web browser advanced settings

• While this does not require use of the Virtual Background feature, it does work best when everyone has this functionality

• When used in a webinar, the host and panelists will be placed together onto the virtual background, while attendees view the scene

Limitations (Displays - General)

• Custom Gallery View features may not be available or visible unless a Zoom user updates their desktop client to version 5.30 or higher

• Custom Gallery View features do not apply to Speaker View

• Most CPUs with Intel i5 or higher can have up to 25 while CPUs with Intel i7+ and a dual core processor can have up to 49 attendees on screen at once--consult this link for configuration prerequisites

• Android and iPhone users can view only 4 participants at a time on their phone’s screen. While iPad users view up to 9 participants at a time

• If the option to show 49 participants is not available to you, then it means that your computer does not meet the minimum system requirements for this feature

• While using dual monitors in the desktop, client gallery view will still only be shown on one monitor

Limitations (Immersive View)

• Feature currently does not work in Breakout Rooms

• Immersive View seating arrangements need to be made every meeting or session

• Hard to see thumbnail toolbar reactions, or physical reactions (e.g., raised hand) in certain background settings

• Only host can manage this feature and move attendees around in the background

• Participants using older Zoom versions before 5.6.4 will view other attendees with a dark background in either Gallery View or Speaker View (whichever was used before Immersive View started)

Watch this 2-minute video demonstration of new Zoom multi-pin and multi-spotlight features.

• Note: there are different instructions for pinning and spotlighting participants’ screens on the Zoom Desktop Client, Zoom Mobile App, and Zoom Rooms

• There is not currently a way to set this up for recurring meetings; these features need to be re-applied each time

Pin Video

• • Allows you to disable active speaker view and view 1-9 specific speakers

  • Will only record the pinned video if you are recording locally (to your computer) vs. cloud

  • Will only affect your view and not the view of other participants

  • Will only affect your local view/recordings, not cloud recordings

  • Note: if not a host or co-host, will require host permission to multi-pin. This can be given in the Participants Menu

Spotlight Video

• • Makes 1-9 participants the primary active speaker for all participants

  • Participants will only see spotlighted speaker(s) as the active speaker(s)

  • Feature often used to spotlight a keynote speaker

  • Must be a host or have host privileges

  • Requires 3+ participants with video on (2+ for webinars)

To disable private chat/messages:

• • You can disable the private chat function between attendees in your In Meeting settings. Open chat > click on the 3 dots > select who participants can chat with.

To use emojis or "non-verbal feedback" in meetings:

• • In meeting: Click on Reactions or Participants

  • In Reactions, emojis will appear as selectable options

Limitations & Best Practices

• • Confirm with users that they all have the same non-verbal response options before requiring their use, or consider using both virtual and physical cues (e.g., students actually raise hand in video).

If you are experiencing issues with Virtual Background, try the following troubleshooting tips:

• If you do not have the Virtual Background tab in your Desktop Client settings after enabling it, sign out of the client and sign in again

• Manually pick the background color to ensure the correct color is selected. This option is only available after you click an image

• Ensure that the background is a solid color with minimal shadows. Also ensure the background is uniform in lighting. A 3 point lighting setup is ideal

• If using a green screen, ensure that your green screen color does not match your shirt or eye color

• If not using a green screen, avoid selecting the “I have a green screen” option to prevent partial/unclear streaming and video imagery.

• Depending on your computer, you may not be able to support a Virtual Background

Recommended Setup:

• To achieve the best virtual background effect, Zoom recommends using a solid color background, preferably green. Recommended green screens from Webaround or Amazon

• Higher quality cameras result in a better virtual background. See camera recommendations for details

• Use uniform lighting and color

• Do not wear clothing that is the same color as the virtual background

• No green screen? You can still make a virtual background look just as good if you have a solid, well-lit background (e.g., blank white wall) or a solid-colored curtain or sheet behind you

If you hear audio echo or audio feedback during your meeting, there are 3 possible causes:

1. A participant has both the computer and telephone audio active

2. Participants with computer or telephones speakers that are too close to each other

3. Multiple computers with active audio in the same conference room

Visit this link for more troubleshooting tips: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202050538-Audio-Echo-In-A-Meeting