I have to use Zoom on January 25th for a non renewal of lease court case which is now filed as an eviction since she is a holdover tenant.

I guess I can zoom in with a phone so I will be using my landline phone. Internet and cell phone are too sketchy out here.

I am more nervous about this, than the actual court proceeding as I am computer illiterate and have never used Zoom at all. I don't want to mess it up or have the court think I am not participating.

Has anyone done this by phone before?. I am given a number to call to zoom by phone and then when prompted a number to put in. Apparently I am supposed to mute my phone until I hear the judge call my case. Wouldn't muting my phone not let me hear him call the case. I googled this but different sources give different answers. Some say that mute makes it so they can't hear you and some say it makes it so you can't hear them. If the latter, how do I hear my case called?

So confusing to an old person like me. I can barely do basics with cell and/or internet. Could someone please explain this in simple terms using a landline phone if possible. My cell would just be too much of a risk, with connection being so bad out here in the country.

Thank you in advance. I wished I could do a trial run with them before court, but doubt that will be possible. I have also thought about trying to go in to listen to other court cases but don't want to have to mute my phone and not hear anyway. So confusing to me.

Mute means they can't hear you.

NE. there are no in person court cases. They are all only by ZOOM.

WMH. I have tried to find out more info but info contradicts other info and some of it sounds too complicated to understand. I did try to get more information. Thought it would help to just get advice/info from a landlord here that may have experience in appearing by Zoom phone in a court case.

Since this court case is to try to get a ruling for an eviction based on holdover after I gave her a 30 day notice of non renewal, I did my best to give all the paperwork to the Clerk of Court to be attached to the paperwork so he can view that she was on a month to month and my evidence of the 30 day notice to vacate, and my proof that she received that. She is claiming to me that she did not get it, even though it sent by 3 different methods to be sure she got it.

I have asked for money damages to be determined later after she is out as there is no way to know that, while she is still in the unit. I have used this before in other eviction cases and it has worked while. Putting the amount in too early may make it way less than the actual amount owed by the time she is out. She mentioned being out this week which I do not believe, but it would be great if she is.

If this turns into a non payment of rent, which I am going to try to keep it strictly on the non renewal of the lease. I am hoping I can get a new day to present my evidence on that without needing to refile and have her served again.

You should aim to do this as a video call, not just a phone call. If your internet connectivity is not good at home, go someplace with a better connection. You will be at a disadvantage if you don't find a way to do this right.

There is really no place to go to do a video call. I do not have internet on my cell. Just a cheap prepaid for when I am not home, I am able to call or text. Reception is never good on it and I would need to travel many miles to try to find someone with a landline. I do not want to try to do this with a cell phone or on my computer as that is even more complicated for me and I could be disconnected at any time on either. I do not understand WIFI either and most places closer to me, are closed. I think phone call at home where I have my computer if needed to email anything but have a good connection on my landline phone, is best.

I am still hoping there is someone here with a landline yet who has done a court case with it, that can advise me. Otherwise I will have to spend a few hours trying to do more research on it.

Cat: When you dial in via phone on Zoom and are muted, it just means that they can't hear you. You'll still be able to hear them. The only real "tricky" part is that to toggle mute on and off you press *6 on your phone. By default, you are usually automatically muted (and it will tell you if you are when you dial in). So, by doing nothing, you should be set the way that they want. You just need to remember to unmute with *6 when it is time for you to talk.

That being said, in MY area, they expect you to be on video for the Zoom -- dialing in by phone only is not permitted. So, I would double-check with your court well in advance to make sure just phoning in only is ok.

- John...

Hi Cat, I will do my best to be helpful but I am not very experienced at it.

I do not know but do not think that you can use a landline on ZOOM and I think, even if you could, it would do you a disservice.

My understanding is that a laptop computer or a cell phone with a camera is the best option. My limited experience is with a laptop. As others have said, you will need to sign up on ZOOM and you can set up your own meeting for practice. Also, the court should give you instructions beforehand if you ask.

You can Google "How to use ZOOM"

When you get on ZOOM you should see some icons, I believe on the bottom of the ZOOM screen. You should see one for your camera and one for microphone and this is where you would turn on or off your camera and where you would mute your microphone so they can not hear you but you can still hear and see them. This is why I do not believe a landline will work.

Just get the ZOOM App if you are going to use your phone. Get signed up and just play around with it until you get it figured out. As Ken mentioned, kids would be a great teacher for this.

Also, make sure that you log onto ZOOM about 15 minutes before the court time to give yourself time to get adjusted. I would get on there earlier in that day as well to practice around some again as sometimes there can be complications to where the camera or microphone may not work correctly. If so, then there is a section on the ZOOM screen to where you can "CHAT". The judge may also help guide you if you have difficulties but I would not depend on it.

To answer questions, I have internet here at home and connect to Mrlandlord and other places via my desktop computer.

I don't want to rely on internet, cell phone or computer freezups as I get freeze ups often here.

That is why I want to use my landline.

Okay, so you can use a landline and Not use ZOOM.

