Zoom - Security Settings and How They Function

Issue/Question

• If I change this setting in Zoom what happens?
• If I use the waiting room and lock the meeting what will happen?
• What is the experience if leveraging the waiting room and I enable authenticated users only?

Environment

• Oregon State University
• Faculty/Staff
• Zoom Hosts
• Zoom User

Cause/Explanation

Below is a guide on how the various Zoom security settings interact with one another. 

Resolution

Zoom Security Settings

1. Lock Meeting (Analogy | Think of this as a locked door outside of a waiting room to a lecture hall)
   • When you lock a meeting NO ONE can join that meeting.
   • The waiting room DOES NOT WORK when a lock has been engaged. Participants who join late will not appear anywhere.
   • Authenticated users (properly logged in with ONID) will not be able to join the meeting.
   • Even if a meeting participant that was in the meeting and dropped out by mistake tries to rejoin. They will not be admitted.
   • DO NOT INSTRUCT PEOPLE TO USE THE LOCK FUNCTION UNLESS THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES
      
2. Waiting Room (Analogy | Two lines, FAST PASS - authenticated ONID users, Normal queue - Guests)
   • If the meeting is Not Locked and the waiting room is enabled there are two different OSU user global profile settings to set.
     • All Participants
       • If this is selected, anyone including authenticated (ONID) users will get stopped in the waiting room. The host or co-hosts will have to admit every meeting participant. There is an admit all button but if you are using this as a screening tool it is not recommended to use that function. 
     • Guest Only
       • If this is selected, only non-authenticated (outside) or improperly logged in ONID users will be stopped in the waiting room. This is the recommended setting for waiting rooms for instructors of larger courses.
     • The above mentioned settings are global user settings, meaning that they apply to all your meetings. This setting is not changeable on a meeting by meeting basis unless you go back into your global user settings and change it. 
   • Users can also now enable Waiting Room while in a meeting, even if the feature was turned off before the start of the meeting. It will default to the all participants setting if you have not already configured it in your global user settings. 
      
3. Authenticated Users (ONID) (Analogy | FAST PASS holder)
   • An authenticated user is someone who has logged into Zoom with their ONID. 
     • Students and staff alike have to at least log into the OSU Zoom web portal once to have their zoom account created automatically for them. 
     • If using the desktop app they have to login using the SSO Login function to ensure they connect with their OSU Zoom Account. 
   • Authenticated user setting while scheduling a meeting:
     • If a user enables this setting for a meeting, it means that ONLY OSU users will be able to join. It also means that those OSU users MUST be logged in properly.
       • What we have been seeing a lot is students that think because they are logged into Canvas with their ONID that if they launch the meeting then they are already logged into Zoom as well and will be added to the meeting. That is not the case. Refer to the first bullet point and sub-points above.
     • Another nuance is that sometimes when a user is setting up a meeting, they select the option of Zoom authenticated. We want to instruct users not to use that form of authentication. This authentication means that anyone with a Zoom account is considered an authenticated user. Instruct users to ONLY use the "Sign in to Zoom with specified domain" option.
     • Remember, authenticated users are those individuals who are properly signed in with their ONID in the OSU Zoom web portal and or desktop application. We always want to make sure that all OSU faculty, staff, and students are logged in properly.

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.