Features & Announcements

New look and feel for Zoom desktop app

4/15/2024

According to Zoom, beginning today, April 15, they will roll out the 6.0 version update for the Zoom desktop app. While the update is not yet mandatory for U-M Zoom users (current minimum version requirement is 5.15.5), we want to ensure everyone is aware of the changes regardless of whether their app is updated to the newest version.

In-meeting host view in new Zoom 6.0 upgrade with blue background, new Zoom Workplace name in top left, and new icons in toolbar

The following are the major changes you will notice after updating:

  • The Zoom app is now named “Zoom Workplace app.”
  • New app color schemes while set to Light Mode - Blue, green, and red. (They are not available while in Dark Mode.)
  • Updated icons for the in-meeting toolbar, including renaming the “Security” icon and settings to “Host tools.”
  • Customizable in-meeting toolbar by dragging and dropping icons to adjust the meeting features visible to you.
    • Your customized toolbar will sync with your account, so it won’t need to be updated every meeting.
    • The default in-meeting toolbar now has fewer icons, with many consolidated under the More menu. You can drag and drop them out from under this menu to your main toolbar view.
    • The Audio, Video, More, and End icons cannot be removed.
  • Floating screen-sharing toolbar has been simplified to focus on core tasks while presenting.
  • New multi-speaker view, which dynamically adapts to current speakers by highlighting and enlarging their video tiles over others while still providing a view of other participants in a smaller gallery view below. This is also available when viewing shared content in side-by-side mode.
  • New meeting wallpapers allow meeting hosts to customize the meeting’s background for each participant. They can choose from a list of preset images provided by Zoom. (Note that this is not the same as a participant’s virtual background, which hosts cannot change.)
    • The visuals can also be adjusted to blend between participant videos and the wallpaper.
  • Meeting reactions are more dynamic, with emojis appearing and floating up and around the user.
  • New portrait lighting setting allows Zoom to dim your background while brightening you in the foreground. This is available through your in-app video settings.

Refer to the ITS Knowledge Base for more information on updating your Zoom desktop app.

U-M Zoom May Summary of New Features

5/25/2023

Updates:

  • Cloud recording support for sign language interpretation

Hosts can enable their cloud recordings to capture sign language interpretation as an additional video file and view option when watching the recording. Learn more about using sign language interpretation in a meeting or webinar.

  • Auto-start captions when joining meetings and webinars

Meeting participants and webinar attendees can select to have automated captioning automatically appear if captions are available in the meeting or webinar. You can find this setting (“Always show captions”) under Accessibility in your Zoom desktop client settings. Learn more about viewing captions in a meeting or webinar.

  • Enhanced caption customization options

You can now customize the width of captions in a meeting or webinar.

  • Raise hand enhancements

A new notification will appear for hosts when a participant has raised their hand. The notification gives them the option to immediately open the Participants panel and take action, such as requesting the participant to unmute and ask their question. Learn more about raising your hand in meetings and webinars.

  • Additional Gallery view sorting options

Hosts can now sort the order of video tiles in Gallery view, choosing from options including sorting by first name, last name, and meeting entry time. Learn more about setting a custom Gallery view order.

  • Retain chat messages from breakout rooms

When using the new meeting chat experience, you can view the main meeting chat message history when you join a breakout room and also view breakout room chat history when you return to the main meeting. Previously, the new meeting chat experience did not support messages following in and out of breakout rooms. Learn more about saving in-meeting chat.

Note: Zoom does not visually differentiate which chats are from breakout rooms and which are from the main meeting.

  • Immersive view enhancements

There are two new enhancements for immersive view:

  • Show participant names: Participants’ display names are now included when placed into immersive view.
  • Screen sharing layouts: When a participant begins sharing their screen, the immersive view will shift to provide space for the shared content to be viewed in a modified layout. Previously, starting a screen share caused the immersive view to stop for everyone.

Learn more about immersive view.

Previously Communicated:

U-M Zoom February Summary of New Features

U-M Zoom February Summary of New Features

2/16/2023

In an effort to bring you the latest on new features and functionalities, we will be introducing service-specific summaries for Zoom and Slack, similar to what we currently offer for U-M Google. These summaries, however, will not be posted on a monthly basis like Google’s, as these services update less frequently.

