Last updated: May 12, 2022.
Want to keep your sessions secure and free from distractions? Follow these best practices below.
Restrict participant permissions
Limited permissions stop disruptive participants from doing anything you don’t want them to.
Create sessions with these participant permissions turned off:
- Audio: Participants can’t use their audio during the session when the Share audio check box is clear.
- Video: Participants can’t turn their video on during the session when the Share video check box is clear.
- Chat: Participants can’t post chat messages during the session when the Post chat messages check box is clear.
Tip: Optionally, you can filter out profanity in chat messages instead.
- Draw: Participants can’t edit the whiteboard or shared files when the Draw on whiteboard and files check box is clear.
Participant permissions are turned on and off for all participants. You can’t turn the permissions on or off for individual participants. If moderators want to give an individual participant more permissions during a session, they can promote the participant to a presenter.
More on the different role and their permissions
Participant permissions only apply to attendees assigned the participant role. By default, sessions have one moderator. Everybody else is a participant.
Have everyone join from a course
The most secure way to join a session is from a course.
Sessions in a course require attendees to sign into the course to access the session. The Learning Management System (LMS) authenticates the user and creates a unique session link that helps each session identify the user. Each link is associated with an individual session and a specific user in that session. This means that the link only works for that user in that moment. The link to join session can’t be used again or shared with another user. Session links expire after 5 minutes.
Limit invitations from Session Settings
Attention: You can’t send invitations from sessions in your courses.
If attendees can’t join from a course, invitations are the next best thing.
- Go to a session’s settings.
- Expand Invitations.
- Select Invite Attendee.
- Type the person’s name and email address.
Tip: Use the name the person will use when they join. - Optionally, assign the person the participant role and restrict participant access.
- Select Invite Attendee.
An email with a join link is sent to the address you typed. The invitation link only works for the intended attendee and won’t allow the invitee to enter a custom name.
Restrict guest access
Guest links are public links that anybody who has the link can use. For example, if you send the link to a student and they share the link, anybody they share the link with can join, and so on. If you want to keep your session secure, don’t use guest links. If you do decide to use guest links, make sure guests are assigned the participant role and restrict participant access.
You can also turn off guest access.
- From the scheduler find a session and select the Session Options.
- Select Edit settings.
- Clear the Guest access check box.
When guest access is off anybody with a guest link can no longer join your session.
Note: If you allow attendees to dial into a session, anonymous dial-in is still available. For a secure session don’t share the anonymous dial-in information. The anonymous dial-in information is only available to attendees when moderators share it with them. Attendees can join the session in their browser and use the dial-in information in the Session menu, which is secure. To learn more, see Collaborate teleconference.
Guest access on
Guest access off