Inviting others to join a meeting

Whether inviting Zoom contacts to an ongoing session or wanting to invite others to an upcoming scheduled meeting, this article can show you how to bring more participants into your meetings. 

Additional invitation methods include sharing the Zoom link for a meeting, inviting by phone (requires the audio conferencing plan) or inviting a room system (requires Cloud Room Connector add-on).

This article covers:

• How to invite others during a meeting
  
  • Contacts
  • Zoom Rooms
  • Desk Phones
  • Room System
  • Email
  • Call Out or SMS
  • Copy Zoom link or invitation text
  • Zoom Phone
• How to invite others to a scheduled meeting
  
  • Zoom desktop client
  • Zoom web portal

Prerequisites for inviting others to join a meeting

• Zoom desktop client for Windows, macOS, or Linux: Global minimum version or higher
• Zoom mobile app for Android or iOS: Global minimum version or higher

How to invite others during a meeting

Depending on which Zoom Products and add-ons, you have many options for inviting Zoom contacts, Zoom Rooms, room systems, and dial-in participants to join the current meeting. 

1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
2. Start or join a meeting.
3. In the meeting controls, click Participants .
4. At the bottom of the Participants panel, click Invite.
   A pop-up window will appear.
5. In the window, choose from the following invite options:

Contacts

1. Click the Contacts tab.
2. Select a contact's name from the list or search for a contact.
3. Click the individual you would like to invite.
   Note: You can select multiple contacts.
   After selecting contact(s), their name(s) will be highlighted in blue, and they will appear in the list at the top of the window.
4. In the lower-right corner, click Invite. 
   Selected participants will be immediately invited to the current meeting, which will appear on their desktop or mobile screen. 

Learn how to decline a meeting invite with a message.

Zoom Rooms

1. Click the Zoom Rooms tab.
2. Select the Zoom Room from the list or search for a specific Zoom Room.
3. Click the Zoom Room you would like to invite.
   Note: You can select multiple rooms.
   After selecting Zoom Room(s), their name(s) will be highlighted in blue, and they will appear in the list at the top of the window.
4. In the lower-right corner, click Invite. 
   Selected Zoom Rooms will be immediately invited to the current meeting, which will appear on their screen and controller. 

Desk Phones

1. Click the Desk Phones tab.
2. Select the desk phone from the list or search for a specific desk phone.
3. Click the phone you would like to invite. You can select multiple contacts.
   After selecting phones(s), their name(s) will be highlighted in blue and they will appear in the list at the top of the window.
4. In the lower-right corner, click Invite. 
5. Selected desk phones will be immediately invited to the current meeting, which will appear on their phone as an incoming call. 

Room System

1. Click the Room System tab.
   By default, the Dial In information for H.323/SIP room systems will be provided. 
2. Switch to the Call Out option to enter a specific IP address or E.164 number. 
3. Click Call to call out to the specified room system. 

Email

1. Click the Email tab.
2. Select an email provider:
   
   • Default Email: Invite others by using your default email application for your computer.
   • Gmail or Yahoo Mail: Invite others by using the Gmail or Yahoo website. You will be prompted to sign in to your account.
     Your email service will be opened, either through your desktop mail application or through your default web browser.
3. Add recipients to the email and send it.

Notes:

• A new email will be composed automatically with the meeting information in the email body.
• These email options are affected by the Only show default email when sending email invites option on the Settings page. Enabling this setting will remove the Gmail and Yahoo options.

Call Out or SMS

Call Out

1. Click the Call Out or SMS tab.

2. In the Invite via dropdown, select the Call option.

3. Enter the name of the invitee.
   This will be used as their display name in the meeting. 

4. Enter their phone number. 
5. Review and enable the following options: 
   • Require greeting before being connected
   • Require pressing 1 before being connected
6. Click Call to have Zoom call the provided number. 
   When the invitee answers the phone, they will be connected to the meeting as an audio-only participant. 

SMS

1. Click the Call Out or SMS tab.

2. In the Invite via dropdown, select the SMS option.

3. Enter the name of the invitee.
   This will be used as their display name in the meeting. 

4. Enter their phone number.
5. Click Send to have Zoom send the message. 

Copy Zoom link or invitation text

On any of the tabs so far, in the bottom-left corner of the window, click Copy Invite Link to get the Zoom link for the current meeting or Copy Invitation if you want to send your instant meeting information elsewhere. 

• Copy Invite Link: Copy the Zoom meeting join link to share with others. You can make the Zoom link for a meeting accessible to others by copying it.
• Copy Invitation: Copy the full invitation text. 
• Paste the URL or invitation using Ctrl + V on Windows, or Cmd + V on a Mac. You can also right-click and click Paste.
  This Zoom link for the meeting or invitation can be pasted in an email, other chat thread, or other messaging service. 

Zoom Phone

1. Click the Zoom Phone tab.
2. Enter a number or name of a contact. 
3. Press the call icon . 
   When the invitee answers the phone, they will be connected to the meeting as an audio-only participant. 

How to invite others to a scheduled meeting

You can invite others by copying the meeting invitation or make the Zoom link for a meeting accessible to others by sharing the Zoom link. You can also schedule a meeting and invite others before starting the meeting.