Zoom wants to make you an avatar (not the James Cameron type)

[ad_1]

Video chat service Zoom is ringing in the new year with the attitude, “New year, new cartoon version of you!” The service was announced in a January 5 blog post that customizable avatars are one of the few new features that users will be able to access. Other features include new meeting templates, chat threading in meetings, and a dedicated question and answer feature. Users of the Zoom One Pro, Business or Business Plus online plan also got premium access to some apps.

Here’s a breakdown of Zoom’s new features and what to expect in future meetings. Most of these features are available now, unless otherwise noted.

Customizable avatars

In March 2022, Zoom released animal avatars that let you transform yourself into an animated bunny, dog, or other creature. Zoom’s new avatar feature, on the other hand, lets you turn yourself into a cartoon, and you can customize the look of your avatar to match yours.

Your cartoon avatar will also mirror your movements and facial expressions. However, it doesn’t do everything you do. If you’re eating in your meeting — I’m guilty of this — your avatar won’t start munching on a cartoon sandwich.

Avatars are available in beta for all Zoom users, and Zoom said it plans to continue adding customization options.

Threaded meeting messages and reactions

Threaded messages can help keep your chat organized.

Zoom in

In-meeting Zoom chats can be hectic and hard to follow, especially if you’re in a corporate meeting. To help organize in-meeting chats and make them easier to follow, Zoom is introducing threaded in-meeting messages and reactions. Now, if someone asks in the meeting chat, “What should I have for lunch?” you can recommend your favorite burrito place without your comment being lost.

This feature will be available by the end of January.

Meeting templates

All meetings are different and require different settings. Instead of changing settings every time you create a meeting, Zoom allows users to create their own meeting templates. Now, if you have a recurring meeting, you can create a template and use it every time instead of remembering which settings to allow or disable.

Zoom also has three pre-built meeting templates for people to use. Here are those models.

Large Gatherings: Great for team-level meetings. Closed captions are enabled for all participants and the meeting is recorded automatically. Seminars: Think corporate training or the university classroom. The controls are hardened, so features like participant screen sharing are disabled. K-12: Suitable for distance learning in elementary and high schools. Polls and quizzes are enabled, but other features are limited to reduce distractions. Questions and answers during meetings

If you’re delivering a presentation during a Zoom meeting, keeping track of your presentation and in-meeting chat can be difficult. Some people have side conversations and others ask questions. Zoom’s new dedicated question-and-answer feature for meetings makes it easy to track questions, as well as answers, people might have during meetings without clogging up the in-meeting chat.

Access to selected essential apps

If you are a Zoom One Pro, Business or Business Plus user, Zoom gives you access to premium versions of some apps, called Essential Apps. Some of the apps are focused on productivity, like Coda and Sesh, while others are meant to be fun and build teamwork, like Kahoot and Funtivity.

For more, check out these 25 Zoom tips and tricks and other new features Zoom announced at its Zoomtopia 2022 event.

Now playing: Watch this: MacOS Ventura Continuity Camera turns your iPhone into…

8:01

[ad_2]