The problem with public Zoom meetings and church services: Asshole trollers

As in Kenny from South Park? Either way, Kenny, you're a dick

aw man.. I manage a Zoom Corp account. and have done so for a few years (and few companies)

I HOPE these churches are paying for Zoom (well the host account is) because you get better security features, but here's some general tips that we sent out to our users.

1. Make sure passwords are enabled when creating a meeting (Administrators can force this)
2. Require a password for participants joining by phone
3. Enable Waiting rooms (Link to info)
4. Lock the meeting, once all participants have joined (any additional users will now need a passcode)
5. If you are having a large public meeting, turn off sharing.
6. Set the meeting to mute all participants (you can have people flag to ask a question), upon join

If you're an Zoom administrator (and you are reading this)

1. You can force all of the above items in Zoom's Admin portal (so users can't shut it off)
2. I'd also suggest turning on 2FA, and forcing people to login to Zoom to join your meeting. You can use Google or Facebook to authenticate, it'll help keep down on fraud.

I know some of the above is a bit obtrusive and prevents a bit of the openness of services, but in the digital age, it really is required.

An IT pro for nearly 30 years. IT always gets sucked into doing this so I'd like to make a suggestion tho:

I like Zoom. I do. It's great for video conferences and small to medium sized meetings. But something like a public meeting, I'm not entirely sure Zoom or GoToMeeting is the right tool for this. (especially what happened)

I'd like to suggest GoToWebinar, UStream, YouTube or some other livestream software. It's more of a 'one-way' broadcast. It's meant for the masses, nor really meant for two way communication (other than a 'chat window'). Some, such as GoToWebinar.. allow multiple speakers (think different people as apart of giving the service), but the masses would still "stream". Its all depends on the product and how much you want to spend. But it can be done.

You just need to think out of the box, and be prepared to spend a few bucks. I hate on MegaChurches like Joel Osteen's but they have been livestreaming their services for years and have it down pat. Sure they have the cash but there's cheaper alternatives too.

Edit: I've created a email alias, in case a church reads this and wants further info. I can't say I can help much, but happy to offer some limited advice/guidance.