Information Technology Services

Zoom is available to all current Brandeis faculty, staff, and students. To obtain an account, simply click the "Login" button at the top of this page. Log in with your Brandeis username and password on the Brandeis login page and you will automatically be provisioned an account.  For additional help getting started, please email webconferencing@brandeis.edu.

Watch a training video with step-by-step instructions for setting up your account.

• Host meetings with up to 300 participants
• Host webinars with up to 500 viewers
• Record your meetings locally to your computer or to the cloud for easy sharing
• Join meetings via your computer, mobile app (iOS and Android) or via telephone
• Participants do not need accounts to join a meeting (only hosts/moderators need accounts)
• Screen sharing for presentations and collaboration (with audio and full-motion video)
• Advanced features for online learning including breakout rooms, polling, and whiteboarding.
• HD video up to 720p
• Browser plug-ins for Google Chrome and Firefox for easy Google calendar scheduling

• Teaching classes remotely
• Faculty office hours
• Interdepartmental meetings
• Guest speakers/lectures
• Job interviews
• Student project collaboration
• Conference calling
• Keep in touch with colleagues, family and friends

Web conferencing requires a webcam and a microphone or telephone (most webcams include an internal microphone). Your laptop or desktop monitor may already have a webcam and microphone built-in. Webcams are available for loan from Media Technology Services or feel free to reach out to us for recommendations on equipment purchasing by emailing webconferencing@brandeis.edu.

Zoom meetings can be joined via the following options:

• Mac or PC (download the application)
• Mobile device (via the app for iOS and Android) 
• Call in via a standard telephone

There are a several ways to invite people to a meeting:

• You can simply send your personal meeting ID link to other participants, which will always be https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/<your personal meeting ID>
• If you schedule a meeting, it will create a Google Calendar event that you can invite people to join. The calendar invitation will include all of the information they need to join.
• You can setup a "personal vanity URL" which will like directly to your personal meeting ID. This way, you simply tell participants to go to 'https://brandeis.zoom.us/my/<personal link>' and they can join your meeting. 
• Consider installing the Chrome or Firefox browser extensions, which make it easy to schedule or start a meeting from the browser menu bar. The browser extension can be downloaded from zoom.us/download

It is recommended that you generally use your personal meeting ID by starting "Instant Meetings", rather than using the "Schedule a Meeting" tool. By using your personal meeting ID, you can simply tell people to join you by going to zoom.us/j/<personal meeting ID>, which will be the same for all of your meetings. If you schedule a meeting using the scheduling tool, the meeting will have the option to be assigned a unique ID which can be difficult to keep track of if you schedule a lot of meetings. 

Learn more about your Personal Meeting ID.

To ensure your meeting participants are prepared for the meeting, you can share the Zoom Guide for Participants, which includes all of the information participants will need to join a Zoom meeting for the first time.

Download: It is recommended that new users download the software and test their equipment prior to their first meeting. To download the software, either click on the Zoom link sent to you by the host, which will prompt the software to download, or you can download it directly from Zoom

Test: You can test your video and audio by following these step-by-step instructions.

Zoom cloud recordings will be saved on Zoom's cloud for 180 days. For users with a Brandeis Echo360 account, recordings will automatically be copied to their Echo360 library where they will be hosted for 18 months. Any recordings that need to be kept permanently should be downloaded and stored locally by the user.

Zoombombing is a new form of internet trolling to disrupt Zoom meetings. The uninvited participant joins your meeting and disrupts it by taking over the Screen Sharing feature to share explicit images or videos or the Chat feature to post inflammatory comments.

Below are several security best practices to secure your Zoom meeting and reduce the risk of Zoombombing as much as possible. For detailed information visit the Zoom Security Resources webpage.

When scheduling a meeting

• Require Meeting Password: as a meeting host, you can enable settings in your Zoom user account. Passwords should not be shared outside of intended participants. 
• Enable waiting room: attendees cannot join a meeting until a host or co-host admits them individually from the waiting room. Recommended for a class or meeting with a small participant list.
• Set screen sharing to host only: meeting hosts can disable screen sharing for all attendees in user account settings. As the host, you can still grant individuals the ability to share in the Participants window during a meeting.

During a meeting

• Join meeting as the host: when you start up your Zoom meeting, make sure you start it as the host, rather than clicking the invitation link and joining as a participant.
• Remove uninvited or problem participant(s): if you notice an unwanted guest has joined or a participant is disruptive to the meeting, you have the option to remove them.
• Lock Meeting: You can prevent anyone new from joining the meeting by “closing the door”. This is done in the bottom-right of the Participants window. 
• Mute all: as the host, you can mute all participants in the Participants window. You can also stop participants from unmuting themselves and ask participants to redirect questions or input to the Chat window.

• Disable chat: allow participants to chat with the host only by using the setting in the chat window.

Links to key documentation can be found on the Brandeis Zoom landing page at brandeis.zoom.us.

• For questions, contact webconferencing@brandeis.edu.
• Zoom's online support center offers comprehensive and up-to-date documentation on all of Zoom's features. The site is easily searchable and is a good place to start for information on how to use Zoom and Zoom's many features. Please visit support.zoom.us.
• You can request a one-on-one with Media Technology Services to discuss your individual needs and to ensure that you know everything you need to use Zoom. To setup a consultation, email webconferencing@brandeis.edu.