Web/Video Conferencing

KU IT offers three options for web/video conferencing: 

• Skype for Business is best for voice and video calls with KU faculty and staff.
• Microsoft Teams is best for online meetings with department work teams and KU colleagues.
• Zoom Video Conferencing is best for conference room video conferencing and online meetings with external partners. Zoom connects with conference rooms systems (e.g., Polycom) in addition to personal computers and mobile devices. 

KU Web/Video Conferencing Comparison Chart

	Skype for Business	Teams	Zoom
Recommended for	Incoming and outgoing phone calls with internal and external parties	Chat in your Team or with anyone at KU Meetings with KU colleagues	Academic classes More information Zoom allows for meeting recordings to publish straight to Kaltura (Mediahub). This makes an easy segway to embed recorded videos to your Blackboard course. Meetings with external attendees Polycom conference rooms
Required download		More information Most meeting features can be used through the browser application of Teams. However, for full features including screen sharing, the desktop app must be installed and used.	More information Some Zoom meeting features can be used through the browser. However, for full features including screen sharing, the desktop app must be installed and used.
Works on these browsers	Firefox or Chrome	MS Edge or Chrome	MS Edge, Safari, Firefox, or Chrome
Can schedule through Outlook		More information To schedule through Outlook, you must first install the desktop app. Meetings created in Outlook are not tied to a specific created Team.	More information To schedule through Outlook, you must first install the desktop app.
Can record	More information Recording can only be done on a PC.	More information Recordings do not automatically store in Kaltura. Recordings are stored in Teams for 20 days.	More information Recordings can be set to automatically record to the cloud and be stored in Kaltura.
Number of participants	250	300 More information 10,000 people can be added to a Team. However, 300 is recommended as the meeting attendance cap.	300
Phone bridge available *		Coming soon!
Non-KU attendees join using	Browser or phone bridge	Desktop app, mobile app, or through MS Edge or Chrome	Desktop app, mobile app, phone bridge
KU faculty, staff, and students join using	Desktop app, mobile app, or through IE, Firefox or Chrome	Desktop app, mobile app, or through MS Edge or Chrome	Desktop app, mobile app, phone bridge, Polycom
Students can create meetings with full  features	---		---
More information	https://howto.ku.edu/sign-skype	https://howto.ku.edu/microsoft-teams	http://kansas.zoom.us
Support	Customer Service Center itcsc@ku.edu; 785-864-8080	Office 365 Admins office365support@ku.edu	Media Production Studio itmps@ku.edu

* The phone bridge provides a call-in number for attendees to join. Some long distance charges may be incurred by those calling in.

Skype for Business:

KU IT provides web conferencing via Skype for Business. With the click of a button you can open a text chat, make a voice or video call, or even start an online meeting. And, you can use Skype for Business from nearly any computer or mobile device, on campus or anywhere in the world you have Internet access.

Skype for Business Highlights: 

• Choose how you want to communicate—through text chat, voice call or video call.
• Skype for Business/Lync can be used on PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones.
• Integration with Microsoft Outlook address book makes it easy to contact KU colleagues for a quick chat, voice call or video conference.
• See if your contacts are available, in a meeting or away from their desk.
• Send and share files with simple drag and drop.
• Start and impromptu video conference with the click of a button.
• Schedule online meetings for up to 250 participants using Outlook—even if they don’t have Skype for Business/Lync.
• Easily share a PowerPoint presentation, whiteboard or your entire desktop during an online meeting.
• Chat, voice call or video call with colleagues in more than 800 institutions around the world, just by adding them as a contact.

Visit Skype for Business for more information.

Zoom Video Conferencing:

Zoom combines video conferencing, online meetings and in-conference group messaging into one easy-to-use tool that is ideal for KU conference rooms and online meetings with external partners. Zoom is a supplement to the web/video conferencing capabilities of Skype for Business.

Zoom Highlights:

• Zoom at KU allows for video, audio and content sharing among up to 100 participants on most devices, including Windows and Mac computers, Android and iOS devices, and KU video conferencing room systems (e.g., Polycom).
• Zoom replaces multi-point video conferencing via KanREN. 
• Zoom connects with conference room systems (e.g., Polycom), as well as computers and mobile devices. 
• Join Meetings — Participants can join a Zoom meeting from anywhere in the world via the Zoom app. 
• Host/Schedule Meetings — A KU Pro Zoom account is required to host/schedule meetings. Only KU faculty, staff and GTA/GRAs are eligible for KU Zoom Pro accounts. Sign in at KU Zoom Video Conferencing to get a KU Pro Zoom account.
• Download the Zoom app on your KU-Owned workstation, personal computer, and/or mobile device at KU Zoom Video Conferencing.
• KU signed a contract with Zoom for fiscal year 2018 as a solution for conference room video conferencing. 
• Zoom is a cost-effective tool that provides a wide range of options as we replace aging conference room hardware. 
• Zoom's accessibility features include closed captioning (CART).

Eligibility:
Departments
Faculty & Staff
Graduate Research & Teaching Assistants