Our regular meetings are usually available to attend via Zoom. We set up Pennswood’s OWL technology so that those on the Zoom call can see, hear, and be heard by those in the meeting room. Some who are less familiar with Zoom meetings may find the materials offered in this post helpful. Below you will find a PDF file which is a “cheat sheet” explaining the tools and controls you see on the Zoom screen. Below that are video links to brief orientation videos produced by the folks at Zoom. I’m available to coach if anything is unclear.
Zoom also provides a test portal on their website. This simulates a Zoom meeting so that you can test your computer connection and operate the various features of the Zoom screen without the need to be in an actual meeting with other people. The link for launching and joining a solo test is: https://zoom.us/test.
The video tutorials below are a sampling of the short “how to” videos available on the Zoom website. Click here to see the full selection.
A note about the OWL.
The owl camera for Zoom meetings is remarkable. It “hears” where voices are coming from in the room and focuses one of its cameras on the voice. The images are displayed as a 360 degree panorama across the top, with cameos of the speaker(s) below. Working with Zoom’s echo cancellation, the mics reduce the echo for Zoom listeners.
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Unfortunately, when we use the PA system in the Blue Room, the OWL can’t tell where the voice is coming from so the video doesn’t track the person speaking unless they talk very loud. Nevertheless, the sound quality for virtual attendees is good.