Using desk phone companion mode

Companion mode integrates Zoom meetings with your provisioned desk phone. With companion mode, you can do the following:

• Join a scheduled Zoom meeting and use your desk phone as the audio device.
  For example: You can join a meeting after seeing a calendar notification. After joining the meeting using the Zoom desktop client, you can press the Zoom meeting key on your desk phone to join audio using your desk phone.
• Receive a meeting invite and join the meeting using your desk phone as the audio device.
  For example: A colleague using the Zoom desktop client invites you to an instant meeting. You will see an incoming call on your desk phone and accept it to join audio using your desk phone. You can also accept the meeting invite on the desktop client to enable video and screen sharing.

Requirements for using desk phone companion mode

• Provisioned desk phone that supports companion mode
• End-to-end (E2EE) encryption for meetings disabled

How to add the line key for companion mode

Note: When setting up line keys, the Zoom meeting key type is not available for a common area phone. 

Before you can use companion mode with your desk phone, you need to add the Zoom meeting key to your line keys:

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Profile.
3. In the side menu, click Zoom Phone.
4. Click the Settings tab.
5. In the Keys & Positions section, click View or Edit.
6. Click Manage Key.
7. In one of the keys, click Set Key, then select Zoom meeting as the Key Type.
8. (Optional) In the Alias (Optional) column, enter an alias that is displayed on the phone’s screen. By default, the meeting line key is labeled Zoom meeting.

Note: After adding Zoom meeting to a key, you can further customize your line keys.

How to join a scheduled Zoom meeting and use your desk phone as the audio device

1. Join a meeting using the Zoom Workplace desktop app.
   The meeting line key on your desk phone will turn solid red to indicate you can use companion mode.
   Note: By default, the meeting line key is labeled Zoom meeting. You may have changed this while setting up companion mode.
2. Press the Zoom meeting line key on your desk phone.
   • You will join the audio portion of the meeting using your desk phone. If you're already using your computer for audio, it will disconnect and use your desk phone for audio.
   • You can continue to use the Zoom desktop app for video and screen sharing.

How to receive a meeting invite and join the meeting using your desk phone as the audio device.

1. Using the Zoom Workplace desktop app, click Join when you receive a meeting invite.
   An incoming call will also show on your desk phone, and the meeting line key will flash green.
   Note: By default, the meeting line key is labeled Zoom meeting. You may have changed this while setting up companion mode.
2. When you receive an incoming call on your desk phone, press one of these options:
   • Zoom: Join the meeting using your desk phone for audio, and the desktop app for video/screen sharing.
   • Audio: Only join meeting audio using the desk phone.
   • Ignore: Decline the meeting invite.

     The meeting line key will turn solid red when you join the meeting.

Recommended meeting settings

To improve your experience, change these settings if you frequently use companion mode:

Waiting Room

In your web portal settings, disable Waiting Room so that you don't have to manually admit participants to join the meeting. This is useful if you frequently join meeting audio using your desk phone without using the desktop app for video/screen sharing.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Profile.
3. Click Settings .
4. Click Meeting.
5. Under the Security section, click the Enable waiting room toggle to disable it.

Video preview

In your desktop app settings, disable video preview. This will allow you to instantly join the meeting without showing the video preview window before you can join.

1. Sign in to the Zoom Workplace desktop app.
2. Click your profile picture then click Settings.
   The Settings pop-up window will appear.
3. In the Meetings & webinars tab, click the Show video preview first toggle to disable it.
   Note: You can also disable this feature by unchecking Always show this preview when joining in the video preview window when you join or start a meeting.