Phil Simon is an award-winning author of ten books, including Slack For Dummies. He is a recognized technology authority, dynamic trainer and public speaker, college professor- for-hire, and consultant. You can find Phil at www.philsimon.com or on Twitter at @philsimon.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 4

Beyond the Book 5

Where to Go from Here 5

Thank You 6

Part 1: Staying Connected with Zoom 7

Chapter 1: Communicating and Collaborating Better with Zoom 9

Introducing Zoom 9

Discovering Zoom’s origins 10

Understanding what Zoom does 11

Reviewing the numbers behind Zoom’s rapid ascent 13

Assessing how COVID-19 changed Zoom’s trajectory 14

Reviewing Zoom’s industry awards and recognition 16

Analyzing Zoom’s competitive landscape 17

Reaping the Benefits of Zoom’s Tools 23

Zoom solves some of today’s key communications problems 23

Zoom makes people more productive 24

Zoom just works 25

Zoom is affordable 26

Zoom is flexible and interoperable 26

Zoom stays in its lane 27

Zoom lets people rediscover their humanity 28

Chapter 2: Getting to Know Zoom’s Suite of Communication Tools 29

Zoom’s Core Services 30

Ready to Go 31

Zoom Meetings & Chat 31

Zoom Video Webinars 37

Some Assembly Required 39

Zoom Rooms 39

Zoom Phone 43

Part 2: Communicating and Collaborating in Zoom 45

Chapter 3: Setting Up Zoom 47

Taking Your First Steps 47

Creating a new Zoom account 48

Modifying your Zoom plan 52

Downloading and installing the Zoom desktop client 54

Signing in to the Zoom desktop client 56

Completing your Zoom profile 57

Getting to know the Zoom UI 58

Reviewing Zoom Account Management 59

Adding new users to your Zoom account 60

Deactivating existing accounts 61

Deleting existing users from your Zoom account 62

Unlinking users from your Zoom account 63

Unlocking the power of Zoom user groups 64

Discussing the Importance of Zoom Roles 67

Reviewing Zoom’s default roles 67

Creating new user roles 68

Changing an existing user’s role 69

Chapter 4: Connecting with Others via Zoom Meetings 71

Getting Started with Zoom Meetings 72

Reviewing Zoom’s meeting-specific roles 72

Locating your personal Zoom information 74

Augmenting your Zoom meetings 75

Hosting Zoom Meetings 78

Inviting others to your current meeting 80

Planning a future Zoom meeting 82

Letting others in to your current meeting 89

Joining others’ Zoom meetings 90

Putting your best foot forward 93

Performing Mid-Meeting Actions 95

Reviewing your recording options 95

Using virtual backgrounds 97

Managing and interacting with meeting participants 99

Launching live polls 100

Using breakout rooms during meetings 102

Sharing content with meeting participants 105

Putting a Bow on Your Meeting 115

Viewing meeting transcriptions 116

Accessing your recorded meetings 117

Chapter 5: Getting to Know the Other Side of Zoom Meetings & Chat 121

Managing Your Zoom Contacts 122

Adding contacts to your Zoom directory 123

Removing an existing contact from your Meetings & Chat directory 125

Inviting an existing Zoom contact to a new meeting 126

Adding internal contacts to an existing meeting 126

Performing contact-specific actions 127

Understanding User Status in Zoom 128

Getting familiar with Zoom’s status icons 129

Changing your status in Meetings & Chat 130

Staying current with Zoom notifications 133

Chatting in Zoom 134

Exchanging messages with your individual Zoom contacts 134

Holding group chats 136

Creating threads in Zoom 139

Saving message drafts 141

Editing and deleting your messages 141

Referencing other Zoom members in a group discussion 142

Adding some flair to your messages 143

Uploading and sharing files in Zoom 146

Sending screen captures 148

Performing message-specific actions 149

Searching in Zoom 150

Performing basic Zoom searches 150

Performing more advanced Zoom searches 153

Performing searches with wildcards 155

Part 3: Becoming a Zoom Power User 157

Chapter 6: Getting Even More Out of Meetings & Chat 159

Managing Users via IM Groups 160

Understanding the need for IM groups 160

Adding a new IM group 161

Adding users to IM groups 162

Exploring Additional Options and Features in Meetings & Chat 163

Understanding Zoom Channels 163

Refining your Zoom notifications 174

Sharing code snippets 178

Running Reports in Zoom 181

Reviewing Zoom’s role-based reporting 182

Running a simple report 185

Customizing your reports 186

Exporting raw report data 188

Chapter 7: Enhancing Zoom with Third-Party Apps 189

Understanding the Rationale behind Third-Party Apps 190

Benefits of using third-party apps 190

Why Zoom relies upon external developers 191

Introducing the Zoom App Marketplace 192

Searching for a specific Zoom app 193

Browsing for Zoom apps 194

Managing Your Zoom Apps 195

Installing a Zoom app 196

Uninstalling a Zoom app 197

Viewing your organization’s installed apps 199

Restricting apps in Meetings & Chat 199

Limiting apps that members can install 200

Recommending a Few Useful Zoom Apps 202

