Research and Innovation Services

Key Elements:

• User-Friendly Interface: Zoom gained popularity due to its easy-to-navigate interface, which enhances user experience.

• No Login Required: Zoom allows participants to join meetings seamlessly with a link or dial-in options, eliminating the need for mandatory logins.

• Facilitation Support: The inclusion of breakout and private chat functions facilitates effective meeting facilitation.

• Versatile Meeting Options: Zoom offers a versatile approach, accommodating both online seminars and ordinary meetings for hosting large and small teams.

• Multi-User Screen Sharing: Multiple users can share their screens simultaneously, promoting interactive discussions.

• Cloud Recording: The ability to record and save meetings to the cloud enhances accessibility and knowledge retention.

• Automatic Reminders: Zoom's feature for setting up meetings includes automatic reminders, reducing administrative burdens.

Considerations when Using Zoom with International Partners:

• Free Account Limitations: While Zoom offers free accounts, meetings are capped at 40 minutes. Partner institutions without paid licenses may depend on high-income partners for extended meeting times, though institutional affiliations can grant access.

• Bandwidth Reliability: Zoom is known to work with lower bandwidth, but it can become unstable on weaker connections, potentially hindering full participation from partners. We have been advised that some teams have encountered challenges with bandwidth when using Zoom with Chinese partners, so this may be something to keep in mind.

• Video-Optional Participation: Avoid mandating video use, as participants may need to join meetings from various locations, including cars, and allowing users to join without video can ease the burden on those with limited bandwidth.

• Mobile Internet Costs: Participants joining via mobile internet may face economic burdens; ensuring sufficient funds for their participation is essential.

• Security Precautions: To prevent security breaches, avoid publicly sharing Zoom links and take measures to safeguard meeting access.

These considerations will help international partnerships effectively utilise Zoom while being mindful of the platform's limitations and potential challenges.

Microsoft Teams is a versatile platform that combines communication and collaboration features, offering workplace chat, video meetings, live event capabilities, file storage, email, calendar, and application integration. It is accessible for free with a Microsoft 360 account, and participants can join meetings without an account.

Considerations when Using Teams with International Partners

• Paid License for Full Features: Microsoft 360 requires a paid license for access to many advanced features, which may present a barrier to international partners. This can create challenges with file-sharing. This can be solved by providing partners with UofG affiliation status. 

• Bandwidth Challenges: Difficulties with lower bandwidth when using Microsoft Teams are possible, affecting the quality of online interactions. Zoom was considered more stable for low bandwidth scenarios.

• Secure Collaboration: Microsoft Teams offers secure file storage and allows multiple users to edit and collaborate on documents. However, this may be less efficient with low bandwidth.

• User-Friendliness: Some users found Microsoft Teams less user-friendly than Zoom, and its interface harder to navigate.

• Chat Function Challenges: Using the chat function within meetings can be more challenging in Microsoft Teams, potentially affecting real-time problem solving and communication during meetings.

These considerations highlight the strengths and limitations of Microsoft Teams in international collaboration, helping research teams to make informed choices based on their specific needs and resources.

WhatsApp is a widely used global messaging platform that facilitates various forms of content sharing, including text messages, voice notes, photos, documents, and videos. It also supports individual and group voice and video calls. It can be a useful communication tool within international partnerships, particularly working with partners in Africa.

Considerations when using WhatsApp with International Partners:

• Accessibility and Cost: WhatsApp is accessible for free on smartphones and laptops, making it widely available.

• Data Efficiency: It efficiently uses data through compression and media optimization, minimizing data consumption for messages, images, videos, and other content.

• Offline Messaging: WhatsApp allows users to send messages when offline, delivering them when the recipient comes online. This feature is valuable in areas with intermittent internet access or frequent power outages.

• Inclusivity: Designed to run on a wide range of smartphones, including those with limited processing power, making it more inclusive.

• Security Caution: While WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption for messages, it should not be used for sharing sensitive or confidential information without proper ethical approval.

• Enhanced Engagement: Due to its popularity, team members are often comfortable using WhatsApp, promoting increased engagement, and fostering a collaborative atmosphere, less bound by rigid hierarchies.

• Privacy Concerns: Not everyone may be comfortable using WhatsApp, as it provides access to personal phone numbers. It may also challenge the separation between work and home life. Consider options like work-only telephone numbers for added privacy. Google Voice provide free numbers to enable this.

• Hierarchies: Use of Whatsapp may exacerbate power imbalances within teams. Junior team members may not feel comfortable ignoring messages from senior colleagues that arrive outside working hours, or may be subject to high degrees of messaging traffic from senior colleagues. It is very important to set clear boundaries and to embed processes within the team governance structure for identifying and responding to such issues.

• Establish Rules of Engagement: When setting up WhatsApp groups, involve all users in discussions and agree on "rules of engagement," including posting times, permissible content types, and expectations around response times.

• Responsibility and Documentation: If WhatsApp is used for project communication, establish a clear plan of responsibility for monitoring and responding to messages, as well as documenting communication effectively, particularly if it relates to project decision-making.

WhatsApp offers valuable communication capabilities, but its use should be guided by awareness of its strengths and limitations, ensuring effective and respectful communication within international collaborations.

Google Docs is a cloud-based word processing application that facilitates document creation, editing, and formatting.

Considerations when using Google Docs with International Partners:

• Nature of the Data: Google Docs should not be used for sharing personal data amongst teams. 

• Web-Based Accessibility: Google Docs operates entirely through web browsers, eliminating the need for software downloads or installations.

• Universal Access: Accessible from any device with an internet connection, making it ideal for working on documents from diverse locations, even in low-bandwidth areas.

• Real-Time Collaboration: Multiple users can collaborate on the same document simultaneously, fostering group projects, co-authoring, and collaborative writing.

• Share Control: Users can maintain control over document sharing by assigning view and edit permissions to collaborators.

• Auto-Save and Version History: Google Docs automatically saves work in progress, reducing the risk of data loss. It also maintains a version history for document revisions.

• Offline Mode: Offers an offline mode that allows users to edit documents without an internet connection, with changes syncing once online again.

• Referencing Integration Challenges: Users may encounter challenges when integrating referencing, especially when using reference management programs like EndNote.