Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Meeting Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bluff Council approves move from Google Meet to Zoom for meetings, two-account trial starting Aug. 1
Summary
The Bluff Town Council voted unanimously to switch its public meeting platform from Google Meet to Zoom beginning Aug. 1 and approved two paid Zoom subscriptions for a two-month trial to address reliability, controls and closed-captioning concerns.
The Bluff Town Council voted unanimously on July 15 to move its public meeting platform from Google Meet to Zoom beginning Aug. 1 and to purchase two paid Zoom subscriptions for a two-month trial period to support concurrent meetings and improved meeting controls.
Why it matters: The change is intended to reduce confusion and technical issues that arose from multiple Google accounts and to provide improved meeting controls and closed captioning. Staff said Zoom would also make it easier to restrict participant permissions and to manage public comment.
Details: Staff recommended two paid subscriptions: one to host council and planning-and-zoning meetings and a second to allow staff to schedule concurrent meetings. The monthly trial rate discussed was $17 per subscription; an annual subscription later would cost $160 per subscription, staff said. Staff also said recordings would continue to be posted to YouTube and that Zoom's captioning capability would be tested during the trial.
Council direction and vote: A motion to adopt Zoom, with two subscriptions for a two-month trial starting Aug. 1, passed unanimously. Council members asked staff to provide directions for joining via browser and to include an educational note by the meeting link for residents who do not wish to install the Zoom application.
Ending: Staff will set up subscriptions, post updated meeting links on the town website and monitor captioning accuracy and participant experience during the trial.
