Zoom is fighting back quickly to regain its numero uno position in video conferencing after being driven to the wall because of privacy issues. It has released version 5.0 to address and fix privacy and security issues. Meeting passwords are now turned on by default, as is the Waiting Room feature. Attendees have to wait in a virtual waiting room to be admitted. The host’s menu bar controls the security features. Through this, you can restrict screen sharing, mute other users, throw out participants and lock meetings. Zoom also upgraded to AES 256-bit GCM encryption, which means more protection and privacy for meetings. Older Zoom clients downloaded onto a computer will not work after May 30 unless they are updated.

Zoom is still popular because it has the best interface among competitors. It offers a balance of features that are suitable for everybody, especially teachers and students. The whiteboard, which can be written or typed on, is a boon for meetings and online classes. But that is not all.

Video conferences work best when you download the client onto your desktop or the app onto your phone. Zoom is great for enjoying a virtual party while in isolation. You can fix your background to a beach or outer space or a party setting of your choice. Go to Settings-Virtual background and select and upload the image from there. Click on the Reaction tab at the bottom of the meeting screen and choose the emoji you want to send to express your feelings.

Beauty filter

You can even look better with Zoom’s beauty filter. Navigate to Settings-Video. From there, check the box for “Touch up my appearance”, and Zoom will soften the focus on your camera, making your skin glow. You can even set up Zoom to show the names of people you are on call with. Go to Settings-Video and click the box for “Always display participants name on their video”.

You can connect Zoom with other apps such as Zapier to automate your work. Zapier is a global automation tool that helps you to connect your apps like Gmail, Slack and others to cut down on repetitive tasks and focus on what is important. Since you don’t need to know to code, anyone can build their own workflow. If you have a lot of regular meetings, you may connect your scheduling app such as Setmore or Vcita with Zoom and your preferred calendar, say Google Calendar. Whenever someone books an appointment in a scheduling app, Zapier will automatically create a Zoom meeting and add it to your calendar app. You can add another step and share the meeting details with your team via a chat app like Slack.

When you share your screen during a conference, choose Annotate from the options that appear on the top. Now you will be able to highlight, write text, draw an arrow or circle and so forth. You can save your complete image as a screenshot. You can also disable attendee annotation altogether if you don’t want collaborative annotations.

To restrict screen sharing, go to Zoom’s website and log in. Under Settings-Meeting (Basic) you will find the options to control screen sharing. You should block others from sharing files. In Setting, scroll down to File transfer and turn off “Hosts and participants can send files through in-meeting chat”. This is especially useful when you are having a party. You don’t want somebody to send a virus to you.

Some tips:

To enable local recording, go to Zoom’s website and log in. Click on the Settings and then on the Recording tab. Turn on Local Recording. On the computer, long-press the space bar during a meeting to unmute yourself. Press Cmd+Ctrl+M (macOS) or Alt+M (Windows) when you are the meeting host and want to mute everyone else on the line. Press Cmd+I (macOS) or Alt+I (Windows) to jump to the Invite window to invite someone instantly. Press Cmd+Shift+S (macOS) or Alt+Shift+S (Windows) to share your screen.