Personal Audio Conference

Overview

A Zoom Personal Audio Conference (PAC) is used for audio-only conference calls. Although you can call into normal Zoom meetings, a regular Zoom meeting also comes with a visual component (camera feeds, shared screen content) and other features (reaction emojis, chat, breakout rooms, etc.) that you may not want.

  1. To enable the PAC feature on your Zoom account, visit the Tufts Zoom website and log in with your Tufts credentials.
  2. Click Personal Audio Conference in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click Enable personal audio conference.Option to enable personal audio conference
  4. Information will load about your PAC “Accounts” – each user gets TWO (2) accounts, with separate conference IDs, that can be used for audio conferencing. On this page, you can also manage participant passcodes and view your Host Key.Personal audio conference information page
  5. If you ever want to disable the PAC feature, click Disable Personal Audio Conference toward the bottom of the screen.
  1. Visit the Tufts Zoom website and log in with your Tufts credentials.
  2. Click Personal Audio Conference in the left-hand menu.
  3. Go to the PAC account you want to manage.
  4. For each account, you can do the following:
    • Add or Manage a Participant Passcode – Attendees will have to enter this passcode to get into the call.
      • In the Participant Passcode section, click Add.option to add passcode
      • Enter a six-digit numerical passcode.
      • Click Save.
      • Once the passcode is saved, you can click Show to view the passcode as necessary.
      • While the passcode is displayed, click Change to edit or remove the passcode.Option to change passcode
    • Add or Manage a Listen-Only Passcode – Attendees who enter this passcode can get into the meeting with listen-only privileges. They will not be able to unmute.
      • You must first have a participant passcode enabled for this account. If necessary, add a participant passcode by following the directions in the previous step.
      • In the Listen-Only Passcode section, click Add.
      • Enter a six-digit numerical passcode.
      • Click Save.
      • Once the passcode is saved, you can click Show to view the passcode as necessary.
      • While the passcode is displayed, click Change to edit or remove the passcode.
  1. Visit the Tufts Zoom website and log in with your Tufts credentials.
  2. Click Personal Audio Conference in the left-hand menu.
  3. Go to the PAC account you want to use.
  4. Click Copy Invitation For Participants. (Note: If you have enabled a Listen-Only Passcode for this account, you will also have the ability to Copy Invitation For Listen-Only Attendees.)Option to copy PAC info
  5. A window will open with conference invitation information. Click Copy Conference Invitation. The information will be copied to your clipboard.Option to copy conference invitation to clipboard
  6. Share the information with attendees via an Outlook calendar invite.Outlook invitation with PAC info included

When joining a Zoom PAC, you will always be connecting to audio over the phone. With that said, there is also an optional web interface that you can take advantage of that gives you a visual component for call management.

Joining by Phone Only

  1. On your phone, call the appropriate global dial-in number.
  2. When prompted, enter the Conference ID then pound (#).
  3. When prompted, enter the Host Key then pound (#).

Joining by Phone with Optional Web Interface

  1. Visit the Tufts Zoom website and log in with your Tufts credentials.
  2. Click Personal Audio Conference in the left-hand menu.
  3. Go to the PAC account you want to use.
  4. Click Start Conference.Option to start conference
  5. The optional web interface will launch, but you still need to join audio!!!PAC web interface
  6. To join audio, follow the prompts on the screen to “Join by phone” or have Zoom “Call Me.”
    • Join by phone – You call in to the conference.
      • Call one of the dial-in numbers.
      • When prompted, enter the Conference ID then pound (#).
      • When prompted, enter the Host Key then pound (#).
    • Call Me – You have Zoom call you.
      • Enter your phone number in the space provided.
      • Click Call Me. Zoom will call you at the provided number. Answer the call to connect audio.

As the host, if you initiated the call over the phone, you can use the dialpad on your phone to enter the following commands:

** to hear all of the commands

*4 to end the meeting

*5 to lock or unlock the meeting

*6 to mute or unmute yourself

*7 to start or stop the meeting recording

*# to hear how many participants are in the meeting

99 to mute or unmute all participants

If you initiated the call with the optional web interface, you will see options for managing the call and participants on your screen.

Web interface for PAC. Toolbar with meeting management options along bottom. Options for managing individual participants located on individual thumbnails.

 

If you have been invited to a PAC, the scheduler should have sent you all the information necessary to join. You join a PAC by connecting to audio over the phone. Depending on the information provided to you, you may also be to connect to an optional web interface. This web interface is not required, but can provide a helpful visual of the meeting.

Below is an example of what this PAC information might look like:

example of an invite to a PAC, with necessary information included

Joining by Phone Only

  1. On your phone, call the dial-in number.
  2. When prompted, enter the Conference ID then pound (#).
  3. When prompted, enter the passcode then pound (#). If no passcode was provided, just press pound (#).

Joining by Phone with Optional Web Interface

  1. On your computer, open your browser and navigate to the join URL provided by the scheduler.
  2. If you are asked, enter the passcode and click Join.
  3. The optional web interface will launch, but you still need to join audio!!!
  4. To join audio, follow the prompts on the screen to “Join by phone” or have Zoom “Call Me.”
    • Join by phone – You call in to the conference.
      • Call one of the dial-in numbers.
      • When prompted, enter the Conference ID then pound (#).
      • When prompted, enter the Passcode then pound (#). If no passcode was provided, just press pound (#).
    • Call Me – You have Zoom call you.
      • Enter your phone number in the space provided.
      • Click Call Me. Zoom will call you at the provided number.