Understanding Zoom Licenses

Planning

1. Determine who on your team should manage your Zoom account - your "Zoom Master"
2. It is best to create a separate Zoom account for your organization to be used just for EventPilot. This helps avoiding issues with global settings, other groups within the organization, and is more secure as the API gives EventPilot access to all the license emails on your account. This master account should only have the licenses you are planning to use with EventPilot. Contact us if you have more than 100 license
3. Work with your IT to create a set of generic email addresses or email aliases that would be forwarded or routed to your Zoom staff. E.g. [email protected], [email protected], ...
   Tip: if you use Google as your email provider for your organization, you can set up default routing email addresses (like aliases) that forward to actual inboxes. 
   In order to easily set up the group, we recommend to start all email addresses with the same prefix e.g. 'zoom' or 'events'
4. Due to too many limitations in the Zoom SDK, the integrated SDK is no longer supported. Zoom links will open in the Zoom client.

Tag your Sessions in the Agenda Data

For the system to know which sessions should be generated in Zoom, you need to tag those sessions in a specific way. Follow this Knowledge Base article to understand tagging your sessions for Zoom generation.

Once sessions are tagged, the system can calculate how many Zoom licenses you will need. 

Purchase a Zoom Subscription 

1. Before purchasing licenses, double check the number of required licenses via Conference App Builder > Add-Ons > Virtual Sessions > Setup. You will see information on the number of licenses needed based on concurrent sessions tagged with the keyword Virtual or webinars tagged with the keyword Webinar.
   
2. Go to https://zoom.us/pricing and select a plan (set it to monthly so you can cancel the monthly subscription after your meeting). We recommend Business as it allows for a higher number of attendees. The number of hosts must match or be higher than the number of concurrent sessions you have.
   Tip: The easiest is to purchase some licenses in the Pro or 10 licenses in the Business plan. Once you have purchased that, upgrade to add any licenses and features you need. Remember to select MONTHLY and check the box so it won't auto-renew. That check box only appears after you click on the monthly box.
   
   FYI: The EventPilot Zoom integration is only possible for "Zoom Meetings" licenses. According to Zoom support as of 2/24/22, there is no API for "Zoom Events".
   
   
3. If you have larger sessions, we recommend adding more licenses and upgrading those to Webinars.
   Note: you must have unique licenses for zoom meetings, webinars, and webinars tagged as keynote. So if you have 5 concurrent Zoom meetings tagged as Virtual, and 3 concurrent Zoom webinars tagged as Webinars, and 1 Zoom webinar tagged as Keynote, you need to purchase:
   5 + 3 + 1 = 9 Zoom licenses
   and upgrade 3 of those to Webinar with the same capacity
   and upgrade 1 of those to Webinar with a large capacity for your keynote or general sessions.
   
   Why do I need separate Zoom licenses for Sessions vs Webinars?
   
   
4. If you are planning to have your sessions and webinars recorded, you may need to purchase additional cloud storage with Zoom. You generally receive 1GB per license. So if you purchase 20 licenses, you would have 20GB of cloud storage included. This may not be sufficient for your recordings. In the Virtual Sessions Setup page, the minimum required storage is displayed. Ensure to purchase additional cloud storage which is available as an upgrade during your purchasing process. 

Zoom Account Settings

The following is merely an assisting guide for you. It is your responsibility to understand how Zoom works. If you have questions about settings, please contact Zoom support. Zoom continually makes changes to their system and some of the items listed below may not apply or Zoom may have changed labels. We strive to keep the guide up to date but cannot promise the accuracy. If you do not know how Zoom works, we recommend working with one of partners who could manage the Zoom licenses and setup for you as part of their services. 

Add Users

If you have purchased 10 host licenses, in addition to your master zoom login, you can now assign 9 more user logins to your licenses. These are the additional emails you created in the first step with IT. 

These licenses (emails) will be used by the EventPilot Conference App Builder to create and prepare the different virtual sessions (Zoom meetings) or webinars. The easiest way to think about licenses (emails) is to compare them to physical rooms at a convention center. Sessions are automatically assigned to available 'rooms' = available licenses.

