High capacity meeting/webinar upgrades
All UCI Zoom accounts have access to the standard features of a licensed (paid) Zoom account, including the ability to host meetings with up to 300 attendees. Instructors who are teaching Registrar-listed courses that have more than 300 students enrolled will receive assistance from Classroom Technologies to ensure their courses are supported.
Account upgrades are also available for other large meetings or events with more than 300 attendees.
Some large events are more effectively hosted with Zoom webinars, which are optimized for more public, presentation-style (as opposed to highly interactive) events. The table below highlights some of the more salient differences between large meetings and webinars in Zoom.
If you’re not sure which option makes sense for your large event, please contact us; we’ll be happy to discuss your event and help you figure out which option is the best fit for your needs.
Zoom also provides a more in-depth meeting and webinar comparison.
| Large Meeting Upgrades | Webinar Upgrade | |
| Generally best for… | Large class lectures, meetings, training sessions, and other contexts where attendees and hosts interact with one another | Public events, presentations, conference sessions, and other contexts where panelists present and attendees may submit questions in writing, without sharing their own video or audio |
| Shared features | Both meetings and webinars include:
| |
| Capacity available with UCI Zoom account upgrades | 500 or 1,000 attendees | 500 to 10,000 attendees |
| Costs Note: May be pro-rated depending on when upgrades are purchased | No charge for temporary, 7-day maximum upgrades for 500 capacity meetings and 500 or 1,000 capacity webinars as supply allows (UCI has a limited number of license upgrades pre-purchased for this purpose) | |
| 500 capacity / $300 per year 1,000 capacity / $540 per year | 500 capacity / $345 per year 1,000 capacity / $1,700 per year 3,000 capacity / $4,950 per year 5,000 capacity / $12,450 per year 10,000 capacity / $32,450 per year | |
| Roles | Hosts, co-hosts, alternative hosts, attendees | Hosts, co-hosts, alternative hosts, panelists, attendees |
| Privacy | Limited & dependent on host’s meeting settings: participants can see each others’ names and breakout rooms may be used for discussions in small groups | Built-in: participants’ names are protected, only visible to the webinar host and panelists, and breakout rooms are not available |
| Protecting sessions from disruption (includes “Zoom bombing”) | Dependent on host’s meeting settings, which may include waiting rooms, registration requirements, and turning off features like participant audio/video | Built-in: no participant audio, video, or screen-sharing (significantly reduces ways a malicious attendee could disrupt a session), plus practice sessions to help hosts and panelists prepare |
| Nonverbal feedback & meeting reactions | Available reactions include: thumbs up, clap, yes, no, go slower, go faster, and more | Limited to: raise hand |
| Question & answer management | Up to hosts to manage questions and answers through standard features (e.g.: chat, hand raise nonverbal feedback, participant audio/video) | Dedicated Q&A tool to facilitate collecting questions (both publicly and anonymously) as well as prioritizing and responding |
Request an upgrade
If you are an instructor teaching a Registrar-listed class that has more than 300 students officially enrolled, you do not need to request an account upgrade, as Classroom Technologies will reach out to you to assess your needs and ensure you have the support you need for your class. If you have questions, please contact us.
If you need to run a webinar or large meeting temporarily (e.g. for a special, one-time event), you can request a temporary upgrade for a maximum of one week (7 days). There is currently no fee for this service and the turnaround time with OIT staff to process these requests is generally no more than 2 business days (that said, the more lead time you can provide, the better!), but the supply of these upgrades is also limited.
Request a temporary webinar or large capacity meeting upgrade
If you need a webinar or large meeting license for ongoing use, you can request the appropriate upgrade. There is an added cost (see table above for annual costs) and the turnaround time with Zoom to purchase these upgrades may be up to 2 weeks.