When you start Zoom, you are directed to the Home page:
If you do not see this, use the options at the top of the screen to select Home.
Now, we are concerned here with the button at lower left – ‘Schedule’. Click this and it will invoke the scheduling screen (it is not as complicated as it may first look!):
The screen is divided into several sections, and these are described below:
Topic
The topic for the meeting is, by default, your (A N Other’s) Zoom Meeting. You only need to change this if the meeting name is significant.
Start date and time. The default is always for today. Using the downward chevrons you can adjust the date and then the time (in 15 minute steps) for the meeting start – then you need to determine how long to schedule the meeting for. The default is for 30 minutes, and the options allow for 15 minute increments, and so you can choose 45 minutes the maximum in the Zoom Basic (free) options. Note that selecting 45 minutes invokes a warning to say you are exceeding the plan:
You may ignore this, as the meeting will shut down at 40 minutes. You can also set a checkbox to prevent this warning showing again.
There is also a checkbox to indicate if the meeting is ‘Recurring’, i.e. happening every two weeks at the same time. There is also an option to select a specific TimeZone.
Meeting ID
A meeting ID is the 9-digit meeting number associated with an instant or scheduled meeting. When a meeting is created, Zoom generates a meeting ID and each ID number is individual to each meeting that is created. When you join a meeting, you may be prompted for the Meeting ID number. This number is located in the Meeting request (the blue hyperlink) and should not normally require you to enter it explicitly.
A personal meeting ID (PMI) is a dedicated 10-igit number which is assigned to each individual’s account. This becomes the user’s personal virtual room. If your PMI is used to schedule a meeting, this can be used by participants at any time to access your personal virtual room; therefore, when scheduling meetings, users should uncheck the PMI and that way a random 9 digit meeting ID is created which can then be sent to participants, who can attend the meeting they have been invited to, at the scheduled date and time.
The default setting is to generate the meeting ID automatically, and leave the Personal meeting id unchecked – and we advise that you do not change this.
Security
This section shows the automatically generated passcode that is to be used to access the meeting, and an option (selected by default) to apply the Waiting Room. The Waiting Room option allows a host to verify participants as they join the meeting, allowing the host to deny entry. For trusted participants and small meetings, this option may be deselected – meaning that participants are admitted directly to the meeting.
Video
There are options here to set the host’s and participants’ video ON. The default is OFF. If set ON, and participants are unfamiliar with Zoom, it may allow the meeting to get going more fluidly.
Calendar
Zoom can be set to apply updates to linked Outlook and Google Calendars – this will set the date and time of the meeting in the appropriate calendar for the participant.
Advanced settings
Three checkboxes are additionally available here (default for all is Not Set):
Enable join before host – if this is set, then participants do not need to wait for the host to start the meeting. This is particularly useful if the Waiting Room is not applied, as participants can chat socially – or in a more organised fashion – when the host may have some delays.
Mute participants upon entry. This option is particularly useful if a presentation is in prospect, meaning that participants arrive at the meeting muted. If a presentation is started promptly, for example, this stops a random ‘Oh Hello!’ disturbing all.
Automatically record meeting on the local computer.
When you have completed the scheduling form, click ‘Save’
email invitation
Zoom will automatically link to your email client, and set up a new email detailing the invitation. This will vary according to the email that you use – here it is Outlook.
You just need to add the contact names as ‘Required’. If you wish you can add further detail in the body of the email, e.g. to describe the form of the meeting. When done, click Send.
Viewing Meetings
Using the Meetings button on the toolbar at the top of screen, you can see all of the meetings that you have scheduled:
Note that there are options to both See the meeting invitation, and to Copy it. This allows you for instance to copy it to send to another participant who was omitted from the original email.
There is also a button to Start the meeting, as well as options to Edit and Delete the meeting details. Edit brings up the schedule screen as it was when you saved it, allowing you to change date or time or length of the meeting.
If you want to Delete the meeting, you are asked to confirm:
Note that in case a deleted meeting needs to be recovered, this is possible in the next seven days.