6x6 and others. Thanks for trying to help. It is my understanding that it is via ZOOM but not the video part.

This is on my area court website. I left out the phone numbers,as not really needed. What is on their website is put in quotation marks below.

"Persons unable to connect to Zoom via a computer, iPad, Smartphone, or other video-capable device can connect to the audio portion of hearings by using one of the following Zoom phone numbers:

I have skipped most of the replies to this thread.

Cat, I have been making telephonic court appearances for many years. Long before Covid.

We were allowed to use a company called CourtCall. It was voice only. Some judges did not allow CourtCall and some judges allowed it only for simple matters. Why should an attorney or a party have to drive to the courthouse,, sit around for an hour or more and then spend 5 minutes in court discussing available dates for another court appearance? So I loved CourtCall.

Now, under Covid, we do both video- and telephone conferences.

Generally, muting your microphone/phone will NOT keep you from hearing the proceedings. You mute your own phone's microphone to keep sounds from your phone from being broadcast on the court's speakerphone. Kids screaming in the background, toilet flushes, whatever. I often do not mute my phone or speaker, I just impose a silence rule in my office while I am on the conference call.

Be sure that all of the documents (Exhibits) you want the judge to see are submitted to the courtroom and to the opposing side in advance. Because you can't hand any exhibits to the judge during the telephonic hearing.

As you already know, you dial in to the Zoom phone number and then enter the Zoom "meeting code". It is very easy to do. The only hard part is to remember to mute and unmute your phone/microphone. That is why I try not to mute at all!

Even if it is only a telephone conference with no video, I still wear a suit and tie for any court hearing. It helps me remember the respect I owe to the Court. And if the judge wants it to be made into a video-conference, I am shaved, shined and dressed for it.

Good luck.

I don't have a camera on my computer and to be honest, I have never wanted one.

I get disconnested A LOT on my desktop computer so it is a hit and miss as far as trying to stay on for any length of time. It is complicated enough to try to do what I need to do on the phone but trying to go back and forth with computer would be a disaster.

I don't think my local library is even open but even if it is part time, I don't think they are open on Mondays. I can't use my landline if I go elsewhere.

I am really not interested in doing video ZOOM. Just don't want strangers looking into my tiny messy office in my home. It is my understanding that evictions are public so anyone, including past evicted tenants, can view my home if they join a video ZOOM.

Thank you Mike. I appreciate the more detailed advice.

To Still learning. I have no children, grandchildren, any younger generation to help me. I don't believe most of my friends use ZOOM. We are pretty rural around here.

I think I am going to email someone I know a little, in the Clerk of Court office and see if I can pick her brain tomorrow and let her know of my concerns. Maybe she will let me do a trial run or give me some good advice about using only voice ZOOM and how it works there.

I try to avoid cameras on my computer as well.

You get a link. You click the link. You type in a password provided if a password is needed. You type in your name to say who you are, so people will see. If you don't have a camera, you come up as a little black square with your name in it that you had typed in. You mute the little microphone in the corner of your box so that people can't hear you, until you want them to. Presuming you have speakers or headphones, you'll hear what the other people are saying. If your connection dies, your box will disappear, and you log back in.

Thank you for the detailed information Deanna. That helps.

I will be on a cordless landline phone which has a mute/delete button on it. I am guessing if on the phone, that button would be for muting. If not on the phone, it just deletes names of those who called.

I do have a regular plugin old style landline phone in my bedroom but it gets a lot of feedback if in use.Hopefully the cordless phone will work. Normally it works fine, if Frontier doesn't have issues. With my landline cordless, I do have a speaker button but that just makes it available to hear by those in the room but making it louder.

Since the tenant procrastinates so much and does things at the last minute, I am hoping she forgets to call in or moves out before the eviction and doesn't participate. If that happens, I would win my case. I have not lost a case with the previous judge. I just hope I win this one with a judge I have not had a case under.

Cat,

If she doesn't have a camera on her PC, then she also very likely does NOT have a microphone on her PC. Therefore, she would still have to call in via a normal phone call (on her landline).

What WMH said actually makes some sense. You would basically do both. You connect with Zoom and then it asks you how you want to do the audio -- you simply choose the "call in" option and then dial in with your normal landline. You don't have a camera, so they don't see you -- but you can see the judge.

You do everything via the phone call itself.

Basically, all of the benefits of just calling in like you want so that you don't have to worry about anything with your internet connection -- but, at the same time, you can see the judge and anything else from those who are on camera.

Cat, you said you use a cordless landline phone. I have TWO cordless phones, and when I am using Zoom, I often need to use both of them. Each phone is good for about 30 minutes before the battery dies. So I need to switch to the other cordless phone. And after another 30 minutes, when the second battery is dying, I pick up the corded phone.

So be prepared!

Oh, yeah--- so, you can pick up a cheapie pair of headphones with a microphone for about $15-$20, which is what I got for the kids' classes.

UPDATE.

I contacted the clerk of court that I know a little and asked some questions she responded back as follows. I left names out to protect privacy including giving my mrll name, instead of my real name.

