Most faculty, staff, and students use Zoom for classes and office meetings, but it is also the ideal tool to host live events for large groups of people inside and outside of UD. You can create these events as regular meetings with full guest participation, or as webinars where guests only have a text chat available for live Q&A. Either way, proper security measures are essential to prevent security breaches such as “Zoombombing” from uninvited guests.
This page will guide you through Zoom meeting setup to ensure a seamless and secure event for you and your guests.
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What’s the difference between a meeting and a webinar?
The Zoom meeting and webinar platforms offer similar features and functionality but have some key differences.
Zoom meetings are fully collaborative with all participants being able to screen share and interact with video and audio, while webinars only have text chat for Q&A. Meetings are limited to 300 people while webinars can have many more.
Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio, and screen. As the host, you can control who participates in your webinar as a panelist or as a view-only attendee. Use chat for Q&A sessions and engage your audience with poll questions to keep them focused. You can mute or unmute the attendees, and the attendees cannot rename themselves.
Review this comparison to see if a meeting or webinar is optimal for your event.
Note: A meeting should always be private and never be shared publicly. If you would like your meeting to be public, request a webinar from University Media Services (UMS).
Requesting a webinar through University Media Services (UMS)
What will UMS provide?
- Design, registration, practice session, and live tech support.
What are the fees involved?
- $150 per session plus labor fees
How many participants are allowed in each webinar?
- Two webinar sizes are available: 500 & 1000.
- Add UD live streaming if the number of participants exceeds the webinar capacity.
Note: Live-streaming participants are not able to participate in the text Q&A.
Who should you contact?
- Stephen Litterst, UDIT-UMS Manager Event AV Technology Email: litterst@udel.edu
Securing your Zoom meeting or webinar before and during the event
Without proper security settings, your Zoom meetings are at risk of Zoombombing (disruption from uninvited guests) and other potential security issues. Enable one or more of the following security settings to help protect your university-related Zoom meetings:
- Meeting Passcode – Set a passcode required for all participants to join the meeting. – Can be used for meetings with UD and non-UD participants.
- Waiting room – Manage when each participant can enter the meeting. – Can be used for meetings with UD and non-UD participants.
- Registration – Require each participant to fill out a form with personal information prior to the start of the meeting. – Recommended for meetings with mostly non-UD participants.
- Authentication – Enable UD authentication to allow only signed-in university users to join the meeting (students, faculty, staff) – Only for meetings with all UD participants. – Under Meeting/Webinar options, check the box next to Require authentication to Join: Sign in to Zoom UD udel.edu. This requires meeting attendees to sign in with their @udel.edu Zoom account prior to joining your meeting.
We encourage you to visit our Zoom security page often to read about Zoom security best practices and important updates. Learn how to control meeting access, report an incident or a participant, and other helpful steps you can take to secure your meetings.
Read more about in-meeting security options.
Zoom has become increasingly prevalent and is a potential target for intruders who search social media for unprotected meetings and access points to restricted content.
If you want to keep a meeting public, create a registration for the meeting but restrict it to attendees who give you their name and email address. Another alternative is to request a webinar from UMS.
Whenever possible, share your Zoom meeting link only with people you know. If you share your meeting link on social media or other public platforms, anyone who sees the link will be able to join your meeting (unless you set a password for your meeting and share that privately with attendees).
Important: Never publicly share an open Zoom meeting on social media or elsewhere. This is a security breach for the university and opens the door for unwanted guests to join your meeting (Zoombombing), including online trolls who can share or post inappropriate or offensive material.
If you have posted an open Zoom meeting link on social media, take the following actions immediately:
- Remove or report the public post.
- Delete the existing Zoom meeting and create a new one.
- Enable security features on the new meeting such as passcode, registration, waiting room, and authentication.
- Send the new meeting link only to people you know.
If you have any questions, please contact us at zoom-support@udel.edu.