UPDATE 8/24/2020:

Zoom has indicated that they have deployed a fix across their cloud and many users are already seeing resolution to the issue. ITS testing indicates that it is now possible to access http://denison.zoom.us. If you continue to have issues, please contact the ITS Service Desk at 740-587-6395 or servicedesk@denison.edu.

ORIGINAL POST:

Information Technology Services (ITS) has received and confirmed reports of inability to load the Denison Zoom Portal via web browsers. You can still host and participate in Zoom meetings by launching them within the Zoom Desktop app, available in the Applications folder on Mac and in the Start menu Apps list on Windows.

If you are the HOST of a Zoom meeting, to start your Zoom meeting, please open the Zoom desktop app. If you are prompted to Join Meeting or Sign In, please Sign In following the instructions below. Once signed in, click on the Meetings option at the top.

Your Zoom meetings will be listed. Click Start beside the desired meeting.

If you are participating in a Zoom meeting, open the Zoom desktop app and click Join. Enter the Meeting ID and then, if prompted, the Passcode. If you have only been provided a link, not the Meeting ID and Passcode separately, you can obtain those from the link. The Meeting ID appears BEFORE “?pwd” in the link and the passcode appears after “?pwd=”. Copy and paste those values from the link into the appropriate fields.

Zoom Desktop App Sign-in Instructions

1. Click Sign In.
2. Click Sign In with SSO.
3. For Company Domain, enter “denison” and click Continue.
4. If the BigRedID login page appears, enter your BigRedID and password and click Login and then approve your login through Duo. NOTE: you will be automatically signed in if you are already signed into other Denison single sign-on services.

If you need assistance logging in to the Zoom desktop app, please contact the ITS Service Desk at 740-587-6395 or send an email to servicedesk@denison.edu.

Zoom is aware of the issue and working to resolve it as soon as possible. This post will be updated upon resolution.

Effective 7/25/2020, Denison has a campus-wide agreement for Zoom which provides a Zoom Pro license to all Denison students, faculty, and staff. Whether you’ve previously used Zoom or not, you’ll want to take these three steps to make sure you are set up to use your Denison Zoom Pro license.

1. Visit Denison’s Zoom web portal (http://denison.zoom.us) and sign in to get your Denison Zoom license.
2. Download or update the Zoom desktop app (aka “Zoom Client for Meetings”) and sign in using the Sign in with SSO option (company domain = denison). 
3. Install the Zoom Scheduler Google Chrome extension and sign in to easily schedule Zoom meetings via Google Calendar.

Find details on these steps in the Getting Started with Zoom guide or the Zoom for Students video (the video really applies to any Denison Zoom user!).

For questions, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

Acuity Scheduling has been purchased for the 2020-21 academic year to help meet the heightened appointment management needs of the campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Acuity Scheduling:

• Offers an easy to use interface for both those booking appointments and those managing appointments. (See the top-level appointment scheduling page – still under development!)
• Integrates with Google Calendar.
• Integrates with Zoom for virtual appointments.
  (NOTE: Experience to date indicates only one video-conferencing platform can be effectively supported within Acuity Scheduling. Because of Denison’s new Zoom campus-wide license and its advanced features and because Google Meet is integrated with Google Calendar Appointment Slots, Zoom has been selected as the video-conferencing platform for Acuity Scheduling.) 
• Allows for easy reporting on appointments among many other features.

Google Calendar Appointment Slots remain an easy to use appointment management option for individual faculty members who wish to use Google Meet for virtual office hours appointments. Acuity Scheduling is recommended for offices/departments/individuals that want to:

• Use Zoom for virtual meetings.
• Allow students and/or faculty/staff to select an appointment type (virtual or in-person) and then select from a list of staff members or choose an “any available” option.
• Offer multiple appointments in the same time slot.

If you would like to have a calendar and account set up for you or your office in Acuity Scheduling, please complete the calendar/account request form or book a 30-minute technology consultation with Leslie Smith, ITS Client Success Specialist, to discuss setup.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395

Denison has acquired a Zoom campus-wide license that provides Zoom Pro access to all current faculty, staff, and students and allows hosting of meetings of up to 300 attendees. When you sign into Denison’s Zoom page, you will automatically be assigned a Zoom Pro license under Denison’s Zoom agreement.