1. Access your Zoom account and select Admin > User Management > Users
2. Set up new users with the additional email addresses from the Planning step above (e.g. [email protected], etc.). You can add multiple email addresses comma separated. 
3. Select User Type Licensed for each of these 'users'. If you had purchased the webinar upgrades, assign those as well in this step. Attention: the attendee size must be the same for all Webinar licenses that are being used within the EventPilot Conference App Builder as it will use licenses that are available irregardless of the attendee size. The new uses must activate the account.
   
   1. If you have dozens of accounts you need to add, contact us and we can provide you with a template for a batch CSV upload (to add many user emails at once) and after you activate them (this is  is still manual), update all the accounts with their license assignments. Learn more about batch imports.
4. Have your Zoom Master (the person that would receive all the emails sent to the email addresses created in the Planning step above) check their email and activate all the zoom accounts. A name and password needs to be created for each in the next step. Use a first and last name that is going to make sense for your webinar speakers as they will receive emails from Zoom with that name displaying. Note down the password you create per Zoom user account. 

Set up a Group

All licenses being used with the event must be set up in a group so the Account Settings from above will apply for all events generated under those licenses:

1. Zoom > ADMIN > User Management > Group Management
2. Press the + Add Group button
3. Enter a Group Name e.g. "Events"
4. Select the group you just created
5. Press the + Add Members button
6. Enter the email addresses for all the licenses being used with your event and press Add

Adjust the Group Settings

Using the Group, you can adjust the general Settings for the entire group under Admin on the left Group Management.

The following settings must match (settings not important to EventPilot are skipped from the list below - ignore those):

Start with the Meeting tab on the top left

1. Security Section
   1. Waiting room: OFF to ensure speakers can join and claim the host role in a Zoom Meeting (default is ON). If you keep this ON, then your team must start all the Zoom Meetings (all sessions tagged as "Virtual") and take on the host role.
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   2. Require a passcode when scheduling new meetings: ON (default is ON)
   3. Webinar passcode: ON (default is ON)
   4. Require passcode for participants joining by phone: OFF (default is ON) - while a little less secure, this will save you a lot of headache keeping it OFF.
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.

   5. Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join: ON (default is ON)
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.

