Enabling breakout rooms in zoom app

There is an option to hold multiple breakout rooms within a Zoom meeting, so you can divide your meeting into up to 50 sessions. Participants of the meeting can decide whether to participate in these breakout sessions automatically or manually by the meeting host, or the meeting host can allow the participants to choose and enter breakout sessions at their own convenience. It is possible for the host to switch between sessions at any given moment.

Note: If you would like Zoom Support to increase your account’s breakout room capacity, this can be done, but all participants have to be on Zoom client version 5.2 or higher to be able to do this. The update of your clients will require the assistance of your IT Department if your users do not have administrative control over their computers.

Prerequisites for enabling breakout rooms on Zoom

• Ownership or administrative privileges of an account

Note: Check out the limitations of breakout rooms before you decide to use them.

How to enable breakout rooms and breakout room options

Account

In order to make sure everyone within your organization has access to breakout rooms, please follow these steps:

1. If you are an administrator with permission to edit the profile settings of an account, sign into the Zoom web portal as an administrator.

2. You can access account settings by clicking on the Account Management option in the navigation menu.

3. Click on the Meeting tab on the left side of the screen.

4. To enable the breakout room, click the toggle button under the In Meeting (Advanced) section.

5. To verify the changes, if a dialogue box appears asking for verification, click the Enable button.

6. The following breakout room options can be selected by clicking the check boxes, then clicking the Save button:

   • Allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling

   • Allow host to broadcast message to participants: As a result, all participants in breakout rooms will be able to receive a text-based message which can be broadcast by the host.

   • Allow host to broadcast voice to breakout rooms: As a result of this, the host is able to broadcast audio from their microphone to all breakout room participants using their microphone. There is a requirement for 5.12.0 or higher in order to use this feature.

   • Allow host to create, rename, and delete breakout rooms when rooms are open.
     Note: Before you can access this option, Zoom must enable it and you will need to be on version 5.9.3 or greater to be able to do so.

   • In breakout rooms, a host should be able to view the activity status of the participants (i.e., sharing the screen, reactions, etc). As a result, hosts and co-hosts are able to quickly view the audio and video status of participants, as well as any active reactions or nonverbal feedback that the participants may be providing. Activity statuses can only be viewed by hosts and participants with clients version 5.10.3 or higher. This feature cannot be viewed by participants joining on certain devices, including phone, H.323, and SIP devices that do not support the feature.

7. Click the lock icon and then click Lock to confirm this setting is not being changed by other users within your account, if you want to prevent all users within your account from changing it.

Group

For all members of a particular group to be able to use the breakout room feature, please follow these steps:

1. As an administrator, you will have the right to edit groups on the Zoom web portal if you sign in as an administrator.

2. Click on User Management, then Groups from the navigation menu on the left.

3. From the list of groups, select the name of the group that applies to you.

4. Select the Meeting tab from the menu.

5. To enable the breakout room, click the toggle button under the In Meeting (Advanced) section.

6. If a dialog box appears asking you to confirm the change, click Enable to proceed.
   Note: It is important to keep in mind that when an option is grayed out, it means it has been locked at the account level and must be changed there.

7. The following breakout room options can be selected by clicking the check boxes, then clicking the Save button:

   • Allow meeting hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms

   • Allow host to broadcast message to participants: As a result, all participants in breakout rooms will be able to receive a text-based message which can be broadcast by the host.

   • Allow host to broadcast voice to breakout rooms: By doing this, the host is able to broadcast their mic audio in breakout rooms to every participant. If you want to use this feature, you will need at least version 5.12.0.

   • Allow hosts to create, rename, and delete breakout rooms when rooms are open.
     Note: Before you can access this option, Zoom must enable it and you will need to be on version 5.9.3 or greater to be able to do so.

   • In breakout rooms, a host should be able to view the activity status of the participants (i.e., sharing the screen, reactions, etc). A host or co-host can quickly see the audio, video and non-verbal status of participants, whether they are sharing their screen and whether they are reacting to or giving non-verbal feedback when necessary. The host and participant of this event should have the latest version of the client installed in order to see activity status updates. This feature will not appear for participants who join via phone, H.323, or SIP.

8. (Optional) By clicking the lock icon, and then clicking Lock once to confirm the setting, you can make sure all users in your group will not be able to change this setting.

User

For you to be able to use the breakout room feature, follow these steps:

1. You will be able to sign in to your Zoom account once you have logged in.

2. Click Settings from the menu at the top of the page.

3. Click on the Meeting tab on the left side of the screen.

4. To enable the breakout room, click the toggle button under the In Meeting (Advanced) section.

5. If a dialog box appears asking you to confirm the change, click Enable to proceed.
   Note: In the case of grayed out options, this means that the option has been disabled either at the group level or at the account level. Your Zoom administrator will be able to assist you with this.

6. The following breakout room options can be selected by clicking the check boxes, then clicking the Save button:

   • Allow meeting hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms

   • Allow host to broadcast message to participants: As a result, all participants in breakout rooms will be able to receive a text-based message which can be broadcast by the host.

   • It would be helpful if the host could broadcast their voice to each breakout room: By doing this, the host is able to broadcast their mic audio in breakout rooms to every participant. There is a requirement for 5.12.0 or higher for this feature to be available.

   • Allow hosts to create, rename, and delete breakout rooms when rooms are open.
     Note: Before you can access this option, Zoom must enable it and you will need to be on version 5.9.3 or greater to be able to do so.

   • It would be helpful if the host could see different activity statuses of participants in breakout rooms (e.g., sharing screen, reactions, etc.) it would be helpful. As a result, hosts and co-hosts can quickly see whether participants are sharing their screen, whether they are listening to audio or video, and any active reactions they are displaying. Participants joining on phones, H.323, or SIP devices will not be able to see activity statuses due to client version 5.10.3 or higher requirements.

How to use breakout rooms

After enabling breakout rooms, users can do the following:

• Manage breakout rooms (host)

• Sharing screen and broadcasting to breakout rooms (host)

• Pre-assign participants to breakout rooms (host)

• Participate in breakout rooms (participants)