What is Zoom?
A Zoom meeting is a virtual get-together. Using a computer, tablet, or phone, participants can talk and see each other live through video and audio. Key features like screen sharing and recording make it a convenient tool for meetings, hosting virtual office hours, conducting remote classes, and enabling student groups to collaborate effectively on projects from anywhere.
All Lafayette faculty, staff, and students are assigned a licensed Zoom account that is available at zoom.lafayette.edu with a Lafayette NetID and password or via the Zoom desktop client.
Signing into the Zoom Desktop Client
Use your Lafayette credentials to log in to Zoom via single sign-on (SSO).
- Click “Sign in with SSO”
- Enter “Lafayette” as your domain
- Click Continue
- You will be redirect to Lafayette’s CAS authentication page to sign in
- After signing in, you will be redirected back to the Zoom Desktop Client
Upgrade/update to the latest version of Zoom
- Open the Zoom desktop client
- Click your profile picture in the upper right hand corner
- Click “Check for Updates”
- If there is a newer version, Zoom will download and install it
Testing your video before a meeting
- Log in to the Zoom desktop client
- Click your profile picture and select “Settings”
- Click the Video tab
- You will see a preview of your camera and can choose a different camera if needed
Testing your video during a meeting
- From the Zoom meeting window, click the arrow next to the video icon

- Select Video Settings
- Zoom will display your camera’s video and settings
- If you don’t see your camera’s video, click the drop-down menu and select another camera
Testing audio before joining a meeting
If you haven’t enabled the setting to automatically join by computer audio, you can test your speaker and microphone before joining a meeting.
- When joining a meeting, click Test speaker and microphone
- The meeting will display a pop-up window to test your speakers. If you don’t hear the ringtone, use the drop-down menu or click No to switch speakers until you hear the ringtone. Click Yes to continue to the microphone test
- If you don’t hear an audio replay, use the drop-down menu or click No to switch microphones until you hear the replay. Click Yes when you hear the replay.
- Click Join with Computer Audio
Testing your audio while in a meeting
You can access your audio settings and test your audio when you are already in a meeting.
- In the Zoom meeting window, click the arrow next to the microphone icon
- Click Audio Options. This will open your audio settings and you can use the instructions from “Testing audio before joining a meeting” above
Scheduling a Meeting from Zoom
- Using your Lafayette credentials, visit My Lafayette under “Connect to my accounts,” or visit https://zoom.lafayette.edu, or open the Zoom application from your device
- Sign in with your Lafayette credentials
- Select “Schedule a New Meeting” from the upper right-hand corner
- Choose the appropriate options for date and time, etc.
- Security features can be enabled such as requiring a password or a waiting room
- Click Save
- From the next page, choose the “Copy the Invitation” link and paste it into an email to be sent to all meeting participants
Scheduling a Meeting from Google Calendar
- In Google Calendar, click on the day/time to create a new event
- Click “Add video conferencing” to add Zoom video conferencing

- In the “Add guests” field, type in the name of your invitees
- Click [Save], you will be given the option to send invitation emails to invited guests
All guests will now have the meeting on their Google Calendar with a Zoom link attached.
Additional Options
Some additional options include adding a description to the event in the “Add description” field or attaching files (Google Drive files or uploaded files) to the calendar event available to all guests.

Starting a Meeting from Zoom
- Using your Lafayette credentials, visit My Lafayette under “Connect to my accounts,” visit https://zoom.lafayette.edu, or use the Zoom application on your computer/tablet/smart phone
- Select “My Meetings” to see a list of all of your scheduled meetings
- Click the [Start] button for the appropriate meeting
- This will prompt the Zoom application to be opened on your computer
- Choose the appropriate audio and video sources from the lower left-hand corner of meeting window
If you are concerned with un-invited people joining your Zoom meeting, see How to secure a Zoom session.
Starting a Meeting from Google Calendar
- Click on the event in Google Calendar to see the event details
- Click “Join Zoom Meeting”

- You will be redirect to a Zoom landing page and will be prompted to Open zoom.us to launch the Zoom desktop client
- You will be taken into the Zoom meeting
Joining a Meeting from Zoom Invite
- Use one of the options listed in the email invitation (e.g., link or phone number)
- If joining from a computer, you will be prompted to download the Zoom application
- Note: you do not need to create a Zoom account to join a meeting, just the Meeting ID (and password if applicable) found in your email
- Open the Zoom application and choose [Join]
- You may be prompted for the Meeting ID which can be found in the email invitation
Joining a Zoom Meeting from Google Calendar
- Click on the event in Google Calendar to see the event details
- Click “Join Zoom Meeting”

- You will be redirect to a Zoom landing page and will be prompted to Open zoom.us to launch the Zoom desktop client
- You will be taken into the Zoom meeting
Providing nonverbal feedback during meetings (participants)
To provide nonverbal feedback to the host during a meeting:
- Join the Zoom meeting as a participant
- Click the Reaction button
- Choose from the following icons or click
to choose from a full set of emojis. Click the icon again to remove it. Click the icon again to remove it.
- The selected icon will appear in your video panel and next to your name in the participants list.
Managing nonverbal feedback (hosts)
Click the Participants button to see a list of participants and their nonverbal feedback. In the participants list, you can view and manage feedback using these features:
- If a participant clicked on a feedback icon, you will see that icon beside their name.
- The number above each feedback icon shows how many participants have clicked on that icon.
- If a participant clicked raise hand, you can lower their hand by hovering over their name and clicking Lower Hand.
- Click Clear All to remove all nonverbal feedback icons.
Accessing in-meeting chat (desktop)
While in a meeting:
- Click Chat in the Zoom meeting controls
- The Chat box will open on the right-hand side of the screen. You can type a message into the chat box or click on the drop-down next to “To:” to send a message to a specific person.
- When new chat messages are sent to you or everyone, a preview of the message will appear and Chat will flash orange in your host controls.
When screen sharing:
- Click More in the Zoom meeting controls. Choose Chat
- A floating chat window will appear
- If you receive a new chat messages while screen sharing, the More button will flash orange to indicate the incoming message. You can click on More, then Chat to open the chat box.