Five Advanced Zoom Features You Don't Know About

With the Covid-19 pandemic, more people are working remotely than ever before. Surveys indicating that over 60% of the global workforce believe they're more productive working from home than their old workplace suggest remote working is here to stay.

Alongside this rise in remote working has come a new familiarity with the video-chatting software, Zoom. Since March 2020, when Zoom's daily meeting participants boomed to 200 million, reaching 300 million by the next month, Zoom has become a regular tool for teams maintaining communication in lockdown.

Particularly in project management, where good communication is vital to success, platforms like Zoom have become essential to keep teams working together.

We've compiled a list of five Zoom features you probably didn't know about that can help you make the most of your video meetings.

Remote Screen Control

Most regular Zoom users will be familiar with the screen-sharing tool. It's a great way to show all meeting participants what you are working on and improve your communication. However, did you know that you can also gain control of your team members' screens? When your colleague is sharing their screen with you, you can request control. If granted, you are able to navigate their screen remotely. This handy tool is great for temporarily granting access to platforms and sharing skills to solve your problems. When the distance of remote working can become increasingly frustrating, quick solutions like remote screen control help replicate the real-life experience.

Touch Up Appearance

A quick search on Google brings up a wealth of tips and tricks for maximising your appearance on Zoom. Even when working from home, it's important to be professional and well-presented. However, this has been made even easier with the Touch Up Appearance option. When you're not quite feeling your best, adjusting your video settings to provide a subtle and flattering blur can help you look brighter and ready to go!

Another great way to boost your presentation is the Adjust for Low Light feature. Not everyone is lucky enough to have their ideal office space in their own home. Even if you have the space and quiet for productive work, low lighting can make Zoom meetings a struggle. If you're not blessed with bright natural light, this feature can be a life-saver.

Suppress Background Noise

The difficulty of finding the right space when working from home can also result in irritating background noise. Small sounds normally easily ignored in a meeting room can become amplified by microphones. Luckily, Zoom provides a feature to suppress your background noise, with options ranging from Low to High. Although many opt to mute themselves, it's not always possible. Being able to conceal background sounds, like loud typing or computer fans, whilst still being audible can maximise your communication in video meetings.

Closed Captioning

Even with no background noise and a good connection, it's not always easy to hear other team members over Zoom, particularly if you have difficulty hearing. Zoom have made their platform more accessible to all users by providing a closed captioning function. Under Accessibility in Settings, you can click this feature to aid your understanding.

Record a Meeting to iCloud

Despite the struggles video meetings can present, the ability to record your meeting is one of the great perks of Zoom. Watching back a video of the meeting ensures small details won't fall through the cracks. The opportunity to refresh your memory and go over aspects you might have missed in the moment can massively increase understanding and communication. However, with Zoom's paid plans, you can record your meeting directly to the iCloud, saving your precious storage space and ensuring you can access it anywhere.

With video-meetings looking to be a permanent feature in some form in the new workplace, we're always looking for ways to improve communication and make the most of our technology. What are your favourite features for maximising your Zoom meetings?