Zoom - Public Meeting Moderation

When holding a public Zoom meeting, there are ADA guidelines that must be met, such as live captioning.  Please see the KB article Live Auto-Captions for Zoom Meetings for information on requesting live captions, launching live captions, chargebacks, and frequently asked questions.  The article below outlines security and moderation of a live public Zoom meeting.

Warning: The information below is specifically intended for the moderator of the meeting.  The moderator must adjust these settings, schedule the meeting and attend. Keep in mind, the settings that you change for this meeting cannot be adjusted again until after the meeting is completed. The moderator will have the Host role in the Zoom meeting. 

There are several settings you need to change, prior to scheduling your Zoom Meeting, to ensure security and prevent Zoombombing. 

Chat

1. Sign in: https://nic.zoom.us/
2. Click Settings, on the left hand menu
3. Click In Meeting (Basic)
4. Scroll down to Chat and check the box next to Prevent participants from saving the chat
5. Click Save

Screen Share

1. Repeat steps 1-3 under Chat, if you signed out
2. Scroll down to Screen sharing and select Host Only, under Who can share?
3. Click Save

Annotation

1. Repeat steps 1-3 under Chat, if you signed out
2. Scroll down to Annotation and click the toggle button to disable it
   • Note: The button will be grey if it is disabled and blue if it is enabled
3. Your setting will automatically be saved

Whiteboard

1. Repeat steps 1-3 under Chat, if you signed out
2. Scroll down to Whiteboard and click the toggle button to disable it
   • Note: The button will be grey if it is disabled and blue if it is enabled
3. Your setting will automatically be saved

Closed Captioning

1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 under Chat, if you signed out
2. Click In Meeting (Advanced)
3. Scroll down to Closed captioning and click the toggle button to turn on closed captioning
4. You will get a pop up, select Turn On

Live Streaming

1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 under Chat, if you signed out
2. Click In Meeting (Advanced)
3. Scroll down to Allow live streaming meetings and click the toggle button to allow live streaming
4. Make sure there is a check next to Custom Live Streaming Service Only
5. Click Save

Note: Although you can select all 4 options, you cannot have live captions during a meeting with 3Play Media and have the meeting streamed to Facebook or another platform.  You can only do one at a time.

For options and details about how to schedule meetings, please see the Zoom Manual.

When scheduling the meeting, please select Mute participants upon entry under the Advanced Options.

Once the meeting has started and you (as the host and moderator) have joined, you will need to prepare for the meeting to start.

Do not Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves

1. In the meeting, click Participants
   • Note: If anyone has unmuted themselves before you joined, click Mute All, locate at the bottom of the participants menu
2. Click the ellipsis (3 dots) icon, at the bottom of the menu, and un-check Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves

Rename Yourself as Moderator

If you are moderating the meeting, rather than having your personal name, please rename yourself as Moderator.  You can do this when you join or afterwards.  To rename yourself after you have joined:

1. Click Participants
2. Locate yourself in the meeting list
   • Note: You can search for your name at the top of the participants menu
3. Click More, next to your name
4. Click Rename
5. Type Moderator and click OK

Grant Co-Host Role

The meeting should be lead by someone that is not the moderator.  Most public meetings also have many departments or guests (panelists) that may speak and present during the meeting.  You will need to grant the co-host role to anyone participating in the presentation.

1. Click Participants
2. Locate participating members in the meeting list
   • Note: You can search for their name at the top of the participants menu
3. Click More, next to their name
4. Click Make Co-Host

Once you have made someone a co-host, send them a private chat letting them know their role was changed to co-host by using the chat function.  To send a private message:

1. Click Chat
2. Click Everyone
3. Select the name of the person you want to send a private message to

• Note: It will say (Privately) next to their name

Be Prepared for an Unexpected Speaker

Oftentimes, questions come up and someone who was not intending to present in the meeting has joined to watch.  They may be asked to answer a question if it is relevant to their department.  As we are not allowing participants to unmute themselves, if this occurs, you will need to manually unmute this person so they can answer a question.  If there are a large number of questions for this person, you can change their role to a co-host.  To unmute a participant:

1. Click Participants
2. Locate the person in the meeting list
   • Note: You can search for their name at the top of the participants menu
3. Click More, next to the name of the person you need to remove
4. Click Ask to Unmute

Be Prepared to Remove a Participant

At anytime in a public meeting, someone could attempt to Zoombomb the meeting or cause a disruption.  As a result, you may need to remove someone from the meeting.  To do this:

1. Click Participants
2. Locate the person in the meeting list
   • Note: You can search for their name at the top of the participants menu
3. Click More, next to the name of the person you need to remove
4. Click Remove

Anonymous Questions

Use the chat to send a message to everyone at the beginning of the meeting.  Let everyone know that if they wish to ask a question anonymously, that they can private chat the moderator and the question will be asked on their behalf.  The name of the person asking the question will remain private.

Additionally, if the leader of the meeting misses a key discussion point or detail, panelists may private message the moderator to prompt the meeting leader answers common questions or expand on topics.

Live Captions

You will need to start live captions before the meeting begins.  Information for launching live captions can be found on the KB article Live Auto-Captions for Zoom Meetings.

Record

Many public events are recorded to use for reference later.  Recordings are provided to Communications and Marketing for distribution and publishing.  Confirm with the leader of the meeting, by private chat, that they are ready to start the meeting and that the recording can begin.  Once ready:

1. Click Record
2. Click Record to the Cloud

Live Caption Cost

Please be advised that live captioning through 3Play Media is not a free service.  Information regarding cost can be found in the KB article Live Auto-Captions for Zoom Meetings.

Naming Convention

NIC employees attending the meeting should use their first and last name - department.  For example: Rachelle Williams - Information Technology