The Zoom webinar platform is used for online events intended for large audiences (e.g., conferences, seminars, annual general meetings and public events). The Zoom webinar platform is similar to the familiar Zoom meeting but this has additional features to manage meetings with large audiences.

University staff can now schedule Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars for up to 500 attendees. Webinars are ideal for events where participants primarily engage through Q&A sessions and chat, such as information sessions, academic seminars and conferences. A detailed comparison of the differences between Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars is available.

Zoom webinars may have multiple roles. The roles are designated by the host.

• Host - The person who schedules the webinar. They have full permissions to manage the webinar, panelists, and attendees.
  NB: There can only be one host.
• Co-hosts - Co-hosts share most of the controls that hosts have, allowing them to manage the administrative side of the webinar, such as managing attendees, starting/stopping recordings, moderating chats and Q&As and running polls.
  NB: Co-hosts cannot start a webinar. If a host needs someone else to start the webinar, they can assign an alternative host.
• Panelists - Panelists are able to mute/unmute themselves and switch on their camera during the webinar. They can also share their screen, annotate, view and answer questions in the Q&A, etc. 
• Attendees - Attendees can only view the webinar and can only be unmuted by the host. They can interact with the host and the panelists through the Q&A and the chat. 

By default, webinars can have up to 500 attendees. If your event is expected to have a larger audience, you may request a Zoom webinar licence [Intranet] of 1000 or 3000 attendees at least two weeks prior to your event. IT Services will activate the respective licence on the host’s UM IT Account. Please note that due to the limited number of 1000 and 3000 attendee licences, IT Services can only provide one such licence per event. The licence will be revoked a few days after the webinar's end date.

Students are not eligible for a Zoom webinar licence unless endorsed by an academic member of staff.

For one-off events (that are not part of a study-unit) where room-based video conferencing service is needed, kindly contact the Conferences & Events Unit and indicate that such a service is required.