Starting September 27, Zoom will require that all accounts enable either a Passcode or a Waiting Room for all meetings. 

This change will also impact previously scheduled meetings after September 27: Any meeting scheduled with no passcode will automatically be set up with a Waiting Room. 

  • If users already have the Passcode or Waiting Room setting toggled on, the change will not impact how you schedule meetings or your existing meetings.
  • Enabling the Waiting Room setting for new or existing meetings does not affect calendar invitations. However, the host must admit participants to the meeting. 
  • If users add Passcodes to existing meetings, they will need to re-send calendar invites or update emails to attendees to include the Passcode. 

Recommendation for Existing Meetings

Use the Waiting Room functionality that is automatically enabled, instead of adding Passcodes to existing meetings. 

Meeting hosts can automatically admit users in the ucsb.edu domain into existing meetings by making the following settings change in their profile: 

  • Sign in to your profile at ucsb.zoom.us/profile/setting. 
  • In the “Waiting Room Options” section, click on “Edit Options.” 
  • In the “Who should go in the Waiting Room?” section, we recommend the third option and specify “ucsb.edu, *.uscb.edu” (without the quotation marks) in the text box. This will ensure UCSB users do not get put into a Waiting Room.
  • Click “Continue.” 

Recommendation for New Meetings

Create new meetings with a passcode. Passcodes are meant to be shared with invited meeting participants along with the meeting ID for access and automatically embed into the meeting link when creating a new meeting instance.

Additionally, when adding the meeting information into a calendar entry, include minimal information:

Including the Meeting ID and Passcode in the description field allows participants to manually key in the information if they are joining the meeting from a “Zoom Room” equipped conference room, or if they are using a device to which they are not signed in.  

Optionally, users might want to include a dial-in number as a convenience in case the participant needs to dial-in from a traditional telephone, as a backup.  (e.g. +1 669 900 6833 US [San Jose])

Additional Information and Support 

For more information regarding these changes, see the Help Center article on Zoom’s website at support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360045009111.

For assistance or additional questions, users can contact the IT Services Catalog at ithelp.ucsb.edu or (805) 893-5000 (x5000).