   6. Only authenticated users can join meetings: OFF

   7. Only authenticated users can join meetings from Web client: OFF

2. Schedule Meeting Section
   1. Host Video: ON (default is OFF) 
   2. Participants Video: ON for a more personal face to face experience at Zoom Meetings (default is OFF)
   3. Audio Type: Telephone and Computer Audio as you need to give attendees the option to call in just in case something is not working right for them to hear the computer audio
   4. Use Personal Meeting ID: OFF
   5. Join before host: ON this allows your presenters to claim the host role and is required for Zoom Meetings (default is OFF)
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   6. Mute participants upon entry: ON to avoid disruption in your Zoom Meetings (default is OFF)
3. In Meeting (Basic)Section
   1. Chat: ON (default is ON) You can also prevent participants from saving the chat - that's your choice
   2. Private chat: ON (default is ON)
   3. Auto saving chats: ON (default is OFF)
   4. Play sound when participants join or leave: OFF to avoid disruption (default is OFF)
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.   
   5. File Transfer: OFF to avoid sending of malicious files (default is ON). If you want your speakers to provide files, you can invite them via the speaker handouts portal. Another safe alternative is to ask speakers to only post links to content (they can store files in Dropbox or Google Drive and share the link)
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   6. Feedback to Zoom and Display end-of-meeting experience feedback survey: OFF (default is ON)
   7. Co-Host: ON this is important so your host can assign co-hosts (other presenters) in a Zoom Meeting (default is OFF)
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   8. Polling your choice
   9. Screen sharing: ON (default is ON)
      1. Who can share: All Participants  (default is All Participants) ensures panelists can share their screen in webinars
      2. Who can start sharing when someone else is sharing? Host Only
   10. Disable screen share for users: OFF (default is OFF) - you can choose to turn this ON and Meeting attendees can request permission to turn on screen share
   11. Annotation: OFF (default is ON)
   12. Whiteboard: OFF (default is ON)
   13. Remote control: OFF for security (default is ON)
       Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   14. Nonverbal feedback: OFF for a simpler virtual room experience (default is OFF)
   15. Meeting Reactions: ON (default is ON)
   16. Allow removed participants to rejoin: OFF if a host removed a participant, this person should not be allowed back into the room (default is OFF)
   17. Allow participants to rename themselves: OFF their login name from the app is used to join the virtual sessions (default is ON)
4. In Meeting (Advanced) Section
   1. Report participants to Zoom: ON (default ON) 
   2. Q&A in webinar: ON if you want attendees to submit questions to panelists
   3. Breakout Room: Your choice - please note that some may not be available in the integrated version of Zoom. It is your responsibility to know how to actually use the Zoom features and set those up in advance if necessary. 
   4. Closed captioning: Your choice if you have someone entering closed captioning live (alternatively, your presenters can use Google Slides captioning or Microsoft PowerPoint live captions)
   5. Group HD Video: OFF (default OFF) to keep bandwidth requirements low
   6. Virtual background: ON is a fun way to hide a cluttered office or add an interesting personalized backdrop  (default is ON)
   7. Show a "Join from your browser" link: ON (default OFF) this is important to allow users to access the session from a browser window if you open Zoom externally. Otherwise it tries to force the Zoom app install on attendees.
      Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   8. Allow live streamings: OFF (unless you can work with your A/V and need to live stream via YouTube or Facebook)
   9. Request permission to unmute: OFF
5. Invitation Email Branding Section
   1. You must update the Webinar Invite Panelist Email to remove joining from anything other than a computer. Click here for detailed steps.
6. Email Notification Section
   1. Email notification: you may choose which ones to keep - your team member managing your Zoom master account would receive all emails. You may turn off all of them to avoid inundation of emails as most are unnecessary. We recommend all OFF.
   2. When host licenses are running low (80%): ON gives you a chance to contact sales and upgrade quickly or communicate with users that a recording will be available later or decide to stream (default ON)

Switch to the second tab on top Recording

1. Local Recording: OFF so your attendees can't create a recording of the session on their own computers (default is ON)
   Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
2. Cloud recording: ON
   Lock ON so this cannot be changed on the individual account level.
   1. Record active speaker with shared screen: checked
      Attention: The platform will pull in any video file longer than 5min that Zoom stores for attendees to watch after a session is completed. This means, if you select any other recording options such as speaker view or gallery view, all those videos will display for attendees to watch. In addition, the file storage required on your Zoom account will dramatically increase if you check any other video recording options.
   2. Record an audio only file: check if you need to
   3. Save chat messages from the meeting/webinar: checked
   4. Advanced cloud recording settings
      1. Display participants' names in the recording: unchecked we recommend for privacy (default is ON)
      2. Audio transcript: checked
      3. everything else unchecked
3. Prevent hosts from accessing their cloud recordings: OFF your choice
4. Automatic Recording: ON (default is OFF) with Lock ON 
   1. Record in the Cloud: checked
   2. Host can pause/stop the auto recording in the cloud: checked  (You can choose this setting, however, make sure you practice and fully understand these Zoom settings yourself and how they impact recordings)
5. Cloud recording downloads: OFF (default is ON) however, this is really your choice. EventPilot does not link to the recording on Zoom but instead makes a copy of the recording and stores it in a secure way so only logged in app and planner users can access the video. Make sure you download your recordings from Zoom directly after your event for your own archiving purposes. You cannot download recordings from EventPilot. 

