The Zoom license of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will be terminated on 1 May 2026.
Microsoft Teams has been available to all VU staff and students for some time now and offers a suitable alternative for most use cases. Whilst Zoom is perceived as a user-friendly and pleasant application, it also means that we have double costs for licensing and management.
Backing up your data in the Zoom cloud
The termination of the license means that the VU Zoom environment https://vu-live.zoom.us/ will no longer be accessible from 1 May. Students with Zoom-data, such as recordings, transcripts and notes, stored in the Zoom cloud and wish to keep the data, please ensure to download these files and save the files elsewhere. Recordings saved locally will remain accessible.
Scheduled Zoom-meetings will no longer be accessible after 1 May. It is therefore important to plan new meetings using Microsoft Teams as soon as possible. Students can schedule a Teams meeting directly from Microsoft Teams or Outlook. More information on using Microsoft Teams can be found on the Knowledge Hub.
Free Zoom account
Once the VU-wide license has ended, your account will automatically revert to a free Basic subscription (maximum 40 minutes per meeting, maximum 100 participants, and limited features regarding Team Chat, Mail, Calendar, Documents, Whiteboard, Clips and support).
If you have any questions about the termination of the Zoom license, please contact the IT Service Desk.