Welcome back and happy new year! Let’s have a great start to 2021! Here are the top 5 things to remember about your favorite web conferencing platforms:

1. What are participant limits?
2. Where do you get support, and what do you do when you can’t join a meeting?
3. How do you update your platforms?
4. How do you keep your meetings secure?
5. What are some ways to have a successful video meeting?

Cisco recently released some updates for potential vulnerabilities in its Jabber product.

In September 2020, researchers reported the Jabber client could be infiltrated with malicious code that could then spread throughout your network. According to Ars Technica, these reported vulnerabilities impact all currently supported versions of the Cisco Jabber client (12.1 through 12.9) on macOS, Windows, and mobile platforms.

The good news is that our Information Security team has already pushed the fix for this vulnerability to all computers managed by Miami. However, we highly recommend that if you have installed the Jabber client on your personal computer in light of the work-from-home era (and especially if you installed it on your smartphone), please install the patches now. Links to the macOS, iOS, Android, and Windows versions of the recommended Jabber client can be found in the Knowledge Base.

If you are using Jabber on your smartphone, please make sure you are running version 12.9.4.

More information and links to the patches are available at Cisco’s site.

Here is your periodic reminder to check for updates for your Webex and Zoom desktop applications.

For instructions on how to update your applications, visit the following support sites:

• Zoom
• Webex

Make sure your applications are never more than a month out of date!

As always, visit our dashboard at MiamiOH.edu/ITStatus for up-to-date status information on your favorite Miami applications.

For this Tuesday edition of the Remote Tools Blog, we want to make a different kind of statement.

This year, we have a lot to be grateful for. Our IT family is growing, we’re improving as professionals and as people, and we continue to be successful in providing the services the campus needs while at the same time taking care of ourselves and our emotional well-being.

We’re grateful for you: our readers and clients who keep us going. Thank you for your support and your camaraderie.

Thank you.

We’re all pros at conducting virtual meetings by now, but it never hurts to brush up on our skills! Here are five quick tips for you to incorporate into your meeting routine.

Check your space and your appearance

You’re at home — but this is still a professional venue! You may or may not have fuzzy socks on, but make sure at least your top half is presentable and isn’t distracting to your coworkers, students, or instructors.

Also, make sure to check your surroundings and, if possible, use a naturally well lit area (try not to have light behind you, because that can overwhelm your webcam).

Check for updates

Open the Zoom or Webex desktop app five to 10 minutes before your meeting, just in case the app needs to update. Nothing like needing to update your app and then being late to an important meeting.

Mute when you’re not talking

This helps keep the background noise level down and prevents crosstalk. Of course, you’ll have to remember to unmute when you want to say something!

Prepare to share

Before you press the “share” button when you need to have your coworkers see your screen, make sure any private or sensitive information is hidden and you have closed all the extra tabs you may have open.

Stay on track

You can be more visible during online meetings than you are in face-to-face settings, especially if coworkers and friends have their app set up to display everyone in the same panel (Hollywood Squares style). So pay attention to the meeting and stay focused — and definitely no eating.

There you have it: five tips for you to try out next time you’re on a video conference call. Subscribe for twice-weekly updates!

The Miami University IT Services Diversity Committee is excited to invite you to our November event: DEI in IT with Cisco’s Trey Boynton.

Trey is the Global Lead, Inclusion and Collaboration Strategy and Alignment for Cisco Systems. For nearly 20 years, she worked in equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan.

She shifted to the tech industry in 2017 at Duo Security as their first head of diversity and inclusion. In her current role at Cisco, as the Global Lead for Inclusion Strategy & Alignment, she delivers on inclusion promises at scale.

The conversation will take place Thursday, November 5, from 2 to 3 pm. You must register to attend this event.

For more information and to register, visit the IT News site.

Recently, IT administrators have been receiving notices about Zoom meetings that have been posted to Twitter. Social media is a great way to advertise your event! We do want to caution you, however, that if you are going to post the meeting link publicly, you make sure to take a second to take a look at the security settings.

You probably know why we make this caution: “Zoom Bombings” have become a problem both locally and nationally. Troublemakers have shown their stripes, and we need to be vigilant about keeping disruptions out.

It is strongly recommended that you enable the following settings to reduce the risk of a malicious meeting interruption:

1. Meeting password/passcode
2. Waiting room
3. Meeting registration

Please also change meetings to requiring “authenticated users only.”

To enable this setting when creating a meeting:

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. Schedule a meeting or webinar.
3. Under Meeting Options or Webinar Options, click Only authenticated users can join.
4. Choose Sign in as MiamiOH.edu user.

Please also visit our new and improved security site for web conferencing tools. The site includes much more information about both Webex and Zoom security options.

Stay safe out there, folks!

You heard it here first, folks: Breakout Rooms are available in Webex.

Assign small groups and then bring them back to the larger group when you want. This capability has been available in Zoom, but you can now use them in Webex too.

Watch this corny video from ExplaiNerds for a walkthrough of how to use Breakout Rooms.