virtual meetings on council ipads guide for councillors an… · that you download the apps for all...
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VIRTUAL MEETINGS ON COUNCIL IPADS
Guide for Councillors
Introduction
This is a short guide on how to participate in Council meetings on your iPads. The guide
explains how to use three of the most commonly used applications: Zoom, Microsoft Teams
and Skype for Business.
You can join virtual meetings via your web browser if you are sent a link, however we advise
that you download the Apps for all three platforms, as this will make joining meetings much
easier. IT should have installed Microsoft Teams and Zoom on all Councillor iPads already,
so please let someone in Democratic Services know if you do not have these Apps.
The logos for these Apps are shown below. All three Apps are free to download from the
App Store – just search for “ZOOM Cloud Meetings”, “Microsoft Teams” and “Skype for
Business”. You will need your Apple ID to download these Apps from the App Store.
1. Joining Meetings
For all platforms, you should receive an email invitation to the meeting. Please note that you
do not need to wait for the meeting time to start before you can join the meeting – the link
will work beforehand, should you wish to join slightly earlier. Equally, you can join the
meeting late if necessary.
Zoom
Your email invite to the Zoom meeting should have a link to the meeting in it. If you open the
email on your iPad and click on this link, the Zoom app should open automatically.
Alternatively, the email give you a “Meeting ID”, which you can use to join the meeting.
Enter the Meeting ID in the box shown below. Then press “Join” to join the Zoom meeting.
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Once you have joined the meeting, either using the link in the email invitation or by inputting
the Meeting ID, you will see the below screen. Make sure to allow access to your Camera
and Microphone.
Once you have allowed access, you will see a preview of your video. To join with video,
press “Join with Video”. If you only wish to join with audio, i.e. as a conference call rather
than a video conference, press “Join without Video”.
You will then see something similar to the below image. The bottom right screen shows your
video, and the larger image shows whoever you are talking to. If you are talking to multiple
people, Zoom will automatically choose to show you one person at a time, by detecting who
is speaking and showing you their video. If you would prefer to see all participants of the
meeting at once, select “Switch to Gallery View” on the left-hand side. Zoom will only show
you nine people on the screen at once. For meetings with more than nine people, you can
swipe left and right to see all the attendees.
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At any point during the meeting, you can press the “Mute” button in the top right corner to
turn your audio on or off, or the “Stop/Start Video” button to turn your video on or off. To
leave the meeting, press “Leave Meeting” in the top left corner.
Microsoft Teams
Your email invite to the Teams meeting should have a link to the meeting in it. If you open
the email on your iPad and click on this link, the Teams app should open automatically.
Alternatively, you can go to the App and sign-in (with your Council log-in details).
Once you have logged in, click on “Calendar” on the bar at the bottom of the screen, then
select the meeting from the list on the left-hand side and press “Join”.
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You should then see a screen like the one below. Switch your audio and/or video on and
allow access to your microphone and camera if prompted by the iPad. Once your video is
turned on, you will see a preview of it in the black box. To join the meeting, press “Join now”.
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You will then join the meeting and see a screen similar to the one below. The below image
only has one person in the meeting. If there were multiple people, the screen would be split
up into a gallery view. Teams will only show you four people at a time, and will automatically
select whoever is talking so that you can see them.
At any point during the meeting, you can tap the screen so that the bar in the bottom of the
above image comes up. You can then press the video button to turn your video on or off, or
press the microphone button to turn your audio on or off. To leave the meeting, press the red
hang-up button.
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Skype for Business
Your email invite to the Skype meeting should have a link to the meeting in it. If you open the
email on your iPad and click on this link, the Skype app should open automatically.
Alternatively, you can go to the App and sign-in (with your Council log-in details).
Once you have logged in, click on “Meetings” on the bar at the left of the screen, then press
the “Join” button next to the meeting you wish to join.
You might then see the following message. Make sure “Use Skype for Business” is selected,
and press “OK”.
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You will now have joined the meeting, without video, and will see the below screen.
To turn your video on, press the top left video button. The screen will then look similar to the
below image. Your video will be shown in the bottom right corner, and the video of other
participants will be shown in the main screen.
At any point during the meeting, you can tap the screen to show the icons at the bottom.
Press the video button to turn your video on or off, or press the microphone button to turn
your audio on or off. To leave the meeting, press the red hang-up button.
2. Viewing your Agenda at the Same Time as the Meeting
Your iPad has a split screen function, which will allow you to view a digital agenda while
participating in the meeting. You should add the App you are going to use to display your
agenda to your “favourites bar” on the home screen. This will make it easier to access it
during the meeting. To do this, press and hold the App icon on the home screen until a menu
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comes up. Select “Edit Home Screen”, drag the App icon into the favourites bar, then press
the home button to stop editing.
Before the meeting, it is helpful to open your agenda, e.g. from an email attachment, in your
browser or in Modern.Gov. In this example, the agenda has been opened in Safari, but it is
fine to have it open in any other App.
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If you forget to do this, you can also open other Apps to find your agenda while the meeting
is going on, and you will still be able to hear the audio in the background. Once your agenda
is open, to go back to the meeting, press the green phone button in the top right corner.
While you are in the meeting, swipe slightly up from the middle of the bottom of the screen to
view your favourites bar. Be careful to do this gently, and to not swipe to far, as you may
close the App instead of viewing the favourites bar (you can always just click on the green
phone in the top right, or the App icon, to open it again).
