April 6 Update
The number of “Zoom-bombings” has unfortunately continued to rise, as institutions and corporations across the country move to remote teaching, learning, and working environments.
To maximize the security of all users and minimize the possibility for disruption, do not post public links to your meetings, forward meeting invites or share your meeting ID beyond the intended audience. Zoom also encourages some key practices to help prevent unwanted participants from joining meetings: Using meeting passwords and enabling waiting rooms.
Over the weekend, Zoom made passwords and waiting rooms default settings for K-12 users. While these continue to be optional settings for higher education licenses, like ours here at the University of Nebraska, we suggest you begin familiarizing yourself with the new processes that accompany passwords and waiting rooms – see details and screenshots below – in the case these become default settings for higher education in the future. We will do everything we can to give you the most advance notice possible if there will be a change applied to our default Zoom settings, but also suggest you prepare now by beginning to incorporate these security features into your meeting practices.
To apply these features when you set up your meeting, click “Schedule New Meeting.” Next, you will need to check one or both boxes for passwords and waiting room.
Passwords
How Passwords Work for Those Setting Up (Hosting) a Zoom Meeting:
Requiring participants to submit a password to enter a meeting adds an extra layer of security to Zoom meetings. If you choose this option when you schedule a Zoom meeting, the meeting password will be included in the meeting invitation.
The password will also be included in the Join Zoom Meeting URL.
How Passwords Work When You Are Joining Someone Else’s Zoom Meeting:
There are two options for joining a password-protected meeting:
1. Click the link in the meeting invitation. This will take you straight to the host’s waiting room.
2. If you use the Zoom app (Zoom client) on your computer or device, type in the Meeting ID. Once you click “Join” you will be asked to submit the password that is in the meeting invitation.
Waiting Rooms
How Waiting Rooms Work for Those Setting Up (Hosting) a Zoom Meeting:
The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control who enters the meeting. As the Host of a meeting, you will now have to admit participants into your meeting. To allow people into the meeting:
1. Click “Manage Participants”:
2. Click “Admit” to allow a participant join the meeting or “Remove” to deny:
3. If you have multiple participants you wish to have join the meeting, you can admit them all at once by clicking “Admit All”:
How Waiting Rooms Work When You Are Joining Someone Else’s Zoom Meeting:
When you join a Zoom meeting, you will automatically be put into the host’s waiting room. There is no action for you to take; you will join the meeting when the host admits you.
If you have any questions, please contact your campus Help Desk or email support@nebraska.edu.