Hosting a Personal Audio Conference meeting


Personal Audio Conference (PAC) meeting IDs are static, predetermined 10 or 11-digit meeting IDs that can be shared with participants at any time. You can also configure PAC settings like adding dial-in numbers or passcodes.

This article covers:

Prerequisites for hosting a Personal Audio Conference (PAC) meeting

How to schedule a Personal Audio Conference

You can schedule a PAC if you want it to appear on your upcoming meetings in the Zoom desktop client, mobile app, and web portal. 

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Meetings.
  3. Click the ellipses icon in the top-right corner, then click Schedule a personal audio conference.
  4. Enter the required information, then click Schedule.
    Note: You can also configure your PAC settings like dial-in numbers and passcodes.

Alternatively, you can start a PAC without scheduling and copy the invite to participants.

How to copy the invitation for participants

You can copy the auto-generated invitation for conference participants and send it to them by email, add it to a calendar invite, or share elsewhere. If you have set a listen-only password, you will also have the option to copy the invitation for listen-only participants.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Personal Audio Conference.
  3. Click Copy Invitation For Participants. If you added a listen-only passcode, you can also click Copy Invitation For Listen-Only Attendees.
  4. Click Select All.
  5. Right-click to copy, or press Ctrl+C (Windows or Linux) / Cmd+C (macOS).
  6. Paste the invitation where you want to share it. 

Note: If the option to only allow authenticated users to join meetings is disabled, external users or users not signed in can click the invite link to join the conference by dialing in or using call me.

How to start the PAC as a host

You can either start a PAC meeting from a phone or the Zoom web portal. The PAC meeting will not start until the host has joined and entered the Host Key.

Telephone

  1. Dial in to one of the Zoom Global dial-in numbers enabled for your account.
  2. Enter the PAC meeting ID when prompted, followed by #.
  3. Enter the Host Key when prompted, followed by #.

Host controls through DTMF tones

If you have entered the host key to start the meeting, you will have host controls available to you by entering DTMF tones on your dial pad. The following commands are available:

DTMF command: **

When the host presses **, only the host will hear the audio prompt. They will reach the feature menu which will give the following response:

  • *4 to end the meeting
  • *5 to lock or unlock the meeting
  • *6 to mute or unmute yourself
  • *7 to start or stop the meeting recording
  • 99 to mute or unmute all participants

When the participant presses **, only the participant will hear the audio prompt. They will reach the feature menu which will give the following response

  • *6 to mute or unmute yourself

DTMF command: *7

When the host selects *7, the host will hear the following

  • The recording capability has not been enabled
  • The recording failed to start, please contact our support
  • The recording failed to stop, please contact our support
  • The meeting is now being recorded
  • The recording is now being stopped

If the host selects *7, all participants will hear the following

  • The meeting is now being recorded
  • The recording is now being stopped

DTMF command: *5

When the host selects *5, the host will hear the following

  • The meeting is now being locked
  • The meeting is now being unlocked

DTMF command: *#

When the host selects *#, they will notified there are x number of participants in the meeting

DTMF command: 99

When the host selects 99, they will be notified that all participants are muted/unmuted.

Web

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Personal Audio Conference.
  3. Click Start Conference.
    This will open the PAC controls in your browser. You will have options to dial in to the meeting, or if you have call out enabled, there will be a Call Me option.
  4. Join the conference by phone or use the call me option:
    • Under Join by phone, follow the instructions to join by phone:
      • Dial one of the numbers listed.
      • Enter the conference ID when prompted, followed by #.
      • Enter your host key, followed by #.
    • Under Call Me, select the country/region code of your phone number, then enter the phone number you want Zoom to dial. Answer the call to join the conference.
  5. In your browser, you will have host controls available at the bottom of your screen:
    • Mute/Unmute: Mute or unmute your phone. You can also dial *6 to mute/unmute during the conference. This is only DTMF command available when joining from the web portal.
    • Invite: Invite other participants to join.
    • Mute All: Mute all users dialed in.
    • Record: If enabled, record the meeting to the Zoom cloud.
    • Lock: Lock new participants from dialing into the meeting.