It is highly recommended to join Zoom meetings via computer/internet audio if at all possible as the sound is of much higher quality.
However, Zoom does make provision for those who are not able to or, do not wish to, make use of internet audio in order to host or join Zoom meetings or webinars.
You can join a Zoom meeting or webinar by means of teleconferencing/audio conferencing (using a traditional phone). This is useful when:
- you do not have a microphone or speaker on your computer,
- You do not know how, or want to use Zoom on your computer/laptop/smartphone/tablet with regular internet audio,
- you do not have a smartphone (iOS or Android) while outside, or
- you cannot connect to a network for video and VoIP (computer audio)
For joining a scheduled meeting by phone:
Host’s scheduled meeting allows participants to join by telephone (Audio setting in schedule meeting settings)
For joining a webinar by phone:
Host account allows participants to join webinars by telephone (Allow webinar attendees to dial in through above numbers account-level setting)
Host’s webinar allows participants to join by telephone (Audio setting in schedule webinar settings)
Joining a meeting or webinar by phone
- Dial an in-country number. If you dial a number, your carrier rates will apply. You can find the numbers on your meeting invitation or view a full list of international dial-in numbers.
- You will be prompted to enter the meeting ID – the nine (9), ten (10), or eleven (11) digit ID provided to you by the host, followed by #.
- If the meeting has not already started and join before host is not enabled, you will be prompted to enter the host key to start the meeting, or to press # to wait if you are a participant.
- You may be prompted to enter the meeting passcode, followed by #. This passcode will be included in the meeting invite provided by the host.
If you are using an Apple iPhone or Android phone/tablet, you can doubletap, if using speech, or single tap, if not, on the number in order for it to dial and to enter all the subsequent details like the meeting ID, host key, and meeting passcode.
Phone controls for participants
The following commands can be entered via DTMF tones using your phone’s dial pad while in a Zoom meeting:
- *6 – Toggle mute/unmute
- *9 – Raise hand
Entering the meeting password manually using your dial pad
If the meeting requires a password, a phone-specific numeric password will be generated. You can find this password in the invitation listed below the dial-in numbers and meeting ID.
It is highly recommended to join the meeting beforehand in order to make sure that you are audible and not experiencing any technical difficulties.
Finally, being muted when not speaking will be of great help as it will minimise background noise when in a meeting with many participatns.
Note that the meeting host can unmute you when required so that you do not need to be concerned if you have difficulty in muting and unmuting yourself.