Zoom is a cloud-based solution for video and audio conferencing, mobile collaboration, and online meetings and Webinars. Zoom's web-based conferencing uses high-quality video and audio and is accessible on MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android mobile devices. Additionally, Zoom can be used with conventional phone lines for audio conferencing.
Topics covered in this guide
Note: Alumni, Emeriti, and Retirees with IT Services are not currently eligible for UW-Madison Zoom.
Anytime you are ready. If you are already familiar with Zoom this may be a good time to adopt UW–Madison Zoom. If you have never used Zoom before, please consider using a UW–Madison supported tool you are familiar with until you have an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the service.
If you currently have an existing Zoom account that is associated with your @wisc.edu email address, prior to logging into the UW-Madison Zoom service, please see our Zoom migration article for instructions.
If you do not currently have a Zoom account associated with your @wisc.edu email address, you can create your account by going to https://uwmadison.zoom.us and logging in. For more information please see our Getting Started document for your first steps, additional Zoom resources and training options.
Yes.
Zoom can be accessed via a modern browser or desktop client - see UW-Madison Zoom - Getting started article for instructions.
You will use your UW-Madison NetID credentials to access Zoom. See above for who can access UW-Madison's Zoom implementation.
All UW-Madison faculty/staff/students will be assigned the educational license, everyone else will have the basic license. Campus leadership is currently reviewing licensing designations for all other UW-Madison affiliates.
Office 365 service accounts are not automatically activated for Zoom. Please see UW-Madison Zoom - Service Account Request if you want to request activation for your service account.
For a description of Zoom accessibility and usability barriers, go to the Zoom - Accessibility & Usability Information KB.
Anyone with a valid email address. Depending on the settings for the meeting, participation can be limited to those with a Zoom account (any Zoom tenant or consumer Zoom works too).
Yes. As long as they are logging into their personal Zoom account via the web client using the same email account they were invited with.
DISCLAIMER: There is a setting which can be disabled that would allow any unauthenticated user to attend the meeting anonymously as long as they have the meeting URL. We do not support or recommend allowing unauthenticated users to attend your meetings because you could be subject to Zoom Bombing. Learn more about this setting.
When a user (internal or external) attempts to join an event using a web browser, there is a setting within the event organizer's setting that manages this behavior. As the organizer/owner of the event, go to your settings and search for “Only authenticated users can join meetings from Web client”. This issue will only affect users who are not eligible for UW-Madison Zoom account. If you have users who are not eligible for UW-Madison Zoom account, you have three options on how to manage this setting:
Yes. You can save in-meeting chats to your computer or the Zoom Cloud either manually or automatically. If you save the chat locally to your computer, it will save any chats that you can see—those sent directly to you and those sent to everyone in the meeting or webinar. If you save the chat to the cloud, it will only save chats that were sent to everyone and in-meeting messages that were sent while recording. Learn more.
Yes. There are 3 video layouts when no one in the meeting is screen sharing: Active Speaker, Gallery, and Immersive views. When someone is screen sharing, you can use Side-by-side Mode or view the screen share with Active Speaker View. Any of these layouts can be used in full screen or windowed mode, with the exception of the floating thumbnail view. Learn more.
Yes. By default, automatic recordings are disabled. Your recording settings allow you to enable or disable recording features for your meetings. These settings control the availability of recordings and the protection of our students. The UW-Madison defaults have been vetted and put in place by the UW-Madison Cybersecurity Office. Learn more.
Yes. Local recordings don't support the following features:
Yes. After 150 days, your cloud recording will be deleted. UW-Madison's use of Zoom’s Cloud Video Storage System was never, and is not, intended to provide persistent hosted storage for sharing or playback. The cloud recording feature is intended to accommodate easy recording and transcoding of recorded content directly to Zoom’s service. Learn more about this setting. If you need to save your recording for future use, we recommend storing them in a video hosting service.
Yes. Your settings allow you to enable or disable features for your meetings. These settings control the availability of your meeting features, such as breakout rooms and chat. The UW-Madison defaults have been vetted and put in place by the UW-Madison Cybersecurity Office to support classroom use. People who are using UW-Madison Zoom outside of the classroom may want to adjust these settings to meet their needs. Learn more.
