Environment
U-M Zoom
Issue
- What is a Zoom Waiting Room and how do I enable and configure it?
- How do different options work and why would I choose them?
Resolution
What is a Zoom Waiting Room and how do I enable and configure it?
- The Zoom Waiting Room places certain or all participants in a "virtual waiting room" when they attempt to join a meeting, rather than allowing them to join the meeting directly. The host and co-hosts can then admit participants from the waiting room when they so choose.
- For more details, refer to the Zoom Waiting Room help article
Note: the Zoom Waiting Room help article states that, if the Waiting Room is turned on, Join Before Host will not work. This is only true if the Waiting Room setting is set to put Everyone in the Waiting Room. If you'd like to use both Waiting Room and Join Before Host, we recommend using the following Waiting Room settings:
- Choose which participants to place in the waiting room: Users who are not in your account and not part of the allowed domains
- Who can admit participants from the waiting room: Host, co-hosts, and anyone who bypassed the waiting room (only if host and co-hosts are not present)--see details on this setting below
How do different options work and why would I choose them?
Choose which participants to place in the waiting room
- Everyone: maximum security; no participants cannot join the meeting until/unless you choose to admit them
- Useful as a virtual lobby, where participants wait to be admitted until it is their turn
- Users not in your account: only participants who are not in the same Zoom account as you or are not logged in will be put in the Waiting Room, all others will be admitted directly to the meeting
- If not logged in, they will have an option to log in
- If you are in regular U-M Zoom, all participants who are logged in to a regular U-M Zoom account will be admitted directly to the meeting, and everyone else will be placed in the Waiting Room
- Users who are not in your account and not part of the allowed domains: the same as "Users not in your account" with the added ability to allow users to bypass the Waiting Room if the account they are signed in to is under an email domain that you specify
- To allow anyone signed in to Zoom with a umich.edu email to bypass the Waiting Room, enter umich.edu in the allowed domains field
Who can admit participants from the waiting room?
- Host and co-hosts only: only the designated host and co-hosts of the meeting (including alternative hosts) can admit participants who are placed in the Waiting Room
- Host, co-hosts, and anyone who bypassed the waiting room (only if host and co-hosts are not present):
- If no hosts or co-hosts are present, participants who were able to bypass the Waiting Room based on the Choose which participants to place in the waiting room setting can admit participants who are placed in the Waiting Room
- If at least one host or co-host is present, only they can admit participants from the Waiting Room
- Rename participants in Waiting Room - Hosts and co-hosts are also able to rename participants in the waiting room before they enter the meeting. When looking at the list of users in the participant list, click the ... next to their name to rename them before they enter. The participant will be notified of this change. This can be particularly useful when you would like participants to remain anonymous. If you do not see this feature, update your Zoom client to the latest version.
Additional Information
- Zoom Waiting Room help article
- If someone sets up a meeting as an Assistant for someone else as the host, if they join the meeting as a test, they are considered alternative hosts, so they won't see the same behavior as non-host participants
Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.