Due to the current coronavirus outbreak, many businesses have been forced to close, and those still going have become obligated to work remotely. These changes are where alternate communication methods come into play. Apps like Skype are great for one-on-one informal conversations, but what about business meetings? Zoom has entered the chat.

What is Zoom? Zoom Video Communications, founded in 2011, is a remote conferencing services company. It allows you to conduct business meetings with any individual(s) around the world, as long as they have a strong wifi connection, of course. There are options for audio-only and traditional video chatting.

Strategic Growth Advisors is here to share a definitive guide to using Zoom for business. So how do you get started using Zoom? Let’s dive right in:

Account Setup

STEP 1: 

Visit Zoom.us and select “Sign up for Free”

STEP 2: 

Enter your work email address (example: name@company.com), and click “Sign up.”

A confirmation link will be sent to your email address.

STEP 3: 

Click the “Activate Account” button in the Zoom email.

  STEP 4: 

Continue signing up for your Zoom account by filling out the form and selecting “Continue.”

STEP 5:

It is not necessary to invite colleagues to sign up for their account. We use one Zoom account at StratGrow, and team members can set up meetings from the central account. However, if you’d like your team members to have their own accounts (they can also sign up for free), go ahead and add their emails here.

STEP 6:

Select “Go to My Account” to complete your account setup.

 STEP 7:

Upgrade your account to the “Pro” plan.

Select “Upgrade Account” on the next screen.

We recommend signing up for the “Pro” plan, but you can compare the plans and their features and choose what is best for you.

  You can choose to be billed monthly or annually and add any plan add-ons. If you plan to record your webinars for future playback, you will either have to upgrade the cloud storage or save the recordings locally to the computer used for the webinar.

Continue through to the payment and billing details and select “Upgrade Now.”

Manage Users

STEP 1: 

Sign in to your Zoom account online. By default, you are taken to the Meetings page.

Navigate to the User page under the “User Management” section of the left menu.

STEP 2:

To add a new user(s), select “+ Add Users” in the top right.

Add the email address(es) of the user(s) you would like to add to your account. Basic users are users with free Zoom accounts; Licensed users are users with paid Zoom accounts.

STEP 3:

Newly added users will be sent an email to accept the request. Until they have accepted the request, these users can be found in the “Pending” tab.

STEP 4:

Once the new user has accepted the request, you can edit roles. By default, new users will be “Members.”

There are 3 roles in the accounts:

• Owner: Has all privileges, including Role Management. (Cannot be assigned to any other users.)
• Admin: Can add, remove or edit users. Can manage advanced features like API, SSO, and Meeting Connector.
• Members: Has no administrative privileges.

To edit a user’s role, click the “Edit” button next to their information on the Users page.

STEP 5:

If you need to remove a user from your account, you can delete, deactivate or unlink them.

• Deactivating a user will prevent them from signing in to their Zoom account or utilizing any features.
• Unlinking a user will give them their own basic, free Zoom account. It will not be associated with your account, and they will be able to purchase their own licenses. Before disassociation, you can transfer the user’s data (meetings, webinars, and cloud recordings) to another user.
• Deleting a user will permanently remove the user from Zoom, including their settings, meetings, webinars, and recordings. Before deletion, you can transfer the user’s data (meetings, webinars, and cloud recordings) to another user.

Select the three dots next to their information on the Users page.   Schedule & Start a Meeting

STEP 1: 

Sign in to your Zoom account online. By default, you are taken to the Meetings page.

STEP 2: 

Select “Schedule, a New Meeting” to create a new meeting.

STEP 3:

Fill out the applicable fields for the new meeting and click “Save.” For a detailed explanation of the meeting options available, please read this Zoom help article.

STEP 4:

Once you have created your Meeting, copy and paste the invitation to distribute to the attendees. (Example: add the invitation to a calendar invite or send via email.)

STEP 5:

When you are ready to start your meeting, you can navigate to the meeting in your Zoom account and start the meeting from:

The Meetings page:

The Meeting details page:

You can also start your meeting by using the Join URL (https://zoom.us/j/#########) provided in the meeting invitation.

This will prompt you to either download the Zoom software (if this is your first meeting) or to open the Zoom software (if already downloaded).

STEP 6:

Once the Zoom software launches, you will automatically start and join the meeting as the host. You can join with computer audio (recommended) or call in using the information provided in the meeting invitation.

Looking Forward

StratGrow or Strategic Growth Advisors LLC is a one-stop shop for all of your digital marketing needs. We specialize in Social Media Management, Content, SEO, branding, and much more. Feel free to contact us today.