UW-Madison Zoom - Roles in a meeting/webinar

Depending on the type of event, meeting/webinar, there are multiple roles available. The role that you have in a meeting/webinar is designated by the host.

Roles in a meeting

  • Host: The user that scheduled the meeting. They have full permissions to manage the meeting. There can only be one host of a meeting.
  • Co-hosts: Shares most of the controls that hosts have, allowing the co-host to manage the administrative side of the meeting, such as managing attendees. The host must assign a co-host during the meeting. Co-hosts cannot start a meeting. If a host needs someone else to start the meeting, they can assign an alternative host.
  • Alternative hosts: Shares the same controls as co-hosts, but can also start the meeting. Hosts can assign alternative hosts when they schedule a meeting.
    • UHS is allowed to assign scheduling privileges and/or assign the alternative host role to UW-Madison Zoom users.
  • Participants/Attendees: Will only have the ability to make changes within the client settings that have been granted to them by the host/co-host/alternative host. Attendee controls in a meeting.

Note: To understand who can be assigned host/cohost privileges, see faq article.

See complete feature comparison table for each role.

Roles in a webinar

  • Host: The user who the webinar is scheduled under. They have full permissions to manage the webinar, panelists, and attendees. There can only be one host of a webinar. The host can do things like stop and start the webinar, mute panelists, stop panelists' video, remove attendees from the webinar, and more.
  • Co-hosts: Co-hosts share many of the controls that hosts have, allowing the co-host to manage the administrative side of the webinar, such as managing attendees or starting/stopping the recording. The host must assign a co-host.
  • Alternative hosts: Shares the same controls as co-hosts, but can also start the webinar. Hosts can assign alternative hosts when they schedule a meeting.
    • UHS is allowed to assign scheduling privileges and/or assign the alternative host role to UW-Madison Zoom users.
  • Panelists: Panelists are full participants in a webinar. They can view and send video, screen share, annotate, etc. You must be assigned panelist permissions by the webinar host. The host can also disable some features for panelists, including starting video, sharing your screen, and recording. Learn how to add and invite panelists as a webinar host.
  • Attendees: Attendees are view-only participants who can be unmuted if the host chooses. Their view of the webinar is controlled by the host. They can interact with the host and the panelists through the Q&A and the chat. Learn about joining a webinar as an attendee. 

Note: If an alternative host is assigned to meetings that will be run concurrently (more than two), then they will also need to be assigned the concurrent meeting license. 

See complete feature comparison table for each role.