Updates:

  • Speaker attributions for live automated captions

When viewing automated captions in a live meeting or webinar, captions will now include the speaker’s profile picture to make it easier to understand who is currently speaking. If the user has no profile picture, their initials will be displayed instead. Their full name is provided when viewing the full transcript. Previously, there was no speaker attribution in the displayed captions.

Meeting participants and webinar panelists can choose to display how much time is left in a scheduled session. This timer is based on the scheduled duration, and the timer changes to a slowly warming gold color after reaching “5 minutes remaining.” Previously, participants could only choose to view the current duration of the meeting.

Hosts can now enable the Q&A feature in meetings to allow participants to ask questions, which can be viewed by all, but only answered by the host and co-hosts. You will need to enable this feature in your Zoom account settings on the web under In Meeting (Advanced) > Toggle “Q&A in meetings” on. Previously, this was only available in webinars.

Questions can be submitted anonymously, and responses can be sent publicly for all to see or privately to just the sender. Hosts can also mark submitted questions as something that will be answered live, so participants are aware and can expect their answers to follow soon.

Hosts and co-hosts can create and edit polls during a meeting. Previously, creating and editing a poll launched the Zoom website for changes to be made there. For macOS users, this feature requires macOS version 10.12 or higher.

  • Animated meeting reactions

Reactions shown in each video tile can be animated to draw greater attention. The following emojis can be animated: Hand wave, thumbs up, crying laughing face, surprised face, red heart, and celebration with confetti. You can turn these reactions off in your Zoom desktop app settings under General > Reactions > Check/uncheck the “Animate these emojis” box.

In addition to the animal avatars already available, you can now create custom human avatars to be used in meetings. Customization options include numerous facial features, skin colors, and more from which to choose.

Zoom desktop app settings under Background and Effects showing customization options for a human avatar

Previously Communicated:

Visual changes to Waiting Rooms in U-M Zoom

Visual changes to Waiting Rooms in U-M Zoom

1/31/2023

Zoom has updated the join experience for Waiting Rooms in an effort to reduce the number of dialog windows you encounter while joining a meeting. This change will take effect on February 1, 2023, and requires you to update your desktop app to version 5.12 or higher to notice the new experience. This change does not affect your current Waiting Room and “join before host” security settings.

Previously, you may have experienced up to three separate dialog windows while joining a meeting: Join before host, video preview, and Waiting Room. After the update, the “join before host” window (i.e., “Waiting for the host to start this meeting”) was combined with the Waiting Room window. The Waiting Room will now display the meeting’s status as either “Waiting for host to start the meeting” or “Host has joined. We’ve let them know you’re here.” In addition, the video preview and Waiting Room now give you the option to turn on/off your camera and mic.

Learn more about customizing the Waiting Room in Zoom.

Diagram comparing the old and new Zoom Waiting Room join flow

Change to U-M Zoom’s registration confirmation page

5/4/2022

Zoom has announced they will be updating the registration confirmation page for U-M Zoom meetings and webinars today, May 4, in an effort to improve the security of registration links.

When an attendee registers for a Zoom event, the join link will no longer be displayed on the confirmation page in their web browser. Instead, attendees will find the join link in the email confirmation sent to them. This change helps create more robust protection for meeting and webinar links to ensure only those who registered can attend.

Simple before-and-after graphic, white background. Top half there is a screenshot of the old Zoom registration confirmation page with text "OLD" to the left. Bottom half, picture of new version with text "NEW" to the left.

Visit Zoom Support for more information on turning on registration and managing registrants in Zoom.

New U-M Zoom Landing Page and Header

5/4/2022

The U-M Zoom team has released a small update for Zoom on the web. When you visit zoom.umich.edu, you will now notice new links to useful UM-specific Zoom resources on both the landing page and header. (Please note that there are otherwise no changes to the functionality or general look-and-feel of Zoom on the web.)

Simple before-and-after graphic, white background, top left shows before changes to U-M Zoom landing page, top right shows after. Bottom half has before and after pictures of U-M Zoom header

Important: Update the Zoom app on your devices before May 17

4/19/2022

Beginning May 17, 2022, anyone using the Zoom app on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS devices to join meetings or webinars hosted on U-M Zoom will be required to use version 5.10 or newer of the Zoom app. (If you only join using a web browser or by phone call, you may disregard this message.) 

