other Zoom resources …
There are two main ways to allow people to join a Zoom meeting
- The “normal” way – by sending people a link (and meeting ID and passcode)
- By people “registering” and then getting sent a “unique” link to use (see below for how people can register onto a Zoom meeting)
Option 1 – a link to join (and meeting ID and passcode)
Anyone can use this and anyone can pass it onto others to use.
This is fine for open meetings and free meetings. Even so, be cautious/deliberate about putting it out freely on social media – especially if you think the event might attract unwanted attention or is controversial.
Things you can do to protect against unwanted guests: essentially, not much. The “Waiting Room” does allow you to choose who to admit, but your star speaker may join using the name “iPad personal” – so it’s not always easy to identify people in this way. The other thing is to make sure you know how to remove someone from a meeting and, in an emergency of very bad behaviour, how to lock down the meeting for a few moments while you remove the culprit. See here for more details.
Option 2 – people have to register and will then receive a “unique link” to use
But this is not as secure as it sounds unless you understand some of the specifics and set it up deliberately.
Problems
- People can pass on their “unique” link to others, who can join using it.
- They will all appear with the name of the person who registered (but assuming you haven’t stopped this) can rename themselves easily.
- You can tick the option to “not allow multiple devices to join”. So only one device/person can join using this link.
- The confirmation email that Zoom sends out, with the unique link, also has the Meeting ID and passcode
- Anyone signed into a Zoom account can join using these. They have to open their Zoom app/program or go to https://zoom.us/ – click on “Join” – type in the ID and passcode manually. Not many people know to do this.
- If they do try this and are not signed in, they are asked to sign in or register with an email (which does NOT have to be registered with Zoom)
- You can generate a report of names (doesn’t mean much as people can easily change these) and email addresses that have joined your meeting.
All these problems and solutions mean you have a range of options to choose from: from unsecure to mostly secure.
And you have to choose what level you want and accept that nothing will be perfect.
| Link created by registering with | Person with link is signed into Zoom account with | Can they join with ID and passcode? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| a@b.com | a@b.com | YES | Of course |
| a@b.com | x@y.com | YES | |
| a@b.com | Not signed in | NO | They are asked to sign in to Zoom with (any) valid email address OR register with an email address |
How can people register for a Zoom meeting or webinar
People can “register” for a Zoom event via an “online form”.
Eventbrite is often used for this, but there are many other event manager websites and/or online form providers. And you can create a form in your own website (e.g. Squarespace has a form builder, there are many form builder plugins for WordPress etc.).
All these have to be “linked” or “integrated” with Zoom and the specific meeting or webinar. So they pass the details of the person onto your Zoom account and the person is automatically registered.
And Zoom has it’s own registration form – which cuts out the need for a third-party app or program or website form (but you have much less control over the look of it).