This guide details how to invite a guest/external participant to your Zoom session. It provides a step-by-step process for adding participants who are not part of the UofT community using the Authentication Exceptions feature in Zoom.
This guide is intended for instructors who have limited or plan to limit their Zoom session access to the UofT Community (i.e., those with a @utoronto.ca email address), but who also wish to invite a guest lecturer, auditing student from another institution, or other visitors from outside the UofT community.
Things to know before you begin
- This guide is intended for those who have limited access to their sessions (as recommended in our guide to improve security in your Zoom sessions) to those using UofT Zoom accounts.
- This process is intended for inviting external guests; everyone in the UofT community should activate their UofT Zoom accounts (see how to activate your UofT Zoom account).
- You can't add authentication exceptions to meetings that use your personal meeting ID. Instead, you must choose to generate a meeting ID automatically.
- Make sure you're logged into your UofT Zoom account (see how to login to your UofT Zoom portal) to set up your meeting.
To invite guests (non-U of T people) to your webinar session:
1. Navigate to your Meetings
1. In the navigation menu, select Meetings to find your session.
2. Add the guest to your webinar session
In the above image, you can see our recommended settings for your Zoom session. Selecting "Only UTM e-mails under site license can join" allows anyone with an email ending in @utoronto.ca domain to join (even if they have not set up an account through utoronto.zoom.us).
- In your Meeting settings, scroll down to the Security section. Beside Authentication Exception, select Add.
3. Add the guest participant's name and email address
- Enter the Full Name.
- Enter the Email Address.
- (Optional) +Add Participant if you'd like to add more exceptions to your webinar session(s).
- Select Save.
4. Confirm that you see the exception(s)
All people that you've added as exceptions for the meeting are listed below the "Authentication Exception." Confirm that this list is accurate and as intended.
- Verify that the participant's name and email is now displayed under Authentication Exception.
- Select Save to schedule the meeting after you've selected all your meeting preferences.
5. Share the session invitation with your invited guests
All authorized guests will be automatically sent information on how to join your session. However, you might consider sending the information directly via email or creating and adding it to a calendar invitation. Automatic emails are easy to miss and we recommend confirming the details in a more personal way.
5.1. What does the invitation look like for the invited participant?
Curious about what your guests will see, after you've invited them? After you've clicked Save, the participant will automatically receive the meeting details (Topic, Host, Time, Join Meeting).
