Zoom: Webinar licence

The University has Zoom webinar licenses for 500, 1,000 and 3,000 participants. The webinar licence for 500 participants is automatically available to all users. University staff and students can use their own Zoom account to book a licence for 1,000 or 3,000 participants for a fixed period.

 Book a webinar or large meeting license for your use with the e-form.

You can view the booking status of webinar licences using the links below. Please note that you cannot make bookings in the calendars yourself but must instead use the above form for all bookings.

• Zoom webinar licence 1 – booking status (max. 1,000)
• Zoom webinar licence 2 – booking status (max. 1,000)
• Zoom webinar licence 3 – booking status (max. 3,000)

A Zoom webinar differs from a regular Zoom meeting in the following ways, for example:

• In addition to the chat function, the webinar has a Q&A function that allows participants to ask questions and like the questions of others.
• Webinars also include an additional role, the Panelist.
• The Breakout rooms function is not available in the webinar.

You can create a Zoom webinar in advance as a normal meeting and convert it into a webinar later. To convert a meeting, use the browser version of Zoom and go to https://helsinki.zoom.us/.

On the left side of the page, select Meetings.

 Click on the name of the meeting you want to convert into a webinar.

 You can find the link at the bottom right of the page that opens:

Zoom will still ask you to confirm that you want to convert the meeting into a webinar. The conversion cannot be undone. Click on Convert. 

 After the conversion, the event can be found in the menu on the left-hand side of Zoom under Webinars.

The roles of webinar participants are mostly the same as in a regular meeting. However, webinars also include a new role, the panelist, which is not used in regular meetings. Some of the special features of the roles are listed below. 

• You can find a more detailed comparison of the functions of the different roles on Zoom's own instructions site. 

Host

The host can grant alternative host permissions (in advance and only for University of Helsinki user accounts) and co-host permissions (during the webinar and for all user accounts).

Only the host can create and edit surveys, authorise another participant to launch the closed captions function and end the webinar.

Co-host/Alternative host

In addition to the host, the co-host and alternative host can also launch the webinar, start a survey and manage participants (mute, upgrade to panelist, etc.)

Panelist

The panelist is a role that is only used in webinars. It has more extensive permissions than a normal participant, such as using the camera and sharing their screen. The webinar host can grant a participant the permissions of a panelist either in advance or during the webinar. The panelist role can also be assigned in advance to people outside the University.

Attendee

In webinars, normal participants are mainly attendees. As a rule, communication takes place using the chat and Q&A.

Adding a panelist manually

Go to your webinar using the browser version of Zoom (https://helsinki.zoom.us/ > Webinars) and click on the name of your webinar. At the bottom of the page, select the Invitations tab. Click on Edit to the right of Invite Panelist, or if you have a completed CSV file, click on Import from CSV. 

• See Zoom’s own instructions on CSV files.

A new window opens:

1. Enter the name of the panelist.
2. Enter the panelist’s e-mail address.
3. If there are several panelists, click on Add Another Panelist.
4. If you want Zoom to send the panelists an invitation immediately after you have saved their information, leave this box checked.
5. Save your list of panelists.

Adding a panelist using a CSV file

If there are many panelists in the webinar, you can add the panelists at once using a CSV file. You can create the CSV file, for example, with Excel (see CSV file template).

Go to your webinar using the browser version of Zoom (https://helsinki.zoom.us/ > Webinars) and click on the name of your webinar. At the bottom of the page, select the Invitations tab. Click on Import from CSV to the right of Invite Panelist.

If necessary, you can send the panelists a new invitation by clicking on Edit and then clicking Resend next to the panelist's name.

In addition to the chat function, the webinar has a Q&A function that allows participants to ask questions and like the questions of others. With the default webinar settings, the role of the participants is much more limited than in regular meetings, meaning that video and audio are not enabled by default, and participation happens only via the chat and the Q&A function.

You can find the Q&A settings tab by clicking on the name of your webinar and scrolling to the bottom of the page. To change the settings, click on Edit on the right. In the settings, you can choose, for example, whether questions can be asked anonymously and whether all the participants can see all the questions or only the answered ones.

 While the webinar is active, you can open the Q&A window by clicking on the Q&A button at the bottom.

You can practise the use, management and roles of a Zoom webinar before the actual event. You can practise at any time during the validity of the licence. Activate the practice session in the webinar settings (https://helsinki.zoom.us/ > Webinars) by clicking on Edit next to the name of the webinar. The practice session is open to the host, co-hosts and panelists.

The webinar settings also include a variety of automatic messages that can be sent before and after the webinar. You can find the email settings at https://helsinki.zoom.us/ > Webinars by clicking on the name of the webinar and then selecting the Email Settings tab at the bottom of the page.

Follow-up email

In the webinar settings, you also have the option to send a follow-up e-mail after the webinar both to the participants and to people who did not participate. Please note that your webinar licence must be valid for the follow-up e-mail to be sent from Zoom. For this reason, make sure when booking the licence that it will remain valid for the required period.

 We recommend that you take a look at these additional instructions and videos before hosting your first webinar:

• Checklist for organising a Zoom event
• Getting started with Zoom Webinars, Zoom Support site
• Meetings and Webinars comparison, Zoom Support site
• Roles in Zoom Webinars, Zoom Support site
• Using Q and A as the Webinar Host, Zoom Support site
• Webinar practice session, Zoom Support site