Switch to the third tab Telephone

1. Choose where most of the participants call into or call from the meeting - set this if your event is outside the USA
2. Mask phone number in the participant list: ON for attendee privacy reasons (default is OFF)

Adjust Account Settings

1. Go to Zoom > Admin > Account Management > Account Settings
   
   1. Choose Recording sub-tab
   2. Turn OFF "Require passcode to access shared cloud recordings
2. Go to Zoom > Admin > Account Management > Webinar Settings 
   1. Review and update Branding options as needed
   2. Turn on to send reminders to panelists one hours before the webinar
      1. Search for Email Settings on that page 
      2. If you see No reminder email to Attendees and Panelists, click the Edit button and select 1 hour before the webinar start date and time

Set Up the API

1. Go to your Zoom Account > Admin > Advanced > App Marketplace which opens a new page (you may need to sign in again)
2. If prompted, agree to the Terms of Service and select Done
   
3. On the top right, click Develop and select Build App
4. Under Choose your app type, select Server-to-Server OAuth and press the Create button
5. Enter a name for the app - use your organization abbreviation (this setup is not related to one event but for your organization)
6. In App Credentials, copy your Account ID, Client ID and Client Secret to enter in the EventPilot Conference App Builder for your app
   
7. Continue
8. In the Information section, fill in the required fields for your event app. 
9. For the developer contact, feel free to use your own name and email or use "ATIV Software" and email "[email protected]"
   
10. Press the Continue button
11. Skip the section Add Feature and hit Continue again.
12. In the Scopes section, click "+ Add Scopes"
    • In the Meetings section, enable "View All User Meetings" and "View and Manage All User Meetings"
    • In the Webinar section, enable "View All Webinars" and "View and Manage All Webinars"
    • In the Recording section, enable all the options
    • In the Account section, enable "View Account Info" and "View and Manage Account Info"
    • In the Users section, enable "View all user information" and "View users information and manage users"
    • Click "Done" at bottom
13. Press the Continue button
14. Your app is now activated.
15. Ask your project manager to do a dry run with you in Zoom where our team sets up a test webinar and meeting

Connect Your Zoom Account with EventPilot

1. Go to Conference App Builder > Add-Ons > Virtual Sessions > Setup
2. Enter the comma separated list of email addresses for the licenses you want to use for Zoom Meetings in the top box. Enter the comma separated list of email addresses for the licenses you want to use for Webinars in the bottom box.
3. Enter the Account ID, Client ID and Client Secret from Zoom in the fields in the Conference App Builder
4. By default, the Conference App Builder assumes 15 minute time between your sessions and sets the start time for panelists or hosts to enter 10 minutes before a session and session ending at 5 minutes after the session. You can adjust these numbers but remember that longer times than your breaks between sessions will cause additional overlap and require additional licenses. For example if you have two concurrent sessions followed by another set of two concurrent sessions with a 15min break in between, you would need only 2 Zoom Licenses if you keep the default pre/post settings. However, if you want the virtual events to start 30min early for panelists to join early, you will now need a total of 4 Zoom licenses as the concurrent session overlap. Your break is too short to accommodate starting 30min early. 

Viewing Live for Attendees

Once the Zoom events are generated, logged in attendees will see a countdown before the session and a JOIN button 3 min before the session starts. The JOIN button disappears after the session has ended in the schedule. 

Viewing Recordings for Attendees

If the Zoom event was recorded in Zoom and has finished processing, a "View Recording" button appears in place of the "Join Virtual Session" or "Join Webinar" button. The time it takes for the system to make this change depends on processing speed in both Zoom and Vimeo.

For a Zoom Meeting, recordings generally start when the Meeting is started. This means, the buffer time where speakers only meet is included. Even though the buffer time is included, the playback will automatically jump to the moment your session was supposed to start in the schedule. So if speakers joined 10min early, attendees viewing the recording will be jumped into the playback to the 10min mark and watch from there. 

For Zoom Webinars, the recording the moment starts when the host clicks the Broadcast button, making the webinar live to attendees. If the Broadcast button was clicked before the scheduled start time of the session, the playback will automatically jump to the scheduled start time and skip the initial few minutes.

Cancel Your Zoom Account After Your Meeting

You can cancel your Zoom licenses after your meeting to save cost.

Before canceling a license:

1. Download any recordings associated to that license
2. Transfer any content left https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005866183-Transfer-Meetings-Webinars-and-Cloud-Recordings

Recordings in the EventPilot platform do not play back from Zoom. Recordings are either hosted on your own Vimeo account (please contact us to set up an integration - fees may apply) or are hosted within EventPilot as long as you have an active hosting subscription. After your subscription expires, videos hosted on EventPilot will be deleted.