Our essential Zoom guidance

During lockdown we partnered with media trainers Act Build Change who led on three levels of Zoom training for Big Local Areas. We’re delighted to share these recordings here. 

• Our first training session, ‘Getting to know Zoom’. You’ll need to be signed up to Local Trusts Workplace in order to view this video. Not signed up? You can email info@localtrust.org.uk and request access. 
• ‘Getting great at online facilitation’ is our second Zoom training instalment. This intermediate training will teach you how to organise and facilitate virtual meetings.
• Our ‘Digital Champions training’ is the most advanced Zoom training we offer. Here the focus is on how you can help others use Zoom in your Big Local Area.  

As with all digital platforms, it is important to ensure that you are using the programme safely and securely. Zoom has published a list of valuable resources to help you use it safely.

Here are our top tips for using Zoom securely:

• Set up a meeting every time and invite people individually, don’t share your personal meeting ID, always schedule a meeting through Zoom and email participants the link directly. You can require a password for people to enter meetings to ensure that only the people you want are able to join (Zoom v5 does this by default).

• Always update your Zoom software – Zoom are constantly innovating ways to make their platform more secure and these changes will be included in software updates.
• If you’re organising an open event, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself and other participants:
  • Turn off screen sharing for other participants
  • Use a waiting room to control who enters the video call (Zoom v5 does this by default)

In March 2020, Local Trust offered a premium Zoom account to all 150 Big Local areas and nine Creative Civic Change areas for a year. We expect each area to manage their accounts to support their Big Local partnerships, residents, groups, and businesses.

Below are some top tips for coordinating your premium account with the rest of your partnership:

• The meeting host must be present for it to begin. It is best to allocate a core group of partnership members, workers and other individuals to manage and have access to the premium Zoom account. This will ensure that there is cover in case of illness or absence and also provide flexibility so that the onus is not on one person to host, set up, and attend all Zoom meetings.
• Get this trusted group of users into the habit of scheduling meetings so that everyone can see when the account will be in use.
• When setting up a meeting, put your name in the title so others will know who is using it and when.
• Add an extra 15-30 minutes before/after the actual time of the call, to avoid any back to back meetings as this won’t allow any time for the host to get setup on the call, or any overrun on the schedule.
• Make sure you check when calls are scheduled before setting up any new ones, as it does not allow multiple calls at once and will kick everyone out of an existing call if you start another one.
• Ensure the person who has logged in also signs out of the shared account after using it.
• Set some rules around changing settings as this could impact on meetings other people have scheduled in the future (e.g. if you disable the waiting room).
• Set a new password at regular intervals – consider changing it every two weeks or after an event hosted by someone other than a member of the core team. Don’t forget to share the new password with team members who need access to the account.
• Make Zoom and the management of the Zoom account as a standing item on your partnership meetings. This will ensure the entire partnership are aware of how it is being used. It might also spark new ideas on how to get the best use out of the account.

How do I ensure that the people I have invited are the only ones who can access my meeting?

There has been some press coverage about uninvited people entering and disrupting Zoom meetings. This is linked to how the meeting has been setup rather than a problem with Zoom itself. To be safe, always use a unique meeting ID (not your personal Zoom ID). The new Zoom update (v5) which came into effect on the 30th May now enables password access to the meeting by default. Waiting rooms are now also a default feature. The waiting room option is a holding page that tells people who are trying to join the meeting that the host will allow them access soon. As host only you can admit people to the meeting. The host can now quickly access the security features within a meeting via the security button in the menu bar. This allows the host to lock meetings, remove participants, restrict screen sharing and chatting, and report a user, all from within the meeting.

Is my computer at risk of a malware attack by using Zoom?

Zoom does not pose a greater risk to malware attacks than other online programmes.

Malware is usually downloaded by clicking on attachments that have been sent to you by email. The best way to protect your computer against them is by not clicking on any email attachments, unless you are sure who has sent it. Virus scanners also provide good protection against malware attacks and you can also block all file transfer via Zoom.

Is Zoom end-to-end encrypted? And what does that mean?

All communication over the internet takes information from one person to another. To stop that information falling into the wrong hands it can be encrypted (i.e. put into a secret code) by the sender so that only the recipient can read it. This is called end-to-end encryption. Lots of internet services (email, websites, video conferencing) use this, but there is a weakness if the time your message spends in transit is not fully secure. This can make a service vulnerable to a ‘man in the middle’ attack.

A good service will be encrypted all the way through the process and not just at either end.  Zoom is not end-to-end encrypted, in fact, there are very few conference call software programmes  that are. The only commonly used one we found in our research was FaceTime, but that requires everyone to have Apple products.

It’s also important to remember that it’s really hard to hack into a message, even one that isn’t end to end encrypted. The chances of anyone making the effort to break the encryption of a Big Local message or video are very small.

It’s important to be aware of what you’re sharing over Zoom; similarly to how you would act in a public place with others around that might overhear, don’t share passwords, credit card details or other sensitive information.

Can I dial into a Zoom meeting? 

Yes you can. When Zoom meetings are created there will also be the option to share phone numbers to enable people to dial into that meeting. Please be aware that calls will be charged at your local providers rate.