Yes. You can host up to 2 meetings at the same time. Both meetings need to be started by the original meeting host and cannot be started by an alternative host. The host can leave the meeting and pass host privileges to another user if needed. Learn more.
Yes. UW-Madison has purchased 50 concurrent add-on licenses allowing a UW-Madison Zoom account to host between 3-20 concurrent meetings. Please review the add-on license and >service account articles for further details.
No. If you have the need to host a meeting and webinar concurrently, you will need to find another colleague to either host the meeting or webinar.
Yes. The feature to join multiple meetings simultaneously from the Zoom desktop client allows participants to participate in or monitor multiple meetings at the same time. Learn more.
Yes. Zoom allows you to schedule meetings with multiple occurrences so that each occurrence uses the same meeting ID and settings. Learn more.
Within a recurring series:
There are a handful of participant settings you can control within a meeting or virtual classroom (webinar) setting.
Yes. When scheduling the event, the host can designate another licensed user on the same account to be the alternative host. The alternative host can start the meeting on the host's behalf (see next section for complete set of actions a alternate host has). The alternate host will receive an email notifying them that they've been added as an alternative host, with a link to start the event. Important: An alternate host will only have the ability start the meeting via the link in the email they received - the link will not be available in any other means. See UW-Madison Zoom - Roles in a meeting/webinar article to better understand the roles once the event has been started.
Only UW-Madison Zoom users who have signed into their UW-Madison Zoom account can be added as an alternate host prior to the event starting. If the user you are attempting to add as an alternate host has not signed into UW-Madison Zoom or is not part of UW-Madison Zoom, you will have to wait until the meeting has started and they have joined the event to then assign them as a host/co-host. When adding a UW-Madison Zoom user as an alternate host for an event, type their preferred name into the alternative host field or enter their email address in the form of netid@wisc.edu. The directory will recognize the user and auto populate their account to select.
The alternate host will receive an email notifying them that they've been added as an alternative host, with a link to start the event. The meeting/webinar will not be visible/accessible to the alternate host via any Zoom client. As an alternate host, you will receive certain permissions to the event.
Actions prior to and after start of event
Anyone within the event can be assigned to be a host or co-host.
In the case of passing host controls to another user, if the original host is a licensed UW-Madison Zoom user, then the meeting can continue for an unlimited amount of time once the controls are handed off, even if the user who received the host controls is a non-UW-Madison user - the only caveat is that the control can only be passed to the external user (a non-UW-Madison user) after the external user has joined the event.
Yes. Zoom allows you share your screen, but with some restrictions. Learn more.
No. Only the creator of the event is required to have a webinar add-on licenses. They will be able to assign alternate hosts or co-hosts (during the event) who are not licensed with a webinar add-on.
Yes. Learn more.
Yes. Learn more.
Yes. The polling feature allows you to create single choice or multiple choice polling questions for your meetings or webinars.
No. At this time, we have not purchased any licenses for Zoom Rooms. If you would like to provide feedback regarding this feature, please submit your request per our Zoom Advisory so that leadership can review and process your request.
No. This feature requires audio conferencing plan for Zoom. If you would like to provide feedback regarding this feature, please submit your request per our Zoom Advisory so that leadership can review and process your request.
Yes. Please view the Zoom device support list to see if your device is supported and can be managed. Learn more.
If you need to activate your device, please contact the Zoom Implementation/Support Team at zoom-support@doit.wisc.edu.
Yes. The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one by one, or hold all attendees in the Waiting Room and admit them all at once. You can send all participants to the Waiting Room when joining your meeting, or you can allow participants from your Zoom account and participants at specified domains to bypass the Waiting Room. Important: Waiting room feature is only available within Zoom Meetings - it is not available within Zoom Webinars. Learn more.
Yes. Starting with version 5.10.0 of Zoom desktop/mobile clients, hosts and co-hosts can rename meeting participants in the waiting room before they enter the meeting. After locating a participant's name in the waiting room section of the participant list, an option appears in the ... menu to rename that participant. The participant is notified of this change.
Yes. Learn more.
You may also want to review UW-Madison's video and audio accessibility guidelines.
Yes. Zoom provides multiple options to live stream an event. Important: While YouTube can be used to stream live events, the YouTube application is not covered by the UW-Madison G-Suite terms of service; therefore, it is not supported. Learn more.
