Need ability to communicate with users in the Waiting Room

[tomt1203]

Don't see a place to enter suggestions, so I'll post it here.

I've recently been battling some Zoom bombers and would really like to communicate directly with people in the waiting room before I let them into the meeting. My meetings need to be available to people I don't necessarily know and it's usually pretty easy to identify someone who doesn't belong once I've let them in and can at least chat with them. Sure would be nice if I could do that in the Waiting Room before letting them in and possibly disrupting the meeting. 

Might also be nice to be able to control the ability to mute, show video and profile pictures on a user by user basis instead of for the meeting as a whole.

Open to any other suggestions on how I might address these concerns.

[Rupert]

Hi @tomt1203 

Maybe you could look at using "Focus Mode". That would allow the Host to decide which Participants all other Participants get to see.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360061113751-Focus-mode

You can submit other suggestions to Zoom here: https://zoom.us/feed

Hope this helps.

Rupert

[Bort]

Hi @tomt1203 

Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to chat back and forth between participants in the waiting room, but that is coming soon. I cannot provide an exact date when this will be available, but keep an eye on our release notes. 

[SuzanneHealy]

That's awesome news!! It's great that we can message them, but the ability to chat with them would be amazing.  I use zoom as my virtual office - and the waiting room is like the hallway outside my physical office -- the back and forth has been the one thing that makes that not as seamless as it could be.

[ldc265]

Yes, do that as soon as you can. We have had a number of people disrupt meetings and they need to have a "doorman" who can identify them before they have the option to go into the meeting. Only seeing a random name typed in the ID at the door does nothing to show us who wants to come in when newcomers to our meeting are always arriving.

[feliciasmith083]

Yes I'm Brian Graves Francia Francia Smith and he needs help to get in the meeting to thank you. 

[feliciasmith083]

No I said I'm Felicia Smith not Brian Graves 

[feliciasmith083]

trying to get in the meeting with assets.