Setting Up Zoom Meetings & Webinars for Session Streaming
Note: If you are looking for PheedLoop's built-in Meet & Stream solution, learn more about that here.
Zoom is an incredibly powerful tool, which most of the world is familiar with and used to at this point. Among the many products they offer, they also offer a developer-friendly integrated version of Zoom which PheedLoop leverages and countless events very successfully use. The power of PheedLoop and Zoom combined! We have built an awesome integration with Zoom which allows you to seamlessly allow attendees to view and participate in Zoom meetings and webinars right from the PheedLoop virtual event portal, no need to link out. PheedLoop's integration allows attendees to automatically authenticate and join the Zoom meeting or webinar you are running, with a single click into the session from the virtual event portal. The Zoom interface is also custom branded to match your event's theme, so everything feels super seamless!
Step 1 - Create a Zoom Meeting or Webinar
Depending on the type of session(s) you are going to be running, you'll want to choose a Zoom Meeting or Webinar. At a high level, a Zoom Meeting is ideal for a collaborative session where all attendees are able to contribute to a larger discussion with their audio/video whereas a Zoom Webinar is ideal for a lecture-style session where attendees are primarily listening into one or more speakers delivering a talk/panel. For a complete overview of the differences between meetings and webinars, visit this link. To learn how to schedule a Zoom meeting, visit this link and to learn how to schedule a Zoom webinar, visit this link.
It's ideal that all of your Zoom Meetings or Webinars are recorded in case you'd like to upload these videos back into PheedLoop to make the sessions available on-demand. You can ensure recording is enabled in your Zoom settings. If you plan on having concurrent sessions for your event, note that you will need multiple host licenses from Zoom as a single host can only host one Zoom session at a time. If you are running a Zoom Webinar, please ensure that registration for your webinar is turned off as webinars requiring registration do not work with the Zoom integration.
Step 2 - Populate Your Session in PheedLoop with the Zoom Meeting/Webinar Details
Navigate to the session you're planning on running the Zoom Meeting or Webinar within in your PheedLoop dashboard and under the session's Virtual Event Settings, populate the Meeting/Webinar ID with the precise Zoom Meeting or Webinar ID, the Meeting Password field with the precise Zoom Meeting or Webinar's password, and the Direct Link with the direct web link to the Zoom Meeting or Webinar. The Direct Link is very helpful in case an attendee experiences an issue with the Zoom integration, as there will be an easily accessible backup option for them to go directly to the Zoom app.
You'll also want to ensure the session's Enable Stream setting is selected, just for testing purposes for now. For a live event, you'll want to enable the stream at the right time depending on when your session actually starts. More information about enabling streams available here.
Step 3 - Test the Integration
You've finally made it, the last step! Start the Zoom Meeting or Webinar you created in the native Zoom app (we typically recommend moderators and speakers use the native Zoom app to start and join the meeting or webinar) and ensure you're out of practice mode if you're running a Zoom Webinar (i.e. the webinar or meeting should be live and running). Open up your PheedLoop virtual event portal, navigate to the session, and you should be greeted with your live Zoom Meeting or Webinar!
We recommend all speakers to join the session directly via the Zoom Desktop App for the best quality experience
Please note we do not recommend using Zoom's spotlight feature for more than four individuals. This is to ensure that your presenters are displayed correctly in the PheedLoop.
Like with any other technology, when first getting it going there may be some troubleshooting required. In the Zoom integration's case, they are typically caused by very basic issues such as getting the meeting/webinar ID or password wrong, or simply not starting the correct Zoom session. We've listed a few common troubleshooting and frequently asked questions here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do speakers login to conduct their speaking engagement when using the Zoom integration?
Speakers are always recommended to login to the Zoom desktop app to conduct their speaking engagement. We do not recommend logging into PheedLoop to avoid any echos. Additionally, by logging into Zoom directly, you will be able to get the best streaming quality and will be able to leverage initiate some of Zoom's advanced features such as Live Polling and Q&A.
What advanced features are supported within the Zoom integration?
Zoom is constantly updating their integration with PheedLoop. Some of the features that are currently supported within the integration are: Breakout Rooms, Live Polls, Q&A and Interpretations. As the event admin or speaker, you must initiate these features from the native Zoom desktop app.