How to have a virtual video meeting

This is a quick tutorial on how to use Zoom or Google Hangouts to have a virtual video meeting.

ZOOM

To use Zoom, go to Zoom.us and sign up. You can make a new account or sign in with Google or Facebook. You can download the program as an app to your computer and use it there or you can use it on your web browser by going to zoom.us/profile. At the top of the page, you’ll see a blue tab that says schedule a new meeting. If you don’t see that, find the meetings tab on the left side of the screen.

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Click the tab to make a meeting and give it a title where it says topic. You can set a description and the date, time and duration too. There are other settings to pay attention to as well, including if the meeting will be recurring.

Click save and then review the meeting you created. An important thing here is the join URL. You will want to share that via email with the people with whom you will have the virtual meeting.

Then when it’s time to have the meeting, everyone will need to click that URL to join. Make sure your computer can access Zoom in advance and is equipped with video and audio. Once you’re in the app and using it, enable your camera and audio.

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You may want to set a password to the meeting to make it more secure as well. You can do this when creating the meeting.

Google Hangouts

To use Google Hangouts, go to hangouts.google.com. You can call people directly that way by clicking video call and then inviting people to join. You will invite them by using their email address.

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If you want to schedule a meeting with a link, you will have to go to Google Calendar and click the button ‘Create’ with a plus sign next to it. You can add a title, date and time as well as the person’s email address. Below you will see an option to add conferencing. If you click this, it will automatically turn your meeting into a Hangout invite.

There are other programs too like FaceTime and WhatsApp. Figure out what works best for you and whoever you’re trying to have a virtual video meeting with and go from there.