Table of contents:
- Create an environment that you feel comfortable with
- Use these options to avoid embarrassing situations
- Connect apps to share files and documents
- Draw, annotate and share your mobile screen
- Use safe driving mode to get around smoothly
- Send private messages during video call
- Keep your video call safe with these options
- Schedule frequent video calls
- Take a break and assign another host
- Record the video call with these apps
Zoom has become one of the most popular options for making video calls. Its desktop version is easy to use and has most of the features that users need for a quality virtual meeting, whether at a family level, for study or work.
However, making a video call from your mobile has a different dynamic. How can you take advantage of the Zoom app to have a quality video call without problems? Take a look at this series of tricks and customize them according to your needs.
index of contents
Create an environment that you feel comfortable with
If you use Zoom from an iOS mobile, you have the possibility of using a virtual background for your video calls. You just have to open the More menu (from the three dots) and select Virtual Background. You can choose the image of the San Francisco bridge or select a photo from your mobile gallery.
And if you don't have any images that you like on your mobile, you can use download free images from apps like Pexels.
This is an option that is not yet available in the Zoom app on Android, so you will have to improvise. The background that you need to cover on your mobile is much smaller than if you were in front of the computer, so you can use a painting, poster or some similar option to create “your personalized background”.
And to have this detail under control, you can use a mobile tripod to maintain a fixed position. That way, you won't have to worry about falling out of the bottom you set. And if you are new to making video calls using Zoom, you can gain a few seconds of confidence by choosing the "Connect without audio" and "Connect without video" options.
That way, you can check that everything works correctly on your device, take a look at the participants and calm the nerves of beginners. When you feel safe, you can now enable your camera and microphone.
Use these options to avoid embarrassing situations
You may have already seen that there are many memes and bloopers on the internet these days about some funny situations that arise in video calls. Some unexpected noise, a participant falling asleep, or forgetting to close the video call can quickly turn into an embarrassing situation. But you can avoid them if you use some of the options that Zoom provides.
If you are as a host use the moderation options:
- Go to the list of participants, select the name of the contact and you will see a menu with these options: "Stop recording" or "Mute", you can apply the one you consider convenient.
- Or if you want to save time you can select "Silence all" to find the conflicting participant.
- Another option is to send the participant to "Waiting room" to decide if you will admit him again in the video call
If you are a participant and you are in trouble:
- Use the options "Stop video" and "Deactivate audio" that you will see in the same window of the video call. Just a few clicks and no one will be able to hear or see you without leaving the video call. It is a quick alternative when unforeseen events arise
- Or you can put yourself into Safe Driving Mode, which automatically disables the camera and audio
Connect apps to share files and documents
Zoom also has the option to share files and documents. Just choose "Share" from the bottom menu on the video call screen and you will see all the available options.
You can share files and documents that you have stored on your device or you can connect your Google Drive, DropBox, Box or Microsoft OneDrive accounts. It's simple, you just have to give the necessary permissions and you can access all your files from Zoom to share it with your contacts.
Draw, annotate and share your mobile screen
Other options that you will find within "Share" in the Zoom app are those that allow you to share a drawing board or everything that happens on your mobile screen.
If you want to have a free space to draw, write or doodle you can select “Share Whiteboard”. And if you need to share any dynamic that takes place on your mobile, just choose "Screen". Keep in mind that it works differently than the web version. Once you access Zoom, it will show everything you see on your mobile screen.
So first try to organize what you want to share. For example, you can create a folder on your mobile with the apps that you need to open to share, so that you will only scroll through the essential options and the attendees will not see more than you want.
On the other hand, if they share a screen with you, they also have a series of options to point out or highlight details of the content you view, as you see in the third image.
Use safe driving mode to get around smoothly
The Zoom app has a Driving Mode that allows you to be part of a video call but without representing a distracting problem.
As you can see in the image, when you activate Driving Mode the screen goes black with the only option to press to talk, you have neither video nor audio activated. An option that is also ideal if you are doing other tasks around the house and you cannot sit down to watch the video call, since it allows you to move around without accidentally touching any option.
To activate this option you first have to go to Settings >> Meeting >> Safe driving mode. And then, whenever you want, you can activate it by sliding the screen to the right. And to disable it, you just have to perform the opposite action.
Send private messages during video call
If you need to communicate privately with any of the members of the video call, you do not need to resort to another app, since Zoom has this option. You can send a private message to certain contacts or to everyone who is part of a video call. A practical option that you can use in different contexts.
If the host has enabled chat in the video call then you will see this option in the "Participant List" section. You can choose a contact or send group messages.
Keep your video call safe with these options
Zoom has a number of options that hosts can use to give video calls extra security, and not have an unpleasant time.
Most of them are set up after starting the video call. To do this, you just have to select the More >> Meeting menu:
- Lock meeting. Once all the participants are in the video call, you can block it to prevent any user from joining
- Waiting room. If it is not possible to block it because there are no participants or it is an open video call, then Waiting Room may be a solution. In this way, no one can enter without your permission. You will see a message like “Please wait, the host will let you in soon”.
- So that you can keep track of the participants, and no confusion is created in the middle of the videoconference, you can enable the option "Show the name of the participants…" and disable "Allow names to be changed". This will also help prevent anyone from trying to play a prank.
Of course, these are options that you can customize depending on the type of video call you are making.
Schedule frequent video calls
If you use Zoom to teach classes or to communicate with your work team at set times, you can use this option to facilitate the process.
Zoom allows you to schedule video calls and set meeting settings in advance. To do this, you just have to open the app and select Schedule.
You will see a series of options to configure, from the name of the meeting, date and time to the mode that the video call will have. You can set a password, enable the waiting room or configure an automatic recording.
Once you configure all the options you can add it to the calendar and establish it as a recurring task by choosing a certain period of time, as you can see in the image. This option will save you a lot of time and will allow you to keep the agenda always updated.
Take a break and assign another host
When you start a video call from Zoom you become the host, and you are the only one with moderation functions. This can be exhausting if it is a seminar or the meeting takes longer than you thought.
One option to take a break from this position is to assign one of the participants as the host. You don't need to interrupt the video call to do this, just change an option in the settings. Go to the list of participants, choose the person who will replace you and select the option "Make host".
An option that will also be practical if you have an unforeseen event and you have to abandon the video call.
Record the video call with these apps
Although Zoom offers the option to record the meeting on our computer in its desktop version, the same does not happen with mobile apps. If you are making a video call from your mobile, you will not be able to record and save it locally. So you will have to improvise if you want to have a recording of the video call without resorting to the paid version of Zoom.
For this, you can use any app that allows you to record the mobile screen. You can use the pre-installed app on your mobile device or you can download some of the options from Google Play. For example, you can try Mobizen. It has simple dynamics, allows you to record in Full HD and you can pause the recording as many times as you want.
Another interesting option to record without complications is AZ Screen Recorder. It shares the same dynamics as the previous app, so you will have no problem selecting the parts of the video call that you want to keep in the recording.
Other news about… Android, iOS
