Pub. 2 2020 Issue 4

M A Y / J U N E 2 0 2 0 14 nebraska cpas Share these 10 tips with your team, establish company-wide videoconferencing dos and don’ts, and emphasize the need to select the more secure options when hosting or joining videoconferences. 2. Take advantage of other tools to limit access to meetings. Conferencing services may give the host the option to lock the meeting once the expected participants have arrived, preventing others from joining. For the greatest level of control, hosts can enable settings allowing them to approve each participant trying to join the meeting. You also may have the ability to remove individual users from the meeting should the need arise. 3. When you join a meeting, your video camera and microphone may be on by default. Be aware that participants may be able to see and hear you as soon as you join a meeting. If you don’t want to share sound or video, most services allow you to mute yourself or turn off your camera. You may be able to adjust the default settings so your preferences are stored for the next meeting or, depending on the service, you may need to adjust your settings at the beginning of each call. 4. Check to see if your videoconference is being recorded. Many services allow the host to record the meeting for future reference. The service should display some indicator you’re being recorded—for example, a bright red circle or the word “recording.” But remember that a meeting may be recorded even if these indicators don’t appear. We’ve heard reports of videoconferences that have been shared online without participants’ knowledge. The safest strategy is to assume you might be recorded and, if possible, avoid sharing private information via videoconference. 5. Be careful before sharing your screen. Most services have functions to let you share with the group what’s on your screen—for example, a slide show. But before sharing your screen, make sure you don’t have open documents, browser windows, or other things on your screen you don’t intend for others to see. Some services have options that allow the host to turn off screen sharing or to limit its use to the host.