The Waiting Room is a powerful tool that gives you better control over online meetings, ensuring security and professionalism. Enabling and using the Waiting Room in Zoom is simple but offers significant benefits, especially when you are hosting important meetings or large virtual classrooms.

The Waiting Room is a useful feature in Zoom that allows the host to control who can join a meeting and when. This is particularly important for large meetings, online seminars, or virtual classrooms, where the organizer needs to ensure that only authorized participants can join. This article will provide a detailed guide on how to create a waiting room in Zoom and utilize this feature to manage meetings more effectively.

1. What is the Waiting Room in Zoom?

The Waiting Room is a feature that allows the host to control entry into the meeting. When the Waiting Room is enabled, each participant will be placed in a separate space before being allowed to join the main meeting. The host can approve each participant individually or approve all participants at once to enter the meeting.

The Waiting Room helps:

• Enhance security: The host can verify and check participants before allowing them into the meeting, preventing uninvited individuals from joining.
• Control the meeting: The host can start the meeting without worrying about interruptions from participants who are not yet approved.
• Manage classes or large meetings: In virtual classrooms or seminars, the Waiting Room helps maintain order and prevents participants from joining the meeting before the host is ready.

2. How to Enable the Waiting Room in Zoom

The Waiting Room is not automatically enabled in Zoom, so you need to activate this feature before using it. There are two ways to enable the Waiting Room: through Zoom's web management portal or while hosting a meeting.

2.1. Enable the Waiting Room via the Zoom Website

1. Sign in to your Zoom account: First, go to the Zoom website and sign in to your account. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for free.

2. Go to Settings: After signing in, click on Settings in the left-hand menu on the main Zoom interface.

3. Find and enable the Waiting Room feature:

   • Under the Meeting section, scroll down to find the Waiting Room option.
   • Toggle the switch to enable the Waiting Room. Once enabled, this feature will apply by default to all new meetings.

4. Customize the Waiting Room settings: Zoom allows you to customize how the Waiting Room operates:

   • Everyone: All participants will need to be placed in the Waiting Room before being allowed into the meeting.
   • Guests: Only participants who are outside your organization (with a different domain email) will be placed in the Waiting Room, while those with the same domain email will bypass it.

2.2. Enable the Waiting Room While Scheduling a Meeting

If you haven’t activated the Waiting Room as a default setting, you can still enable it when scheduling a new meeting.

1. Schedule a new meeting: Open the Zoom app or go to the Zoom website to create a new meeting.

2. Configure the Waiting Room settings:

   • When scheduling the meeting, find the Waiting Room option in the Advanced Options section.
   • Check this box to enable the Waiting Room for that specific meeting.

3. Managing the Waiting Room in Zoom

Once the Waiting Room is activated, participants who join your meeting will be placed in the Waiting Room. As the host, you can manage who is allowed into the meeting. Here’s how to manage the Waiting Room during the meeting.

3.1. Allow Participants to Enter the Meeting

When someone is waiting in the Waiting Room, you’ll receive a notification on your screen with their name. You can choose one of two actions:

• Admit: Let the participant into the meeting.
• Remove: Prevent the participant from joining and remove them from the Waiting Room.

If there are multiple people waiting, you can either admit them all at once or admit them one by one.

3.2. Customize the Waiting Room Message

Zoom allows you to customize the message participants see while they’re in the Waiting Room. This is helpful if you want to provide additional information, such as the meeting will start shortly or to recheck their login information.

1. Go to Settings on the Zoom website.
2. In the Waiting Room Options, select Customize Waiting Room.
3. You can enter a custom message or add your company logo to the Waiting Room interface.

3.3. Move Participants Back to the Waiting Room

During the meeting, if necessary, you can move a participant back to the Waiting Room. This is useful if you need to have a private discussion with other members without that participant listening.

1. In the participants list, click on the name of the person you want to move back to the Waiting Room.
2. Select Put in Waiting Room.

The participant will be moved back to the Waiting Room and won’t be able to hear or see the meeting until you admit them back in.

4. Why Should You Use the Waiting Room in Zoom?

Using the Waiting Room not only enhances meeting security but also helps manage the meeting more effectively. Here are some reasons why you should activate and use the Waiting Room:

• Better security: With the Waiting Room, you can verify each participant before allowing them into the meeting, reducing the risk of uninvited or malicious participants.
• Control participation: You can prepare or start the meeting confidently, knowing participants won’t enter until you’re ready.
• Professionalism: In virtual classrooms or large seminars, using the Waiting Room creates a professional atmosphere and avoids disorganization from participants joining all at once.
• Time management: You can easily control who joins and when, which is crucial when there are multiple speakers or different segments in the meeting.