As we get into the 2nd month of the Fall term it is a great time to make sure that your Zoom client is up to date in order to make sure you have the most recent bug fixes and the new features which Zoom has released this month! You will want to be sure to check for updates in your Zoom client even if you primarily utilize Zoom from the web. This is because Zoom accesses the on-device client in order to operate your camera, mic, and meeting controls, making it important to have the most recent version to prevent any in-meeting issues.
More information on how to update your client can be found via Zoom’s support site: Update your Zoom Client. Note, if you do not have the Zoom client pinned to your computer desktop or dock, you may need to follow these directions to locate the program on your computer.
Read on to hear about a couple of the new features released this month!
Focus Mode
Meeting Hosts now have the option to hide attendee’s video and photos from users other than themselves. In this mode, while the Host and Co-Host see all attendees as usual, the attendees other than the Host and Co-Host will only see the list of names in the participant list panel and any non-verbal feedback with the Host or the Co-Host who is speaking pinned to their screen. While in focus mode, if screen sharing is enabled for attendees, they can share their screen but it will only be visible to the Host and Co-Host unless they select the option from the screen sharing settings to project it to the rest of the attendees (click the up arrow to the right of Share Screen 
-> In the Shared screens can be seen by section, click All participants -> (Optional) To return to just host and co-hosts viewing shared content, select Host only).
This mode can be very useful if you will be having participants work on an activity quietly on their own for part of the meeting or if you are using Zoom to proctor an exam.
To enable focus mode:
- Start your meeting.
- Click More (…) on the meeting toolbar.
- Click Start Focus Mode.
- Click Start to confirm (you can also select the Don’t ask me again check box to skip this confirmation going forward).
- When Focus mode begins, you and the participants are notified with a banner along the top of the video window. Additionally, the focus mode
icon is always visible in the top-left corner of the video window, next to the encryption icon, while focus mode is active.
To disable focus mode:
- Click More (…) on the meeting toolbar.
- Click Stop Focus Mode.
Zoom Community
Zoom has also debuted a new online user community where users can ask questions of others to help them find solutions to technical issues that they are having or collaborate for ideas on how best to use the platform. Check it out here or view their Getting Started Guide.
