Zoom, Skype, Team..

[PeteHall]

I seemed to have ended up with Teams for work, Skype for family, and Skype/Zoom for friends.

One thing you can do with Zoom (not sure if any of the others do it)  is to set a virtual background

I think they all do it, but Teams has been the least prone to peoples' limbs etc. randomly disappearing into the background in my experience!

See https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=26366.0. Feel free to contribute more background ideas 

 

[Jenny P]

Jitsi is good as it is used via a web front-end with no need to install anything on your computer. It would be nice if there were only one option though as I have had to use five different packages so far with either work, caving club or other organisations...

Best thing about it is that it's free!  Maybe doesn't have all the bells and whistles that some of the others have but it does seem to work OK on an assortment of different laptops, tablets and smartphones.  It also avoid the problems of a meeting where people are used to using a particular system at work which may not work so well for others in the meeting.  Some options seem to be tied to different operating systems, Microsoft, Mac, etc. and don't work well on others.

I've found Jitsi a sort of useful common denominator, though I've had to use at least 4 different systems in the last couple of months.

 

[gingerlycolors]

I seemed to have ended up with Teams for work, Skype for family, and Skype/Zoom for friends.

One thing you can do with Zoom (not sure if any of the others do it)  is to set a virtual background

I think they all do it, but Teams has been the least prone to peoples' limbs etc. randomly disappearing into the background in my experience!

I saw Les Williams using virtual backgrounds when we were on Zoom last night. I should try that function next Thursday.

 

[alastairgott]

Would say Zoom would be my favourite, however is limited to 40 minutes unless you pay.

Maybe being limited to 40mins as a business is no bad thing, make a few decisions and then just get on with it. You could be on all day otherwise, and make no decisions.

 

[Bob Mehew]

A hint for those of you wishing to present a film with sound track or similar and be able to speak over it on Zoom.  If you follow https://it.umn.edu/services-technologies/how-tos/zoom-share-computer-sound-during-screen#sharing-music-or-computer-audio-only you can set your computer up to play sound from both an internal file as well as speak by your microphone.  But beware sound balance might be challenging.

 

[HardenClimber3]

Well, as noted above we (cpc) have been having a weekly chat at a pub called 'The Zoom', (good choice of cheap beer, comfy seats and walking distance from home) and have even had a 'lecture' (more planned) which we've put on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fVUhfVlKcw&list=PLcoJPVLYN7oQ902zLJIr97c9WB_20xdsi , which has worked well (and there is an option to live stream also).
Zoom also works well for meetings (and you can record them to help with minutes etc).
Not really tried Teams, but it has its fans.

 

[Swallowneck]

Excellent stuff Dave, well done.

Seems we are looking similar things, I will be in touch soon to discuss.

Nick


There must be other people who have the ability to present short lectures on their favorite subjects. What a great thing to do.

 

[Bob Mehew]

Just in case you are thinking of using music as part of your Zoom or Skype meeting, then beware of copyright laws.  It appears that the playing of music to persons by the direct transmission of sound such as in a dance hall requires one type of licence, see

https://pplprs.co.uk/?utm_source=pplwebsite&utm_medium=pws&utm_campaign=BAU_ppl&utm_content=themusiclicencecopy

where as the playing of music via Zoom or Skype and some other platforms requires a different licence, see

https://www.prsformusic.com/licences/using-music-online/limited-online-music-licence

 

[HardenClimber3]

Yes...you have to be very careful. Even incidental music from a third party can fall foul of this.

 

[gingerlycolors]

Further to my reply regarding choosing your background on Zoom, I tried it on my Thursday night sesh with UCET with success. However you need to put up a green screen behind you and fortunately I had some green bed sheets that did the job great. I am the one centre top appearing to be relaxing in the sun at Lytham St. Annes in my bathing suit even though it was in the middle of the night!