You can now enjoy the world’s best whiteboard sharing technology directly inside of Zoom. The Zoom companion app gives you all the benefits of ShareTheBoard, served within one of the leading videoconferencing solutions.
To use ShareTheBoard in Zoom, you’ll need an active ShareTheBoard license and, as the presenter, you’ll need to run ShareTheBoard simultaneously with your Zoom meeting.
Instruction contents:
First time
Step 1: Add ShareTheBoard companion app for Zoom
Step 2: Start a ShareTheBoard session through Zoom
Step 3: Invite your viewers to ShareTheBoard in Zoom
Ongoing usage:
1. Active ShareTheBoard account (if you don’t yet have one, simply register for a free trial)
2. ShareTheBoard system requirements
3. Active Zoom account
4. Camera requirements
3.1 Log in to your Zoom account AND your ShareTheBoard account
3.2 In your ShareTheBoard account, go to Apps, then click the button to add the STB Zoom Companion App
3.3 Complete all logins and authorization
After clicking the above button, you’ll see this page (see left). Click “Allow” to proceed. If asked to sign in to Zoom, sign in again – be sure to sign in using the same Zoom account.
After clicking Allow, click “Open zoom.us” on the resulting popup (see left) to return to the Zoom desktop app.
4.1 Start or join a meeting in Zoom
On the Zoom desktop app homepage, click New meeting or Join (to join an existing meeting). Complete regular joining procedures (e.g., selecting audio source).
4.2 Turn on the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app
Click the “Apps” button on the main Zoom menu. This will open a tray on your right which should default to the “My apps” view.
Since you’ve added the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app in a previous step (section 3), the app should appear on this list. Click it to start the app.
4.3 Start a new ShareTheBoard session
Now you’re ready to start a ShareTheBoard session, from inside of Zoom.
4.3.1 NOTE: Even if you’ve already logged in to ShareTheBoard, the Zoom Companion App may prompt you to sign in again. If you see this message, go ahead and click “sign in.” Doing so may bring up the same confirmation messages you were served in an earlier step (3.3). If it does, simply follow the same instructions again: click “Allow” and “Open zoom.us”
4.3.2 Now, back in Zoom, you can start a new ShareTheBoard session to begin streaming your whiteboard contents into your Zoom meeting.
To start, click either “Start a session using the web app” (to begin a session using the STB Web app) or click the “installer” link (to begin a session using the STB Content Camera).
If you’re not certain which STB app you should use, read this great article about the advantages of either option.
4.3.3 Start STB session
Whichever option you choose in step 4.3.2, you’ll soon end up on the STB dashboard. From here, the fastest way to get started is to click “Share The Board Now.”
More information: How to start a new session
4.3.4 Identify the board (set work area)
NOTE: If you’re using a brand new (trial) account of ShareTheBoard, you’ll see some tips and helpful information served first, as part of our built in “Training Mode.” Read the hints and follow the prompts to continue.
As soon as you start your session, ShareTheBoard will automatically start looking for the surface you’d like to share. Make sure ShareTheBoard is using the right camera (you can adjust the camera by clicking Settings in the bottom-right corner), then point the camera at the surface to be shared. If the entire surface is visible, the automatic surface detection should be able to find it. If it doesn’t – or if you’re unhappy with the selection – simply identify the surface manually. Either way, once the surface is identified, confirm the selection to begin the session.
More information:
How to properly identify the surface to be shared
How to properly set up your camera
4.3.5 Complete onboarding
After setting your work area and activating your session, please wait a few seconds to make sure your content is detected.
Congratulations, ShareTheBoard is fully set up, and you are ready to use it in Zoom
5.1 Invite viewers to use the app
Since you’ve already started your ShareTheBoard session (section 4), you should already be seeing your whiteboard contents streamed into the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app, all that remains is to invite your meeting participants to join your whiteboarding session.
To do so, click the blue “Share” button visible in the top right corner. On the resulting popup, click “All participants.”
Your meeting participants will receive an invitation use the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app. Encourage them to accept and activate the app and you’re good to go!
5.2 True remote whiteboarding in Zoom
As presenter, everything you write on your real whiteboard will now be perfectly legible for your viewers. But there’s more: your viewers can also contribute to your board!
Using digital annotations, viewers can contribute content to your shared whiteboard in Zoom. As presenter, you have the ability to turn viewer annotations on/off and you can easily erase all annotations.
5.3 Board Memory
ShareTheBoard gives all whiteboards memory: with Board Memory, all meeting participants can enjoy a fully interactive instant replay of all board contents – both the presenter’s handwritten contents as well as the digital annotations contributed by viewers.
Selecting Board Memory will open a new window in your default Web browser.
More Information: How to use (and get the most out of) Board Memory
5.4 Ending your whiteboarding session
When you’re done sharing your whiteboard in Zoom, hit End Session in the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app
After you’ve ended your session, you can close your app window inside of Zoom or simply end your Zoom meeting.
6.1 During installation
The “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app works only on the desktop version of Zoom Meetings.
For best results, be sure to use the most recent version of Zoom Meetings. To check if a new version is available, click your profile icon in Zoom (top right corner) and select “Check for updates.” If new updates are available, they’ll begin downloading immediately. Once downloaded, click “Install” or request a reminder for later installation.
When installing the “ShareTheBoard – Whiteboard camera” app, you will be asked to approve the app’s permissions and may be asked to login to your Zoom account again. Be sure to always use the same Zoom account in all Zoom logins.
6.2 Camera issues
If you’re working on a MAC computer, you will be able to use a single camera for both Zoom and ShareTheBoard (both Web app and Content Camera)
If you’re working on a WINDOWS computer:
Depending on your camera setup, you may see a message about your camera being busy, unavailable, or not found. We recommend reading the below articles; if you get stuck, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
What kind of camera to choose
How to properly set up your camera
Content Camera vs. Web app
Content Camera – User Manual
6.3 Choppy video in Zoom when using ShareTheBoard Content Camera (desktop app)
If you notice any issues with the Zoom interface (i.e., lags while using the ShareTheBoard Content Camera):
Then, select Direct3D11 under “Video Rendering Method”
This should eliminate the lags inside of the Zoom interface.
