Introduction to Zoom

Zoom is a web conferencing tool that provides a virtual room for attendees to meet online in real time for synchronous interaction and collaboration. It is the major tool Saga uses for long staff meetings and training sessions. Please follow this guide to set up Zoom properly on your device.

Installing Zoom

If you are using a Chromebook, you will have to get the Zoom PWA app. Otherwise, you can download Zoom at https://zoom.us/download. After following the prompts on the installation wizard, launch Zoom from either your Applications folder (Mac), Start Menu (Windows) or App Launcher (Chromebook).

Joining a Meeting

You can simply click on the provided link, enter your name, and you will be joined into the conference. It is recommended that you sign into Zoom with Google using your Saga account to perform more customized settings. Continue reading to learn how to set up and configure your account.

Logging in

To log into Zoom, you will sign in with Google using your Saga email. Open the Zoom app, click on the Google icon, then follow the on-screen prompts.

Important: Do NOT check the box "For Educators" when you first sign into the account. We do not use Zoom for tutoring, so no need to select this option. But if you accidentally check the box and you are stuck on the page that prompts you for organization information, here is what you can do to get around it:

Option 1: You can restart the account creation process from the Sign Up page. Sign in with Google again using your Saga account. Do NOT select the "For Educators" check box this time.

Option 2: If you are brought back to the same page where you were stuck, you can enter AmeriCorps' information:

Name of Organization: AmeriCorps

Street Address: 250 E St SW

City: Washington

Zip/Postal Code: 20525

State: DC

Role: Other

Then, click "Continue". You should be signed into Zoom now. Enabling the "For Educators" option should not affect your Zoom user experience, but if you ever want to disable it, check out this article from Zoom: Enabling or disabling Children's Education Status setting

First time set up

When logging into Zoom for the first time and launching the application, click your profile icon in the top right, click settings, and please do the following:

Change your name
1. Go to "Profile".
2. Go to "Edit my Profile".
  1. You will be redirected to the website.
  2. If you are not logged in already, you can log into your Zoom account by clicking on the Google icon and using your Saga email.
3. On the left hand side, click on "Edit" next to your name.
4. Change your display name to match the following convention ( First Name & Last Name (Or initial) / Role or Title / Region / preferred pronouns (optional) ).
5. Click "Save" at the bottom.
Change your Profile Picture
1. Follow steps 1.A to 1.C above.
2. Hover over the picture/icon next to your first name and last name and click the little pen that pops up.
3. Click "Change" in the bottom left and find the .jpg/.png/.gif on your device that you would like to use as your profile picture. Once you are done, click "Save" at the bottom right.
Change your background (optional)
1. In Settings, go to "Background & effects", then go to "Virtual backgrounds".
2. Choose a virtual background to use or upload a background picture you would like to use by clicking the "+" icon.