An inter-institutional zoom pool was organized by the Faculty of Mathematics for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. The UIS now provides a centralised service, so this pool will be migrating licences to that service over summer 2023 and will not continue beyond the end of September 2023. This FAQ now covers questions relating to the closure of the Inter-institution zoom pool.
A note about terminology: Zoom uses "account" to refer to a licence allocated to an individual, a collection of such licences and a login to their website. This is confusing. Throughout these FAQs, terms are used as follows:
- pool - the consortium to which licences are allocated by Zoom
- sub-pool - representing part of the consortium (most probably an individual institution) to which licences are allocated by the pool coordinator(s) from the pool
- individual account - a user's account on Zoom to which licences are allocated by the sub-pool manager(s)
- institutional account - an institution's existing account on Zoom held outside the pool
Was this intended to rival the UIS zoom pool?
Certainly not. This was a tactical, ad-hoc response to smaller institutions paying proportionately more for zoom licences: by buying in bulk we were able (in many cases) to save money. The UIS-organised solution is a piece of strategic work, properly and sustainably resourced and staffed.
What's the process for merging into the UIS zoom pool?
The telecoms office have a spreadsheet to gather information about each institution's requirements.
Please be aware that accounts with more than 50 users will require us to request assistance from Zoom to move over (they ask for 2 weeks notice) also if you have a Zoom Room license this will need to be removed before the migration.
Will there be a refund?
The inter-institutional pool has around 800 active zoom licences. If all are migrated before the end of the licence (end of September 2023), Zoom will issue a refund to the Faculty of Mathematics (as coordinating institution). If any licences are not migrated, Zoom will not issue a refund.
The Faculty of Mathematics will pass on refunds to collaborating institutions if that institution's refund exceeds the likely cost of processing it.
What does the UIS licence cost?
The UIS has been able to provide Educational Zoom licences for £12+VAT - £14.40. This is around one third of the cost the inter-institutional pool managed to achieve and illustrates the benefit of further collaboration.
What are the key dates in this process?
The consortium's Zoom licence runs until 29th September 2023. The pool coordinators will strongly encourage institutional administrators to get their licences migrated before that date. Licences which are not migrated by then will be closed - with due warning - to avoid roll-over and the Faculty of Maths being charged for renewal of the entire licence, a fee of several tens of thousands of pounds.
