Zoom is a video conferencing tool that provides a "virtual room" for attendees to meet online in real time. This facilitates online synchronous interaction and collaboration.
Zoom's main features include two-way video, text chat, whiteboards, breakout rooms, polling, and meeting recording. Zoom can be used for a variety of instructional purposes, such as presentations, office hours, class discussions, exam reviews, guest lectures, or class group work.
All University employees and students with an active Unity account can create and host Zoom meetings by logging into NC State's Zoom Portal, or using another method detailed in the "Creating a Recurring Zoom Meeting for Class Sessions" article.
To get started using Zoom, see the "Getting Started with Zoom" article.
Some features of Zoom can be used directly in a Web browser, but for the best experience using Zoom, it is recommended to download and use the Zoom client application.
For more information about Zoom in general, see Zoom's website.
NC State’s Zoom License
NC State's license for Zoom provides a Licensed account (formerly known as a "Pro" account) for all active students and employees.
What is included
- NC State users can host Zoom Meetings with up to 300 participants. Participants are not required to be affiliated with NC State.
- There are no meeting duration limits like those that are associated with Zoom's free "Basic" account.
What is not included
- The NC State Zoom license does not include the use of Webinars.
- The NC State Zoom license does not include the Large Meeting feature.
Meetings vs. Webinars
The Meeting and Webinar platforms offer similar features and functionality, but have some key differences. Read a full comparison of the features of meetings and webinars in Zoom's "Meeting and Webinar Comparison" help article.
In summary:
- Meetings are designed to be collaborative sessions where the host is facilitating the virtual meeting.
- Participants can share screens, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
- Hosts can manage the permissions of Participants when creating the meeting.
- Webinars are designed to be more like presentations, with designated hosts and panelists who can share their video, audio, and screen to an audience of attendees.
- Webinars can be configured to allow view-only attendees, or attendees can be granted the ability to interact via Q&A, chat, and polling questions.
- The host can also unmute the attendees for live questions.
Acquiring a Webinar or Large Meeting
NC State Zoom licenses do not include access to Webinars or Large Meetings. To obtain these features, NC State users can either purchase a webinar or large meeting license for their own dedicated use under the NC State account, or they can borrow a more limited webinar or large meeting license for a one-off event. Borrowing a webinar does not grant access to all webinar features.
For more information, see the "Acquiring Zoom Webinars or Large Meetings" article.
Zoom Rooms
Zoom rooms are hybrid meeting spaces that bring video collaboration into any space, allowing in-person and remote participants to interact in real time. Zoom rooms provide an integrated experience for audio conferencing, wireless screen sharing, and video conferencing.
For more information, see Zoom's overview of "Zoom Rooms" here.
NC State Zoom licenses do not include access to Zoom Rooms, but they are available. For more information about purchasing a Zoom Room license, contact DELTA's LearnTech help desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or 919-513-7094, or by clicking the "Get Help" tab above.
Additional Resources
Getting Started with Zoom Meetings (Zoom Support)
Acquiring Zoom Webinars or Large Meetings (DELTA Knowledge Base)
For additional assistance, contact DELTA's LearnTech help desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or 919-513-7094, or by clicking the "Get Help" tab above.