Zoom Meetings

Board meetings are currently conducted using the Zoom teleconferencing system. This eliminates the need to obtain a physical meeting room and makes it possible for traveling and seasonal residents to participate from any location.

Zoom is a proven mature system used by a vast number of organization. Major corporations and even the US Government use Zoom for teleconference meetings. The system is easy to use, but can be confusing to those who haven’t been exposed to it through their employment. Here are some tips for getting started and links to places you can find more extensive tutorials.

There are two ways to participate in a Zoom meeting:

  1. Participate by Phone
  2. Participate by App

Participate by Phone Call

Though Zoom offers a full-featured software application, you don’t have to use it. You can participate in a Zoom meeting by just making a phone call. You won’t have access to video or media display, but you can listen to the meeting and speak to all the participants.

To join by phone you need three things from the meeting notice (see below):

  • Phone number
  • Meeting ID
  • Passcode

Follow these steps to dial into the meeting:

  1. Dial the number and an automated attendant will answer.
  2. When the attendant asks for your Meeting ID, use your keypad to enter the Meeting ID from the meeting notice then press the “#” key. Meeting ID can change from meeting to meeting, so make sure you are using the correct one.
  3. If the meeting has not started yet, you may be asked to enter your host key if you are the host. Press the “#” key to wait for the host to start the meeting.
  4. When the attendant asks for your Participant ID, just press the “#” key. You will be listed in the online meeting by your phone number.
  5. When the attendant asks for your Passcode, use your keypad to enter the Passcode from the meeting notice then press the “#” key.

You will then be joined to the meeting. You will hear the audio for the currently speaking participant.

Muting and Unmuting

A conference call with lots of participants needs to be managed to keep it fair and productive. In our meetings an operator controls who is allowed to speak at any given time. You will need to use your phone keypad to get the operator’s attention.

Raise Hand: Press *9 on your phone’s keypad

This lets the operator (and all video participants) know that you would like to speak. When it’s your turn the operator will unmute you in the Zoom system and they will announce that you have the floor. You may begin speaking and everyone should be able to hear you.

Note that you may need to make sure you are not muted on the phone itself. This is the infamous Zoom “double mute” problem and it’s so common that experienced Zoomers often start whatever they’re about to say with “can everyone hear me?” You should never have to use your phone’s mute function in a Zoom call. If you are a homeonwer participant, you will automatically start muted and the operator will take care of muting/unmuting you. If you do need to control this yourself, use *6 to have the Zoom system do the muting/unmuting instead of your phone. The operator can see your *6 status and can help turn it on/off.

Meeting Notices

When a meeting notice is sent or posted, it will look something like this:

Topic: Starr Ridge Meeting
Time: Oct 19, 2023 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86817919020?pwd=JjF5tm4bdvULXZCQE97o7jdRmcLyGs.1

Meeting ID: 868 1791 9020
Passcode: 607505

---

One tap mobile
+12532050468,,86817919020#,,,,*607505# US
+12532158782,,86817919020#,,,,*607505# US (Tacoma)

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Dial by your location
• +1 253 205 0468 US
• +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
...
• +1 309 205 3325 US

Meeting ID: 868 1791 9020
Passcode: 607505

You can use any of the phone numbers on the “Dial by your location” list. Unless you have to pay for long distance calls, just use the first number on the list.

Participate by App

There are three ways to use all the features of the Zoom teleconferencing system:

  1. Mobile device Zoom app
  2. Desktop Zoom app
  3. Zoom web app

The mobile device app is the easiest to install and use and is a great choice for most homeowners. It is available for Apple (iOS) and Android smartphones and tablets. You can find and install it through your device’s app store - just search for “Zoom”.

The desktop/laptop app is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is ideal for meetings where you need advanced features like screen and document sharing. Use one of the links above to download the installer for your system, then run it an follow the instructions.

The web app is a convenient way to use Zoom on a desktop/laptop without installing additional software. It has almost all the features of the full app, but on some systems it can be tricky to get working. If you want to use the web app, make sure you have a fully updated Windows 10, Windows 11, or MacOS computer with the latest version of Google Chrome (Windows) or Safari (MacOS) installed.

Once installed, all the apps work basically the same way. There’s no shortage of tutorials and instructions on the internet, so we’ll just provide some links here:

Testing

If you want to test that your Zoom app is installed and working correctly, you can connect to a “test meeting” provided by Zoom. Go to the Zoom Test Meeting page in your web browser and click the Join button. The test meeting should open automatically in your Zoom app.