Zoom: Schedule a Meeting and Invite Others to Join

Becoming comfortable with Zoom's scheduling and invitation features will help you host successful meetings. This article covers:

To learn more about using the Zoom Canvas Integration, read Host A Zoom Meeting Within Canvas.

Scheduling Online Meetings 

Zoom offers many ways to schedule a meeting. Meetings should be scheduled no later than one year in advance of the meeting date. 

A non-recurring meeting ID expires 30 days after the date the meeting is scheduled for. Recurring meeting IDs expire 365 days after the meeting's last occurrence.

The links below will take you to the Zoom Help Center, where you can find specific directions for scheduling with whatever software and hardware you are using.

Inviting Others to Join Your Scheduled Meeting

Use these options to invite participants to a scheduled meeting: 

Responses to a meeting invitation appear in Google Calendar in the same way as response to other Calendar events.

Meeting links sent in email, text, or other format do not have an RSVP feature and if you as the host would like responses, you need to ask your attendees to let you know they will be attending the meeting.

Web Portal Invitation 

  1. Login to umn.zoom.us/meeting
  2. Click on the topic of your meeting.
    screenshot of a list of upcoming meetings in the web browser meetings tab
  3. From here, you can either choose to invite others via calendar invitation or you can copy the invitation text and then paste that into an email, chat message, etc.
    • Calendar Invite
      • Next to Time, there are options for adding to your calendar.
      • Choose Google Calendar to automatically create a calendar event on your UMN calendar.  You can then invite others to this calendar event.
      • Note: the first time you choose this option, follow the prompt to Allow Zoom to access your Google Calendar.  This gives Zoom permission to add your Zoom meeting or webinar to your calendar.
        Screenshot of meeting details for an example meeting. In the Time section, Add to Google Calendar is highlighted
    • Copy the Invitation
      • In the Invite Attendees section next to the Join URL, there is a link to Copy the invitation.
        screenshot of the meeting details for an example meeting - Copy the invitation link is highlighted
      • Choose Copy the invitation to open a new window with the meeting invitation text.  
      • Click the Copy Meeting Invitation button to select all of the invitation text and copy it to your clipboard.
        screenshot of the Copy Meeting Invitation pop up window showing the invitation text - the Copy Meeting Invitation button is highlighted
      • You can then paste this text into an email, a chat message, or anywhere else on your computer.
    • Application Invitation
      • In order to use this option, you must have the Zoom for Meetings desktop application installed on your computer.
        1. Launch the Zoom.us application on your computer
        2. Sign in to the application if you are not already logged in.   
        3. Click Meetings in the toolbar
          The Meetings button in the Zoom app toolbar
        4. Select the meeting to which you would like to invite others. 
        5. Click Copy Invitation.  This will copy the meeting invitation so that you can paste that information into an email or anywhere else you would like to paste it.
          screenshot of options in the Zoom desktop client with an upcoming meeting selected - Copy Invitation is highlighted

Inviting People to a Meeting in Progress

During a meeting, you may decide that you want to invite additional people. You may decide to start a spontaneous meeting that was not on your calendar. This is what instant, or unscheduled, meetings are for. 

  1. On your host toolbar, click Participants.
    zoom%20toolbar%20participants.pngx
  2. Select Invite.
    Zoom participants panel with interactive features such as muting and yes/no. Invite highlighted.
  3. A new window open with options for inviting others to join your meeting:

Inviting by Email

This tab gives you the following options:

  • Default Email - choose this to draft an invitation in your computer's default email application, such as Outlook, Apple Mail, or Thunderbird
  • Gmail - recommended for most users - choose this to draft an invitation in Gmail in your default web browser - this feature works best if you are already signed into your UMN email account in your browser.  Otherwise, follow the prompts to first sign into your UMN Gmail account, and then the email draft will open for you.
  • Yahoo - we do not use Yahoo at UMN, so you can ignore this option
    screenshot of the invite via email tab, default email and Gmail are both higlighted

Copying a URL or Invitation

Use these options if you wish to draft your own email manually or invite someone through a chat client, text message, etc.  Copy URL will copy the join link and Copy Invitation will copy the full invitation text. You can then paste it using ctrl-V on a PC, cmd-V on a Mac, or by right-clicking and choosing Paste.
The Invite Via Email tab with Copy URL and Copy Invitation both highlighted

Inviting by Phone

This option is expensive for the University and poses a security risk in the event of a misdial or wrong number.  Therefore we recommend this option only as a last resort.  This feature dials a number you enter to invite them to join the meeting via telephone.  When the recipient answers the phone, they will be prompted to press 1 to join the meeting.  See Using Telephone Call-Out in the Zoom Help Center for more information.  
Zoom Invite Via Phone window with the fields Invitee Name, Phone Number, and the Invite button

Inviting an in-room video conferencing system

If you wish to invite an in-room video conferencing system, see H.323/SIP Room Connector Call-Out in the Zoom Help Center.