Zoom FAQ

> Meetinghouse Technology > Virtual Meetings

Zoom is the preferred option for broadcasting local church meetings. The church has made available a free enterprise zoom license to all local units since December of 2020.

The following statement has been sent to all church leadership worldwide:

Over the past year, the Church has adopted virtual meeting technologies which have allowed members to participate in worship and gospel learning from their homes. As part of the Church’s ongoing effort to improve member experiences while carefully managing available resources, we encourage units to start using Zoom Webinars for meetings that are currently using the Church’s webcast system. The Church’s webcast system will be discontinued in July 2022.

The following FAQ will answer many of the frequently-asked-questions that Technology Specialists have on how to use Zoom, and how to transition from Webcasting to Zoom. If you continue to have questions, please post your questions on the Tech Forum in the Non-Interactive Webcasting section.

Webcast Transition

Q. When should I make the transition to Zoom?

A. You should begin moving all webcast events to Zoom as soon as you are able to. Currently the backend cost of operating the webcast portal is significant, and the quicker we can reduce those costs the better. However, in July of 2022 the portal will be taken down, and you should be totally transitioned by then.

Q. What is the “Meet portal”?

A. The “Meet portal” refers to http://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org and is the online portal where local leaders can request Zoom licenses.

Q. How can I transition to Zoom webinar without substantial cost or effort?  

A. Units currently broadcasting with hardware supported by Zoom such as cell phones (Larix Broadcaster) or laptops (OBS) should be able to transition to Zoom webinar easily without additional cost. Simply make sure the Zoom app is installed on the device and select the correct audio and video source.   

Other units that may be able to transition to Zoom webinar with minimal cost and effort include those with a dedicated encoder like the Teradek or J-Tech. These systems typically have an HDMI cable that delivers chapel audio and video to the encoder. To transition these systems to Zoom webinar, local units will need an HDMI to USB video capture device and laptop as shown below. This setting is primarily for stake centers during stake conferences and activities. In effect this would mean that we would not need the laptops each week but just for the periods stake conferences and activities are held. The laptop would not need to be stored on the premises. We encourage that wards should stick with their current processes until more information is available.

HDMI to USB video capture devices can be purchased for under $50.00. If your system does not carry audio in the HDMI, you can purchase an HDMI capture card that has a built-in 3.5mm audio input. The capture card will allow your existing camera infrastructure to be used within Zoom as the camera source.

It is recommended that local units use an existing laptop if available. If not available, units should purchase a low-cost laptop or use a member-provided laptop.

Units using the Mevo all-in-one camera or similar device may setup the device as a wired webcam.  

Church Zoom Account

Q. How do I request a Church-provided Zoom license?

A. Only individuals who have been called as a technology specialist by their stake, mission, or district Presidents can request Church-provided Zoom licenses. Individuals with these callings can request one license per unit associated with their stake/district/mission in the Meet portal. Individuals assigned one of these callings that cannot access the Zoom licensing page in the portal should contact the GSD or request assistance through the portal feedback button. 

Click Here for more information on creating a Church Zoom Account

Q. What features are included in the Church-provided Zoom license?

A. The Zoom license provided by the Church includes several additional functionalities not included in a free Zoom license, such as the following:

Concurrent meetings
Zoom webinar
Up to 500 connections (meetings and webinars)
Unlimited meeting length
Account sharing —The Church’s agreement with Zoom allows the user credentials to be shared within the unit, provided that the account is used only for Church purposes.

A local unit Zoom account would enable local units to:

Multiple Sunday School classes to be held simultaneously using the breakout room feature.
Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum Meetings to be held simultaneously.
Bishopric Meetings and Presidency Meetings to be held simultaneously.
A running stream used by multiple wards throughout the day for Sacrament Meetings.
One ward can hold a sacrament meeting while other wards using the same building can hold Bishopric Meetings or other leadership meetings.
Large Webinars for streaming conferences without the zoom interactive meeting interface.

Click Here for more information on use of Zoom Features and Zoom breakout rooms.

Q. How do I tell if I have a Church-provided Zoom license?

A. Sign into the Zoom account and confirm the following:

Account name under Account Profile shows “Church of Jesus Christ – local units.”
Profile section License Type shows “Meeting 500 Participants” and “Webinar 500 Participants.”

If the Zoom account does not match the information above, it is not assigned the Church-provided Zoom licensing.

Q. What do I do if my Zoom account doesn’t have the Church-provided licensing?

A. If the email is assigned to a unit in the Meet portal and has a status of “Setup Complete,” contact the Global Services Department or request assistance through the Meet portal feedback button.

If the email is assigned to a unit in the Meet portal and has a status of “Setup Not Complete,” check the email address inbox for an account activation/transfer email from Zoom. If the activation email was not received, contact the Global Services Department or request assistance through the Meet portal feedback button.

If the email is not assigned to a local unit in the Meet portal, request a license if the stake/district/mission has any remaining available licenses.