Zoom provides advanced video conferencing features that can enrich classes and meetings including:

• Breakout rooms for small group discussions
• Ability to not only share your screen or a selected application but also to annotate it
• Ability to share a virtual whiteboard or the screen of an iPad/iPhone
• Polling with multiple choice questions
• Ability to adjust chat to determine if participants can chat with everyone publicly and/or privately or just the meeting host/co-hosts
• Ability to mute or unmute all participants with a single click

Denison’s Zoom agreement also includes a limited number of webinar licenses that can be assigned upon request to host a webinar. Webinars allow up to 500 attendees (or by special request 1000 attendees) and include features like the panelist role, Q&A, and the ability to live stream to Facebook or YouTube.

For more information, including training and support resources to help you get started, please see the MyDenison Zoom page.

On Wednesday July 8th, Denison will begin moving to a new virtual private network (VPN) service. This service, called GlobalProtect, will replace Pulse Secure by July 23.

If you currently use Pulse Secure, please take action to install the GlobalProtect VPN agent as soon as possible. You can find Quick Reference Guides for installing and using the GlobalProtect VPN agent in the Access Instructions section of the MyDenison GlobalProtect page.

Why the change?

• GlobalProtect provides expanded user access, a more intuitive login process, cost savings, and some valuable behind-the-scenes security/management features.

When must I change?

• Pulse Secure will no longer be available after July 23, 2020.
• Information Technology Services (ITS) recommends you begin using the GlobalProtect VPN agent as soon as possible. For VPN continuity of use, you must switch to GlobalProtect and uninstall Pulse Secure by July 23, 2020.

Questions?

• Please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

Denison is in the process of finalizing a campus-wide Zoom license. When that is available, Information Technology Services (ITS) will provide faculty and staff with resources and training opportunities. Look for further updates on Zoom later this month!

Please note, Google Meet will continue as our primary tool for video conferencing, but the video conferencing section in MyDenison will be expanded to include Zoom information once the license is finalized and resources are created.

Questions?

Please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

Join Information Technology Services (ITS) and Space & Operations committee representatives on 7/7 or 7/8 for a 30-minute preview/Q&A of a potential additional scheduling solution for the 2020-21 academic year to help meet the heightened appointment management needs of the campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See dates/times and sign up.

Solution Name: Acuity Scheduling
Benefits: Easy to use interface for both those booking appointments and those managing appointments. Integrates with Google Calendar and Google Meet. Allows for easy reporting on appointments among many other features.

Sign up now to see it for yourself and provide feedback! You will receive a calendar invitation for the session you request.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

Need to learn more about Zoom, Google Meet, or Google Docs, Forms, Sheets, or Slides? Sign up for a 30-minute virtual one-on-one training session with Leslie Smith, ITS Client Success Specialist (go to appointment page). Time slots are available throughout July and more will be added as needed in August/September.

When you book a slot, please indicate the app for which you would like training and any specific questions you have. The appointment you book will be automatically added to your calendar with a Google Meet link to use for the session.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has posted a warning about financial aid-related  scams targeting students to try to obtain personal or financial information. Please read the NASFAA post for details on the currently reported email and phone scam attempts and how to avoid falling victim to them.

If you receive an email or phone call related to financial aid and want to validate it is from Denison, please call (740)587-6279 or email finaid@denison.edu.

IMPORTANT! This is one of an ever-increasing number of scam attempts targeting students. Please read the 6/1/2020 alert for students about phishing attempts and cyber scams from Denison Information Technology Services (ITS) to learn more about how to protect yourself.

If you feel you have received a phishing email please report it as phishing in Gmail. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Service Desk at 740-587-6395 or servicedesk@denison.edu.

Zoom has been updating their desktop app and as of 5/30/2020 is enforcing a requirement that all Zoom users be on a 5.0+ version of the desktop app. For the best performance and security with Zoom, you should always use the latest version of the Zoom app. Please see this FAQ on how to update and test the Zoom app. 

Even if you’ve recently updated Zoom, Information Technology Services (ITS) recommends you follow the steps in the FAQ to make sure your Zoom app is at the very latest version and you are able to successfully join meetings. ITS has received reports of several individuals who were unable to join a Zoom meeting after updating the Zoom app.

NOTE: If you will be using Zoom for Denison-related meetings and have not yet created a basic (free) Zoom account with your Denison email address and installed Zoom, please see this faculty/staff quick reference guide.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.