The LITS Zoom Administration Team, which is a collaboration between LITS Messaging and ClassroomTech, recently announced the opening of six new Zoom Rooms in various locations around campus.
“Zoom Rooms are a relatively new standard that LITS wants employ across Emory’s meetings spaces,” says Jason Brewer, academic technology specialist in ClassTech. “The goal is to take Zoom’s infrastructure to make our AV spaces easier to use, more sustainable from a cost perspective, and more standardized functionally.”
“The Zoom Rooms are easily integrated with laptops and smart devices and can be controlled and shared wirelessly,” adds Jose Holguin Cruz, academic technology specialist in Messaging. “Both the camera and the screen can be controlled, even with an iPad that you can pass around.”
Zoom is the primary functionality in the Zoom Room space, with a PC running a specially-licensed Zoom Room client. However, the rooms are designed for bring-your-own-device capability, allowing users to wirelessly share any screen.
One of the sustainable advantages to the Zoom Rooms is that they can easily integrate or bypass existing AV infrastructure. Converting a space to a Zoom Room offers significant cost reductions versus old standards of AV.
The new Zoom Rooms are:
North Decatur Building
- 205 (Skidaway)
- 305 (Sweetwater)
- 502 (Red Top)
- 505 (Savannah)
- 524
Woodruff Library
- 316 (Admin Suite)
Additional rooms are coming soon to the 1762 and 1599 buildings.
According to Dana Haggas, Director of Enterprise Applications, “The use of Zoom is definitely growing on both the academic and administrative side at Emory. We hosted a training session with our core users in 1599 to cover the functionality of using the Zoom Rooms. At this point 70% of my meetings are held in Zoom.”
Haggas also points out how Zoom is easy to use and allows her team to leverage alternative work schedules. “I like to see people when I talk to them and this tool allows me to see their faces. My preference is to be in the room but Zoom is the next best thing. It has made my day more efficient by reducing travel time around campus.”
If you are interested in learning more about Zoom, Zoom Rooms or Video Conferencing, consult with Video Services: videoservices [at] emory [dot] edu. You can also learn more about Zoom at https://support.zoom.us.