"Hi Cat,

We have everyone mute their phone to avoid feedback, the same way that the radio station has folks mute their radios when they call in to the buy and sell radio broadcast. You will still be able to hear everything. We just won't get any feedback or background noise from the many people who are appearing in the virtual courtroom at the same time.

If you want to do a trial run, DJ or I could do something with you quick at like 8:30 a.m. some morning. That way we will avoid conflicts with the court calendar that begins each day at 9.

Once you do it, you'll see it's nothing more than calling a phone number and punching in the ID. Many people appear by phone. When we clerk, we normally connect that way.

I'm going to cc DJ on this response so that he's aware of the trial-run suggestion you've requested.

To update again,

I am giving more info for those who may have to go through this at some point when court rooms are not open and ZOOM has to be used.

I have an appt to call the Clerk of Court office on Thursday and let them know that I want to do a trial run. It will be at 8:30 am.

Here is my response to her email and then her last email to me

Thank you for all the information S*****.

It does seem really simple when you explain it.

So even if I mute my handset on my cordless phone I can still hear the judge and the defendant and they can still hear me? I can just mute it once and not have to mute or unmute it again during the phone call?

So there will be others not involved in the case, listening to all the small claim cases, like there is when we used to appear in the courtroom? I appreciate all the information.

I will see if there is a day that I will be available at 8:30 am and let you know ahead of time. How much notice would you need?

Cat

"Hi Cat,

This Thursday at 8:30 would be good. Just call our office at 6********* that morning to remind us that you want to test out the Zoom.

You are absolutely correct about the courtroom thing. It's the very same as if everyone was in person in the courtroom. Since small claims are open cases, everyone sitting in the courtroom can hear all of the cases called. When everyone's appearing by Zoom during open case proceedings, everyone who's either on the line or appearing by video can hear and hear/see everything that's happening.

As for the muting, you shouldn't have to mute and un-mute a lot, just when the Judge asks for your appearance and if he asks you anything else like to confirm what you're claiming. If you appear by phone, and lots of other people are appearing by phone, it takes him a bit to identify who's who. So he sometimes calls the video appearances first because he can see who they are. To identify phone numbers, he'll ask something like "Who's number ends with 1234?" or something like that. OR, sometimes he just goes down the calendar and calls cases and asks if the parties are there on a particular case. We never really know for sure. But it always seems to work out.

S*****"

Just a quick update.

I did a trial run today with the person at the clerk of court's office through the zoom numbers given me.

It was easier than I thought it would be and it went smoothly. Just dial the number given, when prompted, put in the meeting number followed by #. The directions asked me to put that in again for some reason or just the #, so I just did the # and was in. After he was in, he just talked and then I said I was going to mute my end. I could hear him but when I talked, he could not hear me on mute. I went back off mute, thanked him to which he said that is what we are here for and then I got off the phone, to not waste anymore of his time.

I know that sounds silly but the older I get, the more confusing technology becomes and I feel better having done it once and knowing what I do. Basically stay on mute until I hear him call my name or case.

He didn't seem to want to do it at first but when I told him the clerk of court invited me to do so, he checked his schedule and did a quick trial run for me.

He also made it a lot more clear what to do if I want to just listen in to other cases, after I asked him about that.

That is nice that they mentioned listening in on other cases. For some reason, I hadn't thought of that during these times. I should sit in on some extra Zoom cases these days just to see how things are going...

Glad you got it all tested, Cat! Good luck for the live version!

- John...

stop making excuses for your lack of technology and find a way to play ball on the new field or take the chance you get clobbered. if you have to drive to a kinko's or fed-ex office do it. luddite isn't cute and we do not want you to lose an otherwise winnable case for lack of willingness to take the needed steps to protect your rights

mike: Did you even read this thread?

She DID take action to make sure she was ready for this case. She even did a demo with the clerk to make sure. Just because she didn't do the full Zoom doesn't mean she did anything wrong.

Nothing she did would cause her to "lose an otherwise winnable case for lack of willingness to take the needed steps..." She took action and took steps to make sure she'd be fine in court.

- John...

yes john, i read the entire string and strongly advise she not take a knife to a gunfight. if it was up to me zoom would NEVER be permitted for a hearing such as she describes. the opportunity to not see an exhibits is great as is the chance to have her low end technology fail her.

Around here, Zoom court lets you just see the judge and him to see you. There is no looking at exhibits or even the other party. It is nothing like you're thinking of.

And, for a lot of people, it is simply easier to "refute their claims clearly and in real time" with a simple phone call that has worked for such things for the past 50 years.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a tech guy. I do this for a living. But I still see where Cat is coming from and I understand that she made the effort to make this work even with limited internet to her house.

There are LOTS of areas still very underserved when it comes to any reliably, high-speed internet. Zoom sucks over satellite. So if she wants to be able to do court from home, then phone line it is. She researched it, tested it with the court, and seems to have done all of her due diligence here.

You walking into that and suggesting she's a "luddite" because of it is just being rude.

- John...