Controlling Zoom mic using smartphone

[MikeClark]

We're using Zoom on a Windows 11 laptop for Sacrament meeting. We attach both a USB camera and a USB microphone to the laptop to do the webcast. Obviously, we need to cut off the mic temporarily during the sacrament prayers.. Currently we go to the laptop's mousepad to click the Zoom audio cutoff. This is sometimes problematic.

Is there a way to do this laptop mic cutoff using an Android app on a smartphone? I am thinking that we could possibly connect the phone to the laptop via Bluetooth, and to use that connection to reach out and touch the Zoom-controlled microphone. Is this possible? Is there currently an app for this?

In researching I have found that it is possible to use an app to control Zoom via OBS, but the app (Elgato Stream Deck) is licensed and costs money. And that involves another layer of complication to use OBS. I'd like to avoid this.

[russellhltn]

It's debatable if simply muting the audio is sufficient. Handbook 38.2.3 says "the stream should be paused during the administration of the sacrament."

Something you could look into is using Remote Desktop. The Windows 11 laptop would have to be running Windows Pro or higher and you'd have to download Mircosoft's RDP app. Both devices would have to be connected to the same network.

[MikeClark]

It's debatable if simply muting the audio is sufficient. Handbook 38.2.3 says "the stream should be paused during the administration of the sacrament."

It's debatable, OK, but how to pause the stream in such a way as to not disconnect those on the stream? The camera is next to the speaker's podium and is pointed at the speaker. Without audio there is nothing going on.

Do you how to pause Zoom so as not to end the stream?

I have heard that some wards use a StreamDeck controller to switch the feed from the camera/mic to an image or video with the words "The Administration of the Sacrament" until it is complete, and then back to the main feed.

[kd7mha]

We just put our "Presenter" in the waiting room during the sacrament

[russellhltn]

Do you how to pause Zoom so as not to end the stream?

You could mute the video and the audio.

[dmbass]

I have Google Chrome Remote Desktop configured on my laptop, my Android phone, and Android tablet. I use my laptop to run Zoom, and remotely access that using my phone or tablet. (Usually tablet because the screen is bigger and easier to use.) This allows me to mute the audio and video during the administration of the Sacrament while still keeping the broadcast connected. Then I can un-mute before the conducting member of the bishopric returns to the pulpit.

[MikeClark]

I have Google Chrome Remote Desktop configured on my laptop, my Android phone, and Android tablet. I use my laptop to run Zoom, and remotely access that using my phone or tablet. (Usually tablet because the screen is bigger and easier to use.) This allows me to mute the audio and video during the administration of the Sacrament while still keeping the broadcast connected. Then I can un-mute before the conducting member of the bishopric returns to the pulpit.

Now, THAT is a brilliant idea! I shall check it out. Thanks!

[MikeClark]

Turns out the answer was staring me in the face -- or, I had heard of it, but didn't know it could be used in this way. So, this is what I found.

Elgato makes some hardware called Stream Deck. I didn't want a device, I wanted a smartphone app. I just tonight found that the Stream Deck is also available as an Android (and iPhone) app. And it's free! The version limited to six buttons is free, but that is more than I needed. So I installed the app, then installed the Stream Deck computer app (also free). I followed the instructions telling how to link them up in a YouTube video I found. This was:

How to Setup Stream Deck with Zoom

And got it to work! Yay!

My original problem, I thought, was that Stream Deck had to go through OBS to work with Zoom. And I didn't want to screw around with OBS. But that issue is moot. There may be more elegant solutions, such as the one involving Google Chrome Remote Desktop. But the one I found does work.

[russellhltn]

Just so I understand this right: Stream Deck is a application that can control Zoom by sending "hot keys" to invoke Zoom functions (like muting).

But by using the phone app, you can now do it remotely. Does it work by Bluetooth, or by WiFi? Either way, the distance is more then enough for you to sit in the audience and press the buttons.

Very slick! Thanks for bringing that up.

Can you see the status on the phone? And does the status come from Zoom or just Stream Deck's memory?

[MikeClark]

The Stream Deck mobile app is on your phone (Android or iPhone), and the Stream Deck desktop app is on your computer. The mobile app talks to the desktop app, which sends the hotkey string to Zoom. Stream Deck doesn't "know" the correct hotkey, so you set it up. Alt-A is the hotkey to mute Zoom, by the way.

The mobile and desktop app communicate over the Wifi network -- so they both have to be on the same one. E.g. Liahona, but of course it could be Lehi instead. They have to be connected to each other via the Wifi, of course. That is done when you set them up to work with each other.

Zoom responds by the usual indication of audio being muted. The mobile app also indicates the change on the button you've assigned to the task. The actual color of the button, the text, and the icon depends upon what you've selected.

Here's the website for Elgato: https://www.elgato.com/us/en/s/welcome-to-stream-deck

Screen shot of that page. Mouse-hover over successively, "Products", "Stream Deck", and then "Stream Deck Mobile." That's the link for the mobile app. To download the desktop app, go to https://www.elgato.com/us/en/s/downloads