Treading Lightly with Apps 204

Chapter 8: Connecting with the Masses through Webinars 207

Taking Your First Steps 208

Creating your first Zoom webinar 209

Setting your registration options 210

Preparing for your webinar 212

Reviewing Zoom’s webinar-specific roles 217

Taking Zoom webinars up a notch with third-party apps and integrations 223

Canceling your webinar 224

Running Your Webinar 225

Launching your webinar 225

Sharing and annotating your screen 228

Interacting with webinar attendees 230

Concluding Your Webinar 236

Accessing your recorded webinar and sharing it with the world 236

Downloading your recorded webinar 238

Running webinar-related reports 239

Deleting your recorded webinars 241

Part 4: Deploying Zoom in the Organization 243

Chapter 9: Protecting Your Communications in Zoom 245

Putting Zoom’s Challenges into Proper Context 246

Understanding creative destruction 246

Managing the double-edged sword of sudden, massive growth 247

Zoombombing 247

Gauging Zoom’s Response 251

Bringing Zoom’s privacy and security settings to the forefront 252

Enhancing its encryption method 253

Enabling default passwords and waiting rooms for all meetings 255

Increasing the length of meeting and webinar IDs 255

Configuring Zoom for Maximum Privacy and Security 256

Keeping Zoom up to date 256

Enabling two-factor authentication 260

Authenticating user profiles 264

Intelligently using passwords 267

Following Zoom’s best security practices 272

Using your brain 274

Looking toward the Future 276

Chapter 10: Taking Group Meetings to the Next Level with Zoom Rooms 279

Revisiting the Early Days of Immersive-Telepresence Technology 280

TelePresence by Cisco Systems 280

Halo by Hewlett-Packard 281

The underwhelming results of early immersive-telepresence technology 282

Introducing Zoom Rooms 283

Features of Zoom Rooms 283

Cost and functionality 284

The types of environments that typically benefit from Zoom Rooms 284

Setting Up Your Zoom Room 285

Software 285

Hardware 286

Lighting 291

Chapter 11: Making Calls with Zoom Phone 293

Getting Started with Zoom Phone 294

Adding Zoom Phone to your existing plan 294

Setting up Zoom to receive inbound calls 296

Setting up Zoom to make outbound calls 298

Reviewing the Basic Features of Zoom Phone 302

Before distributing your Zoom Phone number 303

Talking to people via Zoom Phone 306

Performing other call-related actions 309

Chapter 12: Getting Everyone to Zoom Together 313

Understanding the Relative Ease of Zoom Adoption 314

Zoom is remarkably easy to use 314

Zoom doesn’t step on email’s toes 314

Zoom doesn’t require people to rethink how they work 315

Zoom benefits from network effects 317

Applying Different Types of Techniques 318

Organizational techniques 318

Individual techniques 321

Chapter 13: Zooming toward the Future 325

Cutting-Edge Technologies 326

Augmented reality 326

Virtual reality 326

Artificial intelligence and machine learning 327

Voice 329

Better voice transcriptions 330

More useful commands 330

Real-time language translation 331

Other Developments and Enhancements 331

More robust third-party apps 331

Key acquisitions and partnerships 332

Increased security 332

Part 5: The Part of Tens 335

Chapter 14: Ten Great Zoom Tips 337

Try Before You Buy 337

Consider Upgrading Your Firm’s Existing Zoom Plan 338

Take Security Seriously 338

Keep Zoom Updated 339

Create a Personal Zoom Account 339

Explore Zoom’s Advanced Features 340

Measure Twice and Cut Once 340

Develop a Contingency Plan for Important Meetings 340

Expect Some Resistance to Zoom at Mature Firms 341

Avoid Zoom Fatigue 342

Chapter 15: Ten Common Myths about Zoom 343

Zoom Is No Different than Legacy Videoconferencing Tools 343

Zoom Is Fundamentally Insecure 344

Zoom’s Customers Use the Tools in a Uniform Way 344

Zoom Ensures Flawless Business Communication 345

Zoom Decimates the Need for In-Person Communication 345

Zoom Eliminates the Need for Email 346

You Can’t Overuse Zoom 346

Zoom Is Too Expensive for Our Company 347

Zoom Won’t Integrate with Our Key Enterprise Technologies 348

Our Workers Don’t Need a Tool like Zoom 348

Only Hipsters at Tech-Savvy Startups Use Zoom 348

Chapter 16: Top Ten or So Zoom Resources 349

Resources for Everyday Users 350

Zoom support 350

Zoom training 351

Zoom on YouTube 351

Zoom apps 351

Zoom blog 351

Zoomtopia 352

Zoom virtual backgrounds 352

Zoom on social networks 352

Resources for Software Developers 353

Zoom developer guides 353

Developer forums 353

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Socialize via Zoom 355

Cooking and Eating Meals 355

Visiting Sick Friends and Family Members 356

Dating 356

Sharing a Few Drinks over Happy Hour 356

Playing Brick-and-Mortar Games 356

Playing Video Games 356

Watching Movies and TV Shows 357

Performing Stand-Up Comedy 357

Staying Fit 357

Holding Miscellaneous Parties 357

Index 359

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