Zoom has a browser-based word processor to their Workplace range with some interesting features including what they call the Magical Key. Zoom Docs word processor aims to enhance productivity within its collaborative environments. Zoom Docs is designed to be used within Zoom group calls and many of the templates reflect
The official Star Wars web site has some pictures that you can use as virtual backgrounds for your Zoom or Teams online calls. Also great for PowerPoint slides. Go to https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-backgrounds , click on an image to open the full version then right-click on the picture and choose ‘Save image
Here’s a fun web site that will play office background noises to your home office or online meeting. https://imisstheoffice.eu/ is part game, part ambient noises. Hard to believe there’d be a time when you’d miss the ambience and noises of the office? Click on items to see what happens, some
Powerpoint is a quick way to make a photo collage or presentation that you can use as a separate photo for any purpose, including as a virtual background! Today is the 80th birthday of an amazing man. We’ll be meeting up on Zoom to celebrate the big day and we’d
PowerPoint presentations don’t have to be full-screen, that’s the default and normal way to show a deck, but a window option is also there. A windowed presentation lets you display the slides in other software like virtual cameras or desktop capture. Go to Slide Show | Setup Slide show and
Looks like many people will be using Zoom, Facetime, Skype or Teams to meet up with family and friends over Christmas. Take a few moments to get ready, look and sound your best for family and friends. All through 2020/2021, Office Watch expanded its coverage to include no-nonsense guides to
If you like to jazz up your Zoom, Teams or other presentations, try out mmhmm . It looks like an interesting tool you might like to try out over the break. mmhmm lets you create an online presentation for live broadcast or recording with many effects combined. Here’s an example
Microsoft has released some ‘sweater’ backgrounds for Christmas, Hannukah or anytime of year. The PNG images are intended as backgrounds for Teams calls but can be used anywhere. A PowerPoint slide, Word background, Zoom call background or whatever. Adding Virtual Background or blurred video to TeamsAdd your own background image
Joining a Zoom or Teams call isn’t as simple as turning on your computer and looking at the camera. Preparation is necessary to make sure you look and sound good and are polite to the other callers. Simple keyboard shortcuts to mute/unmute or ‘Push to Talk’. And we have sage
Microsoft now lets you add your own virtual background image for Teams video calls. Before this change, there was a simple hack to add your own image as a virtual background. Microsoft rushed to add virtual backgrounds to Teams video in response to the popularity of Zoom. A major problem
Anyone who has tried to buy a webcam knows they are now expensive or there’s a long wait for delivery. There’s a very cheap alternative to a webcam that you can use today for very little money and the camera could be better than separate camera. We weren’t surprised to
Meet is Google’s answer to Skype and Zoom. Once known as either Hangouts or Chat, Google Meet is normally for paid customers only but is now available to anyone with a free Google Account. Here’s how to get started with Google Meet. We suggest trying out Google Meet so you’re
It’s sometimes helpful to change your displayed name for an online call, here’s how to do it in Zoom and the limitations of Skype, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The displayed name can be helpful in both casual and business calls. For a business call, you might prefer to add
There’s a really simple way to look better and more professional in a video call. No apps or extras to buy .. it’s easy and incredibly low-tech. Compare how professionals appear in a video call With how too many people really appear in calls. That ‘looking up a nose’ view
You can have a blurred or virtual background for any online video call, not just ones that have those in-built features. Zoom has blur and virtual background options. Teams is getting them with some limitations. Other online calling software either don’t have them or they are configured in different ways.
Make online group calls better for you and others on the call. Muting, watching your look and the background. We’ll use Zoom as our example but the same etiquette applies to Teams, Meet, Facetime or any other group calls. Mute if you’re not speaking Group online calls are great but
Transport for London knows some of us are missing our bus and tube journeys so they’ve made some virtual backgrounds you can use on Zoom, Teams or anywhere else that supports it. Or use as a background on a PowerPoint slide. Go to https://londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/2020/05/01/video-conference-backgrounds/ There’s ‘Sit in collection’, pretend you’re
Some lighting, positioning and other tips for looking your best and more professional during an online call or meeting. Where to put the camera The camera should be about the same level at the top of your head then tilted down a little to your eyes. In other words, have
Microsoft has rushed out a new Skype feature that lets you setup an online meeting or group call with a single shareable link. Of course there a good things about this option and some very bad things. As usual, the setup is more complicated than Microsoft makes out. This new
Zoom has problems but there are easy settings that will fix your online calls and meetings. It’s time to balance some of the excessively worrying Zoom coverage of recent days. Some people and extreme groups are taking advantage of the open defaults on Zoom. There’s an organized effort to share
Zoom has changed some meeting defaults to make their group calls, webinars, classes etc a bit more secure from intruders. There’s more for a Zoom host should do to protect their meetings, classes and calls. Two default settings have changed. Passwords must be set for all meetings and the Waiting
Continuing our look at what to put in a bag ready for an emergency trip to hospital. A checklist to ‘Prepare for the worst’. In part 1 Get ready for hospital – have a ‘go bag’ ready we looked at the devices to take, what to put on them and
You don’t need a tripod or camera stand, just a few books and other bits can do the job. Don’t believe us? See the example set by His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, CC, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester,
There’s a simple and cheap way to expand the view of computer and smartphone cameras. Simple clip-on wide angle lenses can change the narrow view of a iPhone, iPad, smartphone or laptop camera into a wide view. They give you a wider view of a room which is great for
