Large Scale Zoom Outage Resolved
Sometime shortly after 10AM today, Zoom experienced an outage that affected multiple customers including VCU. During this outage, in-progress meetings were unaffected but it was not possible for users to log in at the VCU portal. Function was restored after about a half-hour of down time. At this time, it’s still unknown what caused the […]
Temporary outage for VPN users (resolved)
Some users of VCU Zoom (and various other applications) may have experienced difficulty this morning accessing their accounts. The issue should only have affected off-campus users who were logged into the VPN client while attempting to access applications that rely on the Central Authentication Service. Anyone not on the VPN when logging in at vcu.zoom.us […]
Changes to Meeting “Registration” feature
In an effort to improve the security of Zoom Meetings and Webinars, attendees who register for events will no longer see the join link and related information (meeting passcode, etc) displayed on the registration confirmation page in their web browser. Attendees will receive an email confirmation at the address they entered when registering, and this […]
New “Whiteboard” and “Saved Polls” Features
VCU Zoom users can now take advantage of two newly enhanced features. The first is Zoom’s new “Whiteboard” collaboration tool. With it, you can create whiteboards that include text, drawings, “sticky notes” or images and share them with collaborators in or outside of your meetings. This could be useful for projects that evolve over longer […]
Zoom Downtime Planned for 3/19
On Saturday, March 19 between 8 and 10 PM (EST), VCU Zoom will be undergoing necessary maintenance by the vendor. During this time, it will not be possible to log in at the VCU Zoom portal to start or join meetings. The vendor is hopeful this work will be completed in less than the requested two […]
Router Maintenance May Impact Zoom on 3/1/22
VCU Zoom was impacted by network service disruptions on February 11, making it difficult for some users to log in using their university credentials at various points throughout the day. VCU Network Services has identified the router that caused these issues and will be replacing it on Tuesday, March 1st, at 2 a.m. (EST). A […]
Auto-Update feature in Zoom 5.8.6
Version 5.8.6 of the Zoom desktop client became available on Nov 29. Among other (mostly minor) changes, this version adds an “auto update” feature that’s enabled by default. If you choose to install the update, a pop-up window lets you choose the frequency for updates, or disable the feature by un-checking a box. Note: If […]
Captioning Update
Zoom’s live captioning feature has now been enabled for all VCU users by default. It’s still up to you as host whether and when to actually use the feature. If you want to send out live captions in the course of your meeting, use the “Live Transcription” button in the Zoom taskbar and then click […]
Teaching with Technology Survival Camp 2021
Mark your calendar for an upcoming four-day boot camp designed to assist faculty in preparing for online and technology-enhanced courses. Sponsored by VCU Online and Academic Technologies, the boot camp — in Canvas and on Zoom — will include morning sessions August 17th – August 20th, 2021 on topics including, but not limited to: Creating […]
New Zoom Policy for Software Updates
Zoom is instituting a new security policy that requires users to keep their software up to date. That’s always been a good practice, but soon it’ll be a requirement. The official notice from Zoom is as follows: Beginning November 1, 2021, customers will be required to update their Zoom software to ensure it is no […]