Month: June 2020

Passcode or Waiting Rooms Required for Zoom Meetings from 27 September 2020

From 27 September, Zoom will require that all meetings have a Passcode or a Waiting Room enabled. The update is designed to improve the security of your meetings.

What if I don’t have a Waiting Room or Passcode enabled by 27 September?
If neither is enabled, Zoom will automatically enable a Waiting Room for your meetings. If you already have a Passcode or Waiting Room enabled, nothing will change.

How do I enable Waiting Rooms or Passcodes?
You can log into your Zoom portal and go into settings to enable a Passcode or Waiting Room. 

Remember: If you decide to add Passcodes to an existing meeting, calendar invites will need to be resent to include the Passcode.

Find out more about the change and how it may affect you on our Zoom web pages or take a look at the article from ZOOM Support.

You can also find tips and advice to help keep your meetings and webinars secure on our Zoom advice pages.

20 updates for Microsoft Teams for Education

As learning continues to move online, Microsoft introduces a collection of new (and upcoming) features in Teams. Highlights include an expanded 7×7 gallery view, breakout rooms for small group collaboration and more analytics arriving in time for the next academic year.

Several new features will be of importance to educators and students:

  • Use a custom background for your video
  • 7×7 gallery view for group meetings
  • New Breakout Rooms to allow for smaller group discussion
  • Meeting attendees increased from 250 to 300
  • Meeting Lobby to prevent unwanted guests

The full list of features, with expected release dates, are detailed in the blog: 20 updates for Microsoft Teams for Education, including 7×7 video and Breakout Rooms

Teams 7x7 meeting view

It’s like being back on campus – University backgrounds for Teams chats

Marketing has provided a series of branded University backgrounds that you can use on your next Teams meeting.

You can download the backgrounds from the Teams Resources channel. Next time you select Background settings in a Teams meeting select +Add New and browse to the image you want to add.

NOTE: Images are mirrored ie. the University logo is reversed to you. This is CORRECT, it will appear the right way round for other meeting attendees.

You can also appear on the set of Only Fools and Horses. The BBC have released their archive of set photos as downloadable backgrounds. Enjoy!