Can I ask a question to people in the Zoom waiting room and get a reply back?

Question

Is it possible to ask a question to people in the Zoom waiting room and get a reply back? It seems the chat is only one way. Indeed I can see trouble with trolls having unlimited chat options but this makes it difficult to usefully use the Zoom waiting room since it gives no way to actually test whether the participant should be allowed in. I would like to allow anyone in who can answer a simple question that only appropriate guests would know.

(See for example Answer: Avoiding "Zoom bombing" in virtual conferences and seminars)

Answer 1

As of version 5.8, yes, you have this option for your waiting room:

1. Go to your settings
2. Make sure Waiting Room is enabled
3. Under "Waiting Room Options", click on "Edit Options"
4. Select "Allow participants in the waiting room to reply to hosts and co-hosts"

Note that this may force people who aren't using the web client to upgrade to join your meeting.

Answer 2

As per the Zoom help center, only the host is able to send a message to all participants in the waiting room. It is not possible for individual participants in the waiting room to send a message to the host.

This was also clarified in an unofficial documentation:

Note: Participants in a Waiting Room cannot send messages back to the host.

One alternative you may consider is to have the main session inside a breakout room and only assign eligible participants to enter the breakout room. However, it will require a host to be outside of the main session to facilitate the entry of participants.

Answer 3

In The zoom help center, no you can only Chat to participants in the meeting not the waiting room.