The University adopted Zoom as a service in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our current Zoom license expires at the end of this week. Pitt IT met with the Council of Deans on March 7 to present options for renewing Zoom. Based on a broad consensus from deans, Pitt IT will purchase a base Zoom service for all students, faculty, and staff. The base license enables meetings with up to 300 participants and significantly reduces the University’s renewal cost.
Premium Zoom Features Before July 1
Not included in the base Zoom license are the following advanced features, which are utilized by less than one percent of Zoom users at Pitt:
- Large Capacity Meetings: Standard meetings for 301 to 500 participants.
- Webinars: Meetings with additional features for 1 to 500 participants.
Between today and June 30, Pitt IT will cover the cost of all currently scheduled large capacity meetings and webinars to ensure uninterrupted service. Individuals who do not currently have a webinar or large capacity meeting scheduled but need to schedule one prior to June 30 should contact the Technology Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) for assistance.
Premium Zoom Features After July 1
After June 30, Responsibility Centers will need to purchase premium licenses for all individuals who require advanced Zoom features. Pitt IT has notified your dean or Responsibility Center head about these changes and will reach out soon to help Responsibility Centers optimize the purchase of Zoom premium licenses to meet their unit’s needs. In the meantime, please consider the following options:
- Shared Premium License: These licenses allow multiple faculty and staff in your unit to host events through an account that they share. Please note that shared licenses cannot host simultaneous Zoom meetings.
- Individual Premium License: An individual license is associated with only one person and allows them to host an unlimited number of events. A professor who teaches large classes and makes lecture recordings available through My Pitt Video might be a good candidate for an individual license.
A premium Large Capacity Meeting license is $572 per license, per year. A premium Webinar license is $683 per license, per year. The costs are the same regardless of whether the license being purchased is a shared license or an individual license.
Thank you for your support in helping us to ensure that Zoom continues to meet the teaching, learning, and research needs of the University community. Please contact the 24/7 IT Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.