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March 29, 2024

Top 10 Reasons Why VNSNY Is Switching to Zoom as Its Video-Conferencing Platform

August 27, 2020

In mid-March, as COVID-19 engulfed the New York area, VNSNY shifted practically overnight to a largely virtual operation, using a variety of applications for its virtual meetings. In August, after five months of testing different applications, VNSNY will be switching to Zoom as its virtual meeting solution. Zoom has been selected as the virtual meeting application of choice to be used across the organization as well as for virtual visits with patients in several of the clinical areas.

The addition of Zoom is about getting ready for a post-COVID world, according to Brent Flack-Davison, Vice President, Strategy, Performance, and Innovation. “No one knows what our workplaces will look like in the immediate future,” says Brent, “but we want VNSNY to be as prepared as possible. One key to this is having a flexible, easy-to-use video conferencing platform. Flexibility is especially important for virtual visits, which are still evolving across the whole health care spectrum. We want to be ready as telehealth matures, and Zoom provides the flexible platform we need for this.”

Here are the Top 10 reasons VNSNY is using Zoom — and how it benefits you:

  1. You can use Zoom with all your devices. You can Zoom with any VNSNY or personal device—phones (there’s a Zoom app for both Apple products and Android), desktop computers, laptops and tablets—using a basic Internet connection.
  1. Zoom is easy to use. Once you’ve been sent a link to a Zoom meeting, one click will connect you to both video and audio. While you’re on the Zoom, you can single-click to mute and unmute your audio as needed, or turn off your video if you’d prefer not to be seen (your name will appear instead, or you can replace your live video feed with a selected photo of yourself). Plus, VNSNY’s Zoom configuration is integrated with Outlook and the staff directory, making it simple to send your VNSNY colleagues invites to Zoom meetings. You’ll also find lots of training videos and FAQs in Sharepoint for both first-time and more advanced users.
  1. The Zoom app is already loaded onto your VNSNY device. Everyone who has a network ID to log into the VNSNY network now has Zoom—either the standard version or the “Pro” version. Standard and Pro share most of the features listed in this article. The key difference with a Pro account is that there’s no time limit when you host group meetings with three or more people. Standard meetings with three or more participants are limited to 40 minutes. One-on-one meetings are always unlimited in both versions.
  1. Zoom is HIPAA-compliant. Zoom is HIPAA-compliant, which is not the case with FaceTime, WhatsApp and other video-conferencing services. Therefore, all virtual meetings and visits using Zoom within VNSNY will be HIPAA-compliant.
  1. You can choose custom VNSNY Zoom backgrounds. If you’re looking for an alternative to your bedroom or dining-room wall, Zoom offers a number of built-in custom backgrounds that you can display behind you with a click of a button. Better yet, you can use one of these great VNSNY background images.
  1. You can participate in group and private text chats during a Zoom. The group chat function lets anyone type a message during a Zoom meeting for the rest of the group to read without interrupting the conversation. And if you want to share a private thought with a colleague (or get caught up on something you missed while you were checking your phone!), you can also reach out to individual participants during the Zoom using the private chat function.
  1. Zoom has other great features to make your meetings really productive and participants comfortable. You can share a Virtual Whiteboard to brainstorm with other participants… set up Breakout Rooms for smaller groups to have private conversations and then return to the larger meeting… and employ the easy-to-use Poll function to gather data or get feedback from attendees. And If you don’t want to look at yourself after five months without a haircut, you actually can hide yourself from your view, while everyone else sees you. (And they’ll think you look just great!)
  1. Zoom is accessible to people with disabilities. The platform offers several different closed-captioning options for live meetings, as well as keyboard shortcuts to assist both Windows and Mac users with impaired mobility. Zoom also supports a number of different screen readers for the visually impaired.
  1. Zoom works just as well for people joining by phone. It’s important to provide dial-in numbers for all Zoom meetings—which the standard Zoom invitation always does—since good Internet connections aren’t always available. The phone-in number lets participants join as if they were on a conference call. Tip: At the start of a meeting, ask those phoning in to identify themselves, so everyone knows who’s participating.
  1. Microsoft Teams isn’t going away. You can still use Microsoft Teams as well—which is great for collaborating on documents. The choice is up to you.