Follow the instructions provided to check which version of the Zoom app you have installed on your device(s) and, if necessary, update your app before May 17.

This update ensures that you can use important features released in recent Zoom versions. These changes include, but are not limited to, the ability to:

Note: If you attempt to join a U-M Zoom meeting or webinar on/after May 17 with an outdated app, you will receive an error stating “Update Required.” You will need to update your Zoom app or join from a web browser to access the meeting.

New Updates to Zoom Furthering DEI Efforts in Teaching and Learning

6/25/2021

Zoom announced the release of version 5.7.0 on June 21. The new version has updates and features that are exciting and can be counted as wins in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space leading to student success.

NOTE: in order to use any of the features in this new release, including but not limited to those described below, you must ensure that your Zoom app is updated to version 5.7.0 or newer. Learn how to check which version you are using and, if necessary, update your app. Version 5.7.0 is not yet available for HITS CoreImage PCs.

Among many new and enhanced features being offered, a few notable ones include:

Learn More

Action needed: Changes coming to U-M Zoom on May 18

4/13/2021

On May 18, 2021, the university will roll out changes to U-M Zoom to improve security and ensure that U-M Zoom may continue to meet the university community’s needs. U-M Zoom users are being notified of these changes on a rolling basis. It is important that you take action if you are hosting Zoom Meetings on or after May 18 or have Zoom cloud recordings you wish to retain.

Upcoming Changes

  • Security Settings: U-M will require all Meetings occurring on or after May 18, 2021, to use Authentication, a Waiting Room, or a Passcode. Webinars will not be impacted.
  • Cloud Recording Retention: U-M Zoom’s cloud recording retention policy will change from 180 days to 150 days on May 18, 2021. All cloud recordings will be retained for 150 days before being auto-deleted.
    • This change will apply to both existing and new cloud recordings. Local recordings will not be impacted.
    • On May 18, any existing cloud recordings created on or before December 18, 2020 will be moved to the trash for 30 days before being permanently deleted.
  • Breakout Room Capacity: All U-M Zoom meetings occurring on or after May 18, 2021 will have an increased Breakout Room capacity.

Take Action Before May 18

  1. Add a security setting to your Zoom Meetings before May 18, if you haven’t already. If you don’t take action, a Waiting Room will be turned on for your Zoom Meetings that do not already have a Waiting Room, Authentication, or Passcode.
  2. Download any Zoom cloud recordings (refer to Long-term storage and/or hosting options) created on or before December 18, 2020, that you want to keep.
    1. If you have a large number of recordings, you can copy them in bulk to your U-M Dropbox for long-term storage and hosting. (Refer to the second bullet in the linked article.)

Learn More

Prevent uninvited guests from disrupting your Zoom events

3/31/2021

It's been a year since U-M began teaching, learning, and working remotely. Take some time to brush up on best practices for protecting your Zoom events from disruption ("Zoombombing") and exciting new features to help you keep your events secure.

General Security Best Practice

Every Zoom Meeting should be secured with at least one security setting.

  • For meetings where U-M students, faculty, and staff and 10 or less external participants will be in attendance, ITS recommends Authentication ("Require authentication to join > University of Michigan Users").
  • For most meetings where more than 10 external participants will be in attendance, ITS recommends a Waiting Room configured with U-M recommended settings.

New Security Features

  1. Allow up to 10 non-UM guests to join your UM-only Zoom meetings and webinars without turning off the Authentication requirement (Require authentication to join>University of Michigan Users).
  2. Determine which Zoom Meetings you host may be at risk of Zoombombing and add Authentication, a Waiting Room, and/or a Passcode to the meeting.
  3. Be an early adopter of the new security setting, Require that all meetings are secured with one security option. Learn about the setting, how to prepare your meetings, and how to enable the setting.

Public Events

Are you hosting an event on Zoom that is open to the public and posted on a website, social media, or other publicly accessible place? These events are the most susceptible to Zoombombing and it is of critical importance that you take steps to secure the event.

Learn More

Refer to the U-M ITS How to Secure Meetings site for information on Zoom security best practices.

