Controlling Meeting Access: Lobby, Waiting Rooms, and Passcodes

StretchMeet gives you several layers of control over who can enter a meeting. This article explains lobby modes, waiting rooms, and passcodes — and how to combine them for the right level of security.

The three access controls

1. Lobby mode — the overall entry policy for the room.
2. Waiting room — an on/off holding area where people wait until admitted.
3. Passcode — a secret code required to enter, especially for guests.

You set all three when creating or editing a meeting.

Lobby modes

Choose the lobby mode that matches how open the meeting should be:

• Open — anyone with the link can join directly. Best for public webinars and low-risk internal calls.
• Workspace — only signed-in members of your StretchSuite workspace can join. Great for internal-only meetings.
• Host approval — everyone waits until a host or co-host admits them. The safest default for client and external calls. (This is the default for new rooms.)
• Locked — no new participants can enter at all. Use this once everyone expected has arrived, or for a strictly private session.

Waiting rooms

When the waiting room is on, arriving participants land in a holding area instead of dropping straight into the call. A host admits them when ready. This prevents people from interrupting a conversation in progress and gives you a moment to confirm identities. The waiting room is on by default.

Passcodes

When passcode required is on, guests must enter the room's passcode to join. This is especially important for meetings that external guests can reach. Passcodes must be at least 4 characters.

• Set a passcode when creating or editing the room.
• Share it with attendees — ideally separately from the join link for stronger security.
• Guests joining a public room enter the passcode along with their name.

Set access options

1. Create or open a meeting and go to its access settings.
2. Pick a lobby mode.
3. Toggle the waiting room on or off.
4. Toggle passcode required, and set a passcode if enabled.
5. Save.

Recommended combinations

• Public webinar: Open lobby, waiting room off, passcode off (or on if you want to gate registrants).
• Internal team call: Workspace lobby, waiting room optional, passcode off.
• Client / external call: Host approval lobby, waiting room on, passcode on. (Recommended default.)
• Confidential session: Lock the room once everyone has joined.

A realistic example

A law firm runs a confidential strategy call with an external client. They create the room with host approval, waiting room on, and a passcode. They email the join link and text the passcode separately. As each person arrives, the host verifies who it is and admits them from the waiting room. Once all four expected attendees are in, the host locks the room so nobody else can enter, even with the link.

Tips

• Separate the link and the passcode. Sending them through different channels makes the meeting much harder to crash.
• Lock the room after everyone arrives for sensitive discussions.
• Use Workspace mode for internal calls to avoid managing passcodes for teammates.
• Change the passcode for recurring rooms periodically if the same code has been shared widely.

Troubleshooting

• "This room requires a passcode, but no guest passcode is configured." The room requires a passcode but none was set. Edit the room and add a passcode, or turn off passcode required.
• "The meeting passcode is invalid." The guest entered the wrong code. Re-share the current passcode and have them try again.
• Guests can't get past the waiting room. With host approval on, a host or co-host must admit them. Make sure someone with that role is present. See Hosting a Live Meeting.
• Someone joined who shouldn't have. If the lobby was open, switch to host approval or lock the room, and remove the participant (see Managing Participant Roles).

FAQ

What's the difference between a waiting room and host approval?
Host approval is the lobby policy that holds people until admitted; the waiting room is the actual holding area they wait in. They work together.

Can I require sign-in instead of a passcode?
Yes — use the Workspace lobby mode to restrict entry to signed-in workspace members.