Before COVID-19 many practitioners and trainers, including myself, have been using Zoom for client sessions, webinars and its ability to link to Facebook Live. Since COVID-19, social distancing and lockdowns began, Zoom has literally become a household name due to everyone using the platform to connect with one-another. Which has brough up a lot of questions about its security and safety when using. As practitioners, this has the added worry of is it safe to use with our clients?
Zoom has exploded and just to give you an example how much; they had 1.9 million new users throughout 2019 and in 2020 they are adding 2.2 million new users monthly!. This means like any company that if there were faults they needed fixing and quickly! And there were faults such as encryption and data safety. Zoom have worked to fix these, increase security and updated their systems. You can see what they have been doing here
However, as users of any system, we also need to take personal responsibility. Yes, we expect there to be a safe and secure system however there are some simple steps that we as users can do to help protect ourselves and our clients privacy.
Password protect your meetings
This is the simplest way to prevent anyone other than who you have invited to your meeting from attending. This feature can be used for meetings and any account level. All you need to do is go to the ‘settings’ tab and select the ‘Require a password when scheduling new meetings’. This will then automatically generate a password for attendees and the must enter this password to join the meeting.
Easy setting adjustments
When creating the meeting or webinar ensure you only allow signed in users to participate
In account settings disable the join before host option so that you join first – I have always done this to enable me to take a breath and check it all works first.
Also activate the waiting room facility. It looks more professional and gives you as the host more control.
Keep your Personal Meeting ID private
Do not share your personal meeting ID in public or on your website. If you wish to go one step further to keep your personal meeting ID private you can choose the ‘randomly generated ID’ option when creating a meeting. If you are using Zoom for clients this is a good option to use and one I have used since the beginning. It stops anyone from ‘popping’ in. We have all been there and had the wrong time and so it means no-one else will join that meeting unexpectedly.
Lockdown your meeting
You can lock your meeting once you and your attendees are in there. Click on the security tab (once everyone has arrived) and click Lock Meeting. But do wait until all participants are there as it will lock out everyone … even those with the meeting ID and password! I think this will be a great feature for myself and clients and one I intend to use.
Will I continue using zoom? YES! I like the service. I like the fact they have stepped up to demand and how they have sorted many issues out quickly and effectively. I am now aware of cool features, which I never knew where there until we all started using zoom to communicate for daily things.
For more help and support in setting up your meetings and webinars Zoom has a step by step area to help you. You can check it out here
Are you using Zoom? and do you feel safe to do so? I would like to hear your thoughts in the comments below