GREAT NEWS: Changes coming in 2021 to Zoom for Health

12/21/2020

U-M Zoom has been approved for PHI (HIPAA data). As a result, Zoom for Health at U-M will be consolidated into regular U-M Zoom on January 2 and 3, 2021.

Thanks to collaborative efforts of U-M and Zoom, you now will be able to use expanded features, such as:

  • Cloud recording
  • Live transcription
  • Viewing identifying information in reports
  • Ability to assign scheduling privileges and alternative host privileges to anyone at U-M
  • One Zoom integration in Canvas

Action Required

January 3 or Later If You Use the Canvas-Zoom Integration

  1. Enable the Zoom integration for your course(s)
  2. If you set up Zoom course meetings in the Zoom Health integration in Canvas prior to January 2, you will need to import each meeting ID into the newly enabled Zoom integration in your course. To avoid having to take this step, wait until January 3 or later and then create them in the Zoom integration after you enable it.

Temporarily Offline

11 p.m. January 2 at thru 6 a.m. January 3

Zoom for Health users’ accounts will be migrated into regular U-M Zoom beginning at 11 p.m. January 2 and continuing until 6 a.m. January 3. Your Zoom account will not be available during this time. 

After the migration is completed, Zoom for Health will no longer exist and all U-M Zoom users will be in the same account.

Upcoming and Previous Meetings & Webinars

  • Your upcoming and previous meetings and webinars and your personal meeting ID and link will not be impacted. They will migrate with your account.
  • People (including alternative hosts) will still be able to join future-scheduled meetings using the URL you have already provided--no need to resend.

Download Reports Before January 2

  • Download any meeting or webinar reports (attendance reports, poll reports, registration reports, etc) that you wish to retain. 
  • Reports for meetings and webinars that occurred prior to the migration will be unavailable once your account is migrated into regular U-M Zoom.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How will I log in to Zoom after the migration?
    The way you log in to Zoom will not change. You will still log in using your Level-1 credentials. For more information on logging in to Zoom, refer to Create and Log In to Your U-M Zoom Account.
  • Will I be permitted to use U-M Zoom for meetings or webinars involving PHI?
    Yes
  • Will I be permitted to record meetings or webinars involving PHI to the cloud and share those cloud recordings with other people?
    Yes
  • Will I be permitted to use automated live transcription for meetings or webinars involving PHI?
    Yes
  • Will I be able to pull reports on attendance, polls, etc that show individual users’ names and emails?
    Yes, through either the Zoom web app or Canvas/Blackboard
  • What will happen to my Webinar and other licenses?
    Your licenses will move with your account. You will not need to re-request a license.
  • What will happen to my scheduling privileges for other users?
    Your scheduling privileges will not be impacted. You will still be able to schedule for the same users. After the migration, you will be able to assign scheduling privileges to any members of U-M Zoom, and vice versa, if desired.
  • What will happen to reports for my previous meetings or webinars?
    Reports will not move with your account. Download any meeting or webinar reports (attendance reports, poll reports, registration reports, etc) that you wish to retain. 
  • What will happen to my virtual backgrounds and profile picture?
    Your virtual backgrounds and profile picture will move with your account. You will not need to re-upload them.
  • I already added Zoom Health to my Canvas course. Why do I have to enable Zoom after January 3?
    Zoom Health is tied to the Zoom for Health account, which will cease to exist after Zoom for Health users are migrated into U-M Zoom. The Zoom integration is tied to U-M Zoom, and this is the integration you will need to use after the migration. If you attempt to use the Zoom integration prior to the migration, you will see an error.
  • Why do I have to import Zoom meetings to my Canvas course after January 3?
    The Zoom meetings you created are attached to the Zoom Health integration, which will cease to exist with the migration to U-M Zoom. While your meetings scheduled through the integration will be migrated and will not be lost, they will need to be attached to the Zoom integration in order to be associated with your course. Importing them is the method to attach them to the Zoom integration and allow them to show in your course.
  • Will this change impact how I use Zoom through MiChart (i.e. Zoom for Epic)?
    No. This change does not apply to using Zoom through MiChart (Zoom for Epic). Nothing will change with how you use Zoom through MiChart.