An assessment of Zoom's security and capacity shows that the platform can be used for internal meetings and meetings with external partners as well. Not all functions can be supported centrally.

2020.05.29 | Thomas Grønborg Sørensen

Photo: Colourbox.

Almost overnight, Zoom and Teams have become central infrastructure at Aarhus University. Sevrealdepartments, schools and centres have been particularly interested in using Zoom for internal meetings, and this is now possible – both for staff who want to hold digital staff meetings and for students who want to meet with their study group. 

LEA (the administration’s management team) authorised expanded use of Zoom on the background of advice from AU IT and the EDU IT Hub:

"Zoom works well, and there’s been a lot of interest in using it for more than strictly teaching and exam-related purposes. At the same time, we’ve also gained more experience with the programme, and according to AU IT’s assessment, there’s enough capacity, and security is also good enough to to allow us to expand the use of Zoom,” said University Director Arnold Boon.

We all have a responsibility for security

Deputy Director Peter Bruun Nielsen, who is head of AU IT, also stressed that all use of Zoom must comply with the same security guidelines that apply to conducting exams:

“People who invite others to Zoom meetings have a particular responsibility to make sure that unauthorised people don’t get access to sensitive personal data. So it’s important to understand the program’s functions and to comply with current security guidelines.”

In addition to internal meetings, it’s now also possible to use Zoom for meetings with external partners. For example, meetings with coming students, briefings with external partners or webinars. 

Zoom support: will be handled decentrally

Even though Zoom is now available for activities other than teaching and exams, EDU IT Hub will continue to prioritise providing support for these activities, explained Anders Hyldig, manager of the hub:

“There’s been a lot of interest in using Zoom in a variety of contexts, so it makes sense to make the program available for other activities than strictly teaching. But our support team has limited resources, and our top priority is making sure teaching is running smoothly, so that’s where we’re concentrating our efforts. So if there’s a need for support for other activities on Zoom, as a rule this will need to be handled decentrally.” Hyldig added that both he and AU IT, the IT support teams and the teaching development centres will be monitoring Zoom use and support needs.

Overview: Which program do I use for what?

• Teaching and supervision: Zoom
• Internal staff meetings: Zoom or Teams
• PhD defences: Zooms or Teams (depending on the level of confidentiality)
• Study group meetings: Zoom or Skype for Business
• File-sharing and Co-editing: Teams (BlackBoard/OneDrive for students)
• Meetings with external partners: Zoom, Teams or Skype for Business

Read more about the plusses and minusses of the individual programs, security, etc.