To split the screen, drag the icon of the App where you have displayed your agenda to the
far left or far right of the screen.
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You can drag the black bar in the middle to adjust how much of the screen each side takes
up. Please note that this option is only possible in Microsoft Teams, and you will not be
able to see any video while you are using this (but you will be able to hear all the audio).
Please also note that using Modern.Gov to view your agenda may limit your ability to
increase and reduce the amount of the screen that is taken up by the agenda.
The other option is to drag the App icon in front of the meeting screen, instead of to the left
or right. In Zoom and Skype, doing this will allow you to see the video at the same time as
the agenda. The disadvantage to this is that the text will be significantly smaller.
For a more extensive tutorial about how to split screen your iPad, you can watch this video:
https://youtu.be/pqFyfbCbNpc.
If you would rather not split your screen, you can simply go the App where your agenda is
and view it with the audio from the meeting in the background. However, this will mean you
will have to keep going back to the meeting App if you wish to turn your audio or video
on/off, to use the chat function, or to hang up the call.
3. Meeting Chat
All three Apps have a chat function, where you can send written messages, for example to
inform the rest of the people in the meeting that you are having issues joining or cannot hear
them. In Microsoft Teams and Skype, tap the message icons (left) in the top right corner to
open the meeting chat. This is a chat with everyone in the meeting.
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In Zoom, press “More” (three dots symbol) in the top right corner and select “Chat” to open
the meeting chat.
Private Meeting Chat
Microsoft Teams and Zoom both have functions to privately message someone in the
meeting. This is useful, for example, if you need to ask the Clerk a private question.
In Microsoft Teams, you can send someone a private message by clicking on their name in
the bottom left corner of their audio/video window (or their round icon in the bottom right
corner, if their window is not displayed) and clicking the chat icon as shown on the previous
page.
When you open the chat window in Zoom (as explained above), it will automatically assume
that you want to send the message to everyone in the meeting. However, you can press the
arrow next to “Everyone”, at the bottom of the chat window, to select a specific person to
message privately.
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4. Screen Sharing
In Zoom and Microsoft Teams, you can share your iPad screen with meeting attendees.
This is useful, for example, if you want to show them some important information in another
App such as a chart or article. This feature should be used with caution – it will allow all
meeting attendees to see all of your iPad screen while screen sharing is on.
In order to use screen sharing, you need to ensure that the “Screen Recording” control is
added to your iPad. Go to Settings/Control Centre/Customise, then press the green plus
button next to “Screen Recording” to add this to your controls:
To start sharing your screen in a Zoom meeting, click on the “Share Content” button in the
top right corner, then select “Screen”. A box should open titled “Screen Recording”. Select
Zoom in the list of Apps, and make sure “Microphone Off” is switched to “Microphone On” so
that you can continue to talk while your screen is being shared.
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Press “Start Broadcast” to begin sharing your screen. This will start a countdown, after which
your screen will start being shared with the meeting.
To start sharing your screen in a Microsoft Teams meeting, press the three dots in the bar
at the bottom of the screen, select “Share”, then select “Share Screen”.
A box should open titled “Screen Recording”. Press “Start Broadcast” to begin sharing your
screen. This will start a countdown, after which your screen will start being shared with the
meeting.
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In both Apps, while your screen is being shared, you will see the red record symbol in the
top right corner of the screen. You can press this at any time to stop sharing your screen.
You can then press the green phone symbol in the same place to return to the call (as
explained earlier). It is important to note that your screen will only share when you are in an
App, i.e. it will not share your home screen.
5. Maintaining WiFi Speeds
If your WiFi drops out during a meeting and you can no longer access the meeting, you can
simply follow the process for joining the meeting outlined in part 1 again, and you should be
able to rejoin.
Ofcom recently published some advice on staying connected to your WiFi during the
Coronavirus outbreak. As WiFi networks are under increased demand with many families
home working and home schooling, it is good practice to follow this advice when you join a
meeting to reduce the chances of dropping off the call. Some of their tips for maintaining
your WiFi connection are:
• Move your WiFi router away from other devices. Wireless devices such as
cordless phones, baby monitors, halogen lamps, dimmer switches, stereos and
computer speakers, TVs and monitors can all affect your WiFi if they’re too close to
your router. You should place your router on a table or shelf, rather than the floor,
and keep it switched on.
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• Don’t use the microwave during virtual meetings. Microwave ovens can reduce
WiFi signals, so it is best not to use the microwave when you’re making video calls,
watching HD videos or doing something important online.
• Reduce the number of devices connected to your WiFi. The more devices
attached to your WiFi, the lower the speed you get. Devices like tablets and
smartphones often connect in the background, so try switching WiFi connection off
on these when you’re not using them. If you live with other people who use the WiFi,
you may wish to ask them to avoid doing things that use more data, such as
streaming HD videos, during the meeting.
• Try wired rather than wireless. For the best broadband speeds, use an Ethernet
cable to connect your computer directly to your router rather than using WiFi. This is
a computer networking cable which should give you a faster, more reliable
connection.
• Plug your router directly into your main phone socket. Where possible, try not to
use an extension lead, as these can cause interference which could lower your WiFi
speed. If you have to use an extension lead, use a new, high-quality cable with the
shortest possible length. Tangled and coiled cables can also affect speeds.