Yes. Zoom Whiteboard is a powerful virtual hub for real-time and asynchronous collaboration, creating more engaging and efficient meeting experiences. Any team, from enterprise to education, can use the Zoom Whiteboard experience to create, annotate, and share ideas from any device whether you’re in a Zoom meeting (Classic Whiteboard) or not. Learn more.
Note: A new version of Whiteboard is in the works and will be available to UW-Madison Zoom users when the campus has signed a Business Associate Contract (BAA) with Zoom. No timeline available at this time.
Yes. The Virtual Background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom Meeting. Learn more.
UW-Madison also has preset virtual backgrounds that can be used within Zoom.
Yes. Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 100 separate sessions/rooms with each room containing up to 1000 participants. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time. Learn more.
Note: Only the host and co-host can manage breakout rooms. Alternative hosts cannot manage breakout rooms. Learn more.
Yes. With version 5.7.0 (or above), the host or co-host can share their screen to all active Breakout Rooms. Learn more.
There are currently six features that cannot be modified once an event is started.
Please contact the following groups:
Yes. Follow steps outlined within the add Zoom for Outlook add-in article. Note: Zoom recommends using the web client to modify/manage details/settings for the event since it will allow you to see all the settings available on the event.
How can I get the improved registration feature added to my account?
Improved registration is not currently available in UW Madison Zoom but we are working with Zoom representatives to learn more about this feature. Until we have more information, if you are interested in this feature you can enter your information here and we will contact you if/when improved registration becomes available.
Zoom is contractually required to protect the privacy and data of the UW-Madison licensed users. We have also implemented additional security controls to protect our users. See Terms of Service and Privacy article for more information.
No. It can be, but it is not by default. HIPAA Zoom requires a specific account configuration to ensure BAA compliance. We will have more information on a HIPAA compliant Zoom offering in the coming weeks.
UW-Madison’s WebEx instance is a fully supported, HIPAA compliant tool available now for those use cases as needed. If you are a part of the UW-Madison Health Care Component, contact your HIPAA Privacy or Security Coordinator with questions about the applications best suited for creating, storing, and sharing PHI.
Please contact the DoIT Help Desk and provide your HIPAA requirements for further discussion with the Zoom support team.
Yes. Zoom’s solution and security architecture provides encryption and meeting access controls so data in transit cannot be intercepted. Zoom does not have access to identifiable health information and we protect and encrypt all audio, video, and screen sharing data.
“Zoombombing” is when an unauthorized person or stranger joins a Zoom meeting/event/chat session and causes disorder by saying offensive things and even photobombing your event by sharing pornographic and hate images. UW-Madison Zoom - Secure Meetings and Webinars.
Zoom integration with Canvas is now available with limited support. Individuals who do not have experience with Zoom are encouraged to continue to use BlackBoard Collaborate while we work towards increasing documentation and support availability for this integration.
Take a quick video tour of how to replace Blackboard Collaborate Ultra with Zoom within Canvas
No. But live transcription is now available within UW-Madison Zoom.
Please contact the DoIT Help Desk.
DoIT is not staffed to provide this support. You are encouraged to view training sessions for an introduction to the Zoom application. Zoom’s Support Center also provides recorded video and live webinar training options.
You will be prompted to migrate your zoom.us account to UW-Madison's Zoom tenant. Learn more.
Please contact UW-Madison Business Services Department to discuss your needs and understanding campus requirements/restrictions/policy.
The main differences between the two are: participant capacity, group meeting duration, reporting, live transcription, polling. View a complete comparison. Other additional features include:
The Meeting and Webinar platforms offer similar features and functionality but have some key differences.
Meetings are designed to be a collaborative event with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio and screen. Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, Chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees. Attendees in webinars, can not rename themselves as well.
If you see lots of participants and no Q/A feature, then you are in a meeting.
Yes. Your meeting will automatically end based on the idle time, type of account, number of participants. These time limits apply to meetings and webinars regardless of the device used to start the meeting (client, app, or phone). Learn more.
All participants except for hosts/co-hosts.
Please review the Zoom billing management article for complete details. You can also contact Zoom billing (billing@zoom.us) if you have further questions.