How do I start or schedule a Zoom Meeting?

Overview

This article describes various ways to start a Zoom meeting

Note: there are two main types of meetings. You can either schedule one to occur in the future, or you can start one live.

Zoom meetings can be hosted in many different ways, in many different applications.  The most popular are described below.

Table of Contents

• Web Interface
• Zoom Desktop Application
• Outlook Desktop Application
• Outlook Web Application (OWA)
• Gmail/Google Calendar

Web Interface

NOTE: This method will allow you to Schedule a Live, Impromptu meeting. Choose another method below if you would like to schedule a meeting.

1. Navigate to uic.zoom.us
2. Select Host and log in with your UIC credentials
   
    
3. Select Open Zoom Meetings
   
   
    
4. The Zoom Desktop Application should open. Select Join with Computer Audio
   
   
    
5. At this point, you will be able to invite more attendees/meeting participants using either their email or by giving them the meeting ID which is needed if the participant is calling in.
   
   

Zoom Desktop Client

1. Open Zoom Desktop Application
   
    
2. Login (if necessary)
   • Detailed Login Instructions can be found at How can I log in to Zoom?
      
3. You will then have two options:
   
   Option 1: Starting a Live Meeting
   Option 2: Scheduling a Meeting
    
   • Option 1: If you would like to start a Live Impromptu meeting, select the orange “New Meeting” button.
     
      
   • NOTE: The drop down below the “New Meeting” button allow the user to either start the meeting with video or use their personal meeting ID if meetings are recurring.
     
     A new window will generate and you should then be in a new Zoom meeting. At this point, you will be able to invite more attendees either by sending a meeting invitation to their email or by giving them the meeting ID. The meeting ID is necessary for meeting participants who are calling in by telephone.
     
     
     
      
   • Option 2: If you would like to Schedule a meeting for in the future, select the Schedule button.
     
     
     A new menu should appear that will allow you to set the meeting Start, Duration (Note: the duration of the meeting doesn't actually limit the meeting time and it is for scheduling purposes only). Click the "Advanced Options" button (highlighted below) to display more options:
     
     
     
     This will allow you to set more options for you meeting:
     
     
     
     Enable Join Before Host: This setting allows your meeting attendees to join the meeting prior to the host's arrival. This allows someone else to run the meeting if the host is unexpectedly not able to attend. Enable join before host is set to "on" by default.
     Mute participants on entry: this setting ensures that when attendees join your meeting, they do so quietly without causing distractions. Best practice is to leave this on.
     Record the meeting automatically: This will use your default recording settings to record the meeting or webinar automatically.
     Alternative Hosts:  This is best used if you are: either hosting large sessions, scheduling meetings for someone else or want to add an alternate host just encase.

Outlook Desktop Application:

To Schedule a Zoom Meeting in the Outlook Desktop Application:

1. Open the Calendar within the Outlook Desktop App.  
2. Select "New Appointment"
   
    
3. Click "Add a Zoom Meeting".  This is found in the settings bar of the New Appointment window:
   
    
4. Configure Meeting settings:
   1. Start and End Time
   2. Make Recurring
   3. Set Time Zone
   4. Reminder Time
5. Invite Attendees
6. Select Send

Outlook Web Application (OWA/Webmail)

To Start a Zoom Meeting in Outlook Web Application:

1. Follow the steps above to add the plugin to the Outlook Web Application and Login
2. Navigate to your Calendar within the Outlook Web Application at outlook.uic.edu.
3. Click the "New Event" button
   
    
4. Find the Ellipsis in the upper right section of the new event pop-out window
   
    
5. Hover over "Zoom"
   
    
6. Select "Add a Zoom Meeting"
   
    
7. Note: if this is the first time you have logged into Zoom through OWA, please select "Allow" when prompted to allow Zoom to open a new window
   
    
8. Click "SSO"
   
    
9. Enter "uic" as your domain: "uic.zoom.us"
   
   
    
10. Login with your NetID and password (if necessary). Users who have their credentials saved will bypass this screen.
11. Invite Attendees
12. Configure your meeting settings
13. Select Send

Gmail/Google Calendar

To schedule a Zoom Meeting in Gmail:

1. Navigate to calendar.google.com
2. Select "Create" in the upper lefthand corner:
3. Select more options in the pop-out window
   
    
4. In the pop-out window enter the meeting information/description, start and end times and invite your meeting attendees.  
5. Select "Make it a Zoom Meeting"
   
    
6. Select "Save"