With work from home going on, it looks like video conferencing and messaging applications are suddenly holding the world together.

 

Let's summarize some useful features and shortcuts with Zoom.

 

Mute/umute mic: (note your app needs to be in focus or else the shortcut won't work)

Alt + A

 

Show video / hide video: (note your app needs to be in focus or else the shortcut won't work)

Alt + V

 

Virtual backgrounds:

One of the first things I did when I start using Zoom is get myself a green screen because virtual backgrounds are a way to make the video conferencing experience more professional and distraction-free. I am using an aqua single-use table cloth. These are usually easily available for $1-2 at the local dollar store in the section with the birthday party supplies. Get a colour that is as close to green as possible. It doesn't have to be green but any clour that's not close to your skin colour, hair colour or clothing is good since the video conferencing app basically do live Photoshop where they replace a chosen colour with the virtual background image, and if that colour is the same as your skin or hair, you disappear and become part of the background :0 In most cases this is undesirable.

 

Setting up a Zoom meeting:

There is a useful Outlook plug-in which can be downloaded. It automatically syncs with the Outlook contacts and calendars. If not using the Outlook plugin, use the "Schedule" option to obtain a link then copy the link to whoever requires access to the meeting.

 

Start / Stop Screenshare:

Alt + S

Note only one person can screen share at one time.

 

Whiteboard & Annotations:

In work-from-home situations, one of the experiences hard to duplicate is a group whiteboarding session where everyone can freely draw and modify content on the whiteboard. Zoom makes this slightly easier by having a whiteboard option in the screensharing options. The awkward part is having to write with a mouse. It might be a good idea to get a drawing tablet to make this easier.