Q. Can we get more than one license per unit? 

A. No. Currently, the Church is providing only one Zoom enterprise license per unit. Stakes and wards are considered separate units. They are encouraged to use their church provided Zoom license for meetings that require additional features included and to use free Zoom accounts for other meetings where possible. 

Q. Will previously scheduled meetings and webinars be deleted when the Church-provided license is applied to an existing Zoom account? 

A. No. Meetings and webinars associated with a Zoom account that is upgraded with the Church Zoom licensing will not be deleted or changed.

Q. Can local units get a refund if they already purchased a Zoom license?

A. Yes. If a local unit purchased a Zoom license before Church-provided licenses were available, Zoom can refund the unused balance if the license was not being paid for on a month-to-month basis.

Local units that have already purchased an account directly from Zoom can either keep it or transfer it to a Church account. To transfer the account to the Church provided Zoom accounts, follow the steps outline in the Transferring Zoom Account to Church Zoom Account article.

If you follow the account registration process in meet.churchofjesuschrist.org and complete the activation email sent by Zoom, but still have a basic account, submit feedback through the feedback button in the meet.churchofjesuschrist.org portal.

Q. How do I change the email address that is associated with the local unit’s Zoom account?

A. Sign into the Church-provided Zoom account, and in the profile settings, edit the “Sign-In” email address associated with the account.

Q. What email address should be provided for Zoom accounts?

A. A unique email address is required for each Zoom license requested. Technology Specialists are encouraged to use email addresses they manage and can transfer access to if released from their calling.

An option to consider is to use a stake Gmail account to create task-specific sub-accounts, one for each ward or branch.

Click here for more information.

Q. Who has access to manage General Church Zoom accounts for Local Units?

Note: Many local leaders purchased Zoom accounts before General Church Zoom accounts were available.  Local units are encouraged to transfer these accounts to a Church Zoom account.  These accounts can be managed through https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org. 

A. The following callings are the only approved users to manage General Church Zoom accounts.

Stake called Technology Specialist
District called Technology Specialist
Mission Technology Specialist

If a Technology Specialist does not have access to https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org then they should contact their Stake Clerk to correct the information recorded in Leader and Clerk Resources (LCR) and verify they have one of the callings listed above.

If it still doesn't display, try the follow:

Clear browsers cache and cookies.
Verify you are using the correct URL of https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org.

Q. How do I get the activation email resent?

A, When activating a Local Unit Zoom license, an activation email is sent to the email listed during activation.  If the email was never received the Technology Specialist can resend the activation email.

Go to https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org. 
Select Enroll under the Zoom Accounts for Church Units option.
Find the account that did not receive the activation email and click on "Resend Activation Email".
An email will be sent to the email address listed.
Click on the Approve the Request option in the "Zoom Account Invitation" email sent by Zoom.

Using Zoom for Church Meetings

Q. Can you host a webinar and interactive meeting concurrently?

A. No. Local units can either run a single webinar or two concurrent standard Zoom meetings. 

Q. When a new ward or stake is created, will a new Church-provided Zoom account be available?

A. Yes. The Church-provided Zoom accounts are made available in the Meet portal based on the unit number. If a unit is created, a Church-provided Zoom license will be made available for that unit in the Meet portal.

Note:  After the new unit is created, it may take up to a week for a Zoom license to be available in the Meet portal. 

Q. What is the suggested platform for events requiring over 500 connections, such as Stake Conference, Regional Conference, Firesides, etc.?

A. If more than 500 participants are expected for a webinar, Zoom can be configured to redirect overflow participants to a live streaming service. YouTube Live is the suggested platform for larger events like stake or regional conferences. Using Zoom as the front-end platform enables a moderator to hold speakers that are not present in the meetinghouse in a waiting area so that they can be brought into the meeting when it is their turn to speak or pray.

Click Here for the “Zoom for Stake Conference” article.

Click here for the “YouTube-Live stream setup” article.

Q. What can replace the webcast webpage that hosts the links?

A. Many Technology specialists have created web pages to hold links which don’t change from week to week, so that members only have to remember one address which then contains all other links. Currently we do not have another webpage that will host the links. However, this capability is in development and should be available prior to July 2022. In the meantime, there are several alternatives to posting links. Some Tech Specialists use a Google Form or Google doc that is accessible to members of the stake with a URL. Others use an alternative called linktree. Link Tree is a simple landing page that hosts multiple sites or links. It is free and wards and stakes can set up an account that can host their ward meetings with static links which would not change. Linktree cannot provide nonpublic link lists. By setting zoom’s privacy you can prevent unauthorized persons from bombarding your zoom meeting.

Q. What support will be provided for Zoom meetings?

A. Local units are encouraged to use online resources provided by Zoom for training and troubleshooting.

Technology specialists who have problems with the license portal (meet.churchofjesuschrist.org) Should contact the Global Service Department (GSD), email mht@churchofjesuschrist.org, or submit feedback using the ‘Feedback’ button on the meet-portal.