Whether you’d like to improve your existing videoconferencing experience or are planning on using videoconferencing for a new initiative, you’ve come to the right place!

Zoom

Zoom Video Conferencing is an intuitive, powerful video conferencing tool which can be used for both academic and administrative purposes.  It allows for face-to-face meetings with up to 100 distinct participants, interoperability between video conferencing rooms and computer software, screen sharing, remote control, breakout groups and more.  It’s quick to download and easy to use — visit http://middlebury.zoom.us or go/zoom/ to get started!

Further Reading

  • For short tutorial videos from Zoom, click here.
  • For help with Zoom, please submit a Helpdesk ticket here.

Using the Cisco Meeting App

Every Middlebury user has access to the Cisco Meeting App (CMA) which runs on our locally hosted Cisco Meeting Server (CMS) via the web or video conferencing codec.  It functions very similarly to Zoom and can be used as a backup in the case that there’s a disruption to our Zoom service.

Note: For full functionality in CMS via web browser, you must use FireFox, Chrome or Internet Explorer.  Connections from Safari and Chrome work, but users do not have the ability to share their screen.

Host a Meeting

To host a meeting, visit http://meet.middlebury.edu and sign in with your Middlebury credentials.

To invite others to your meeting, click the invite button at the top of the screen and select “Copy weblink”.  Then, send the link to others with whom you’ll be meeting.  Once you’ve sent out the link, click the “Join meeting” button in the top right corner.

Join a Meeting

If the host of the meeting has sent a link for their meeting, you simply need to click the link and you will join the meeting via web browser.  Alternately, if you don’t have the link but know the username of the person hosting the meeting, click “Join Meeting” and then enter the username of the person whose meeting you’re joining.  By default, meetings have no passcode so you can leave that blank.  On the next screen, enter your name and click “Join Meeting”.

Meeting Controls

Once you’ve successfully joined a meeting, you will need to allow your browser access to the microphone and computer (modern browsers will prompt you for this access).  From the join screen, you will also need to confirm that you have the proper microphone, speaker and camera selected and you will have the opportunity to test each.

Once you’ve clicked “Join Meeting”, you will be in the meeting.  Near the top left of the window, there are three different tabs.  The top allows you to see participants in the meeting, the second allows you to adjust the layout of the video in the meeting and the third displays information about the meeting like the host and also allows you to copy the invitation link for the meeting in case others need to receive an invitation.  At the bottom of the screen you have the ability to mute your microphone, leave the call, share your screen and also to turn on and off your camera or change you audio / video devices if necessary.

Share Your Screen

To share your screen, cllick on the icon at the bottom of the screen with the rectangular overlay.  From there, you have the ability to either share your entire computer screen or share a specific application window (e.g. a website or a PowerPoint).

Different Ways to Connect

Aside from clicking on a link and joining via web browser, users can also join via a SIP call from a video device.

To connect via SIP device (i.e. a video conferencing endpoint), dial username.meet@middlebury.edu for the meeting room of the person you’re connecting with.

Information Technology Services
Davis Family Library 202
Middlebury, VT 05753