Tech Tips from our LSPs: Assigning Co-Hosts on Zoom

 

Welcome to Tech Tips, a new recurring feature on the blog! Brought to you by our talented Local Service Partners (LSPs), this series will share quick, actionable advice to help you make the most of the technology you use daily. From handy shortcuts to game-changing tools, these tips are designed to show you how tech can boost productivity and simplify your work life.

In this edition, we'll learn how to avoid potential complications in meetings you schedule with Zoom by assigning at least 2-3 co-hosts!

Why?

Having co-hosts means you have a backup in case you or your laptop unexpectedly cannot be present for the meeting.

Here is a scenario illustrating why it's best to assign co-hosts for large meetings: 

You schedule a department meeting, and it will include a virtual training session provided by a 3rd party. The trainer will be using a PowerPoint slide deck to share during the session. 

You are the host since you scheduled the meeting. However, you unexpectedly cannot be at work this day.

Depending upon your profile meeting configurations, you may have it set to where no one else can join the meeting until you do. Or you may have it set that participants must submit an in-meeting request for permission to share content. 

If you are the only host for the meeting and you are not present, the meeting may not be able to start, or someone with content to share may not be able to present it. 

If this meeting had assigned co-hosts, one of them would be able to start the meeting and/or grant permission to the presenter to share content.

Assigning a co-host also protects you against that most dire scenario: Your laptop conveniently stops working right before the meeting. 

Fortunately, setting up a co-host in Zoom is easy to do! See screenshots of how to set co-hosts for your meetings below.

In the Zoom app, click the Profile Icon, then My Profile.

In this Zoom Web Portal, go to Settings, then General, and toggle
Co-host to allow the host to add co-hosts

In the Meetings section of the web portal, click the Edit button.

From here, click Show to see all options.

Under Alternative Hosts, click Allow alternative hosts to add or
edit polls, and add your intended co-hosts.

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Special thanks to LSPs Michael Hayton, Linda Estepp, and Micah Boothe of UVAFinance for these tips. 

See the previous edition of Tech Tips