Bring your experiences to life—anywhere in the world—with Xola’s Zoom integration. Whether you're offering virtual tours, classes, or workshops, this integration makes it effortless to connect with guests online. Once your Zoom account is linked with Xola, meeting links are automatically created for each reservation, and clear, step-by-step joining instructions are delivered in confirmation and reminder emails. It’s a seamless setup that helps you deliver polished, professional, and engaging online experiences—without the hassle.
What's covered in this article:
How to Get Started
Install the Zoom Integration
- Navigate to the Xola App Store.
- Search for Zoom and select the app.
- Click Install and agree to the terms and conditions.
Authorize Your Zoom Account
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- Authorize the Integration by clicking on Authorize.
- A new window will appear prompting you to sign in to your Zoom account.
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Once authorized, you'll be redirected back to Xola, confirming the successful setup.
Set Up a Virtual Experience
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Go to Products> Experiences> Create New Experience
- To learn more about how to create an experience, click here.
- Under the Title, toggle on 'This is an online experience'
- You will set up the experience as normal, but will not be required to put a meeting location in order to save the experience.
- Click Save.
Note: You can also set up existing experiences as Online Experiences by clicking on Edit and toggling on 'This is an online experience' under the Title.
Configure Virtual Meeting Settings
On the left-hand side of the Experience nce set up, go to Virtual Meetings, you will be able to set your settings for your Virtual Meeting:
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Doors Open: Set the time before the scheduled start when the meeting will open for guests to join.
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Doors Closed: Specify the time after which late guests are not permitted to join the Virtual experience.
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Payment:
- If Disabled: You do not require full payment to allow customers to join the meeting
- If Enabled: You require full payment to allow customers to join the meeting. Customers will be redirected to the payment screen in order to complete payment when they try to log in for an experience.
Set Up Zoom Users as Equipment
Now that you have linked your Zoom account, with Xola and created your experiences, you can now link your Zoom users with your Equipment Management in order to not overbook your employees who will be running the virtual experiences.
- Go to Settings> Apps> Zoom> Configure
- Here you will see a list of all User on your Zoom account.
- Next to their name, you can choose for them to be linked to an existing piece of equipment, or become a new piece of equipment.
- If you select Create New Equipment, it will automatically add them to your Equipment Management. To view this, go to Resources> Equipment Management. You will now notice a blue Managed by Zoom logo next to the new piece of equipment.
- From here click Edit, you can edit your equipment as normal. You will need to also add the experience that this user will be able to run.
To learn more about how Equipment Management works, and tips on how to set it up, please click here.
How it Works
Customer Reservation Experience
When a customer visits your website and selects an online experience, they’ll see it labeled clearly in the experience’s Excerpt. As they proceed through the standard checkout flow, available time slots will appear in their local timezone—automatically detected via their browser—displayed in blue just below the time options.
After completing a reservation:
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The customer will receive a confirmation email that includes the Zoom meeting link and instructions based on your configured meeting settings (e.g., how early to join).
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A reminder email will also be sent with the Zoom link.
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If a guide is assigned to the time slot, they’ll receive the meeting link as well.
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Your account's primary email will also be notified with the meeting details.
Back Office Reservation
If you’re reserving an online experience on behalf of a customer:
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Click the green Make a Purchase button in Xola.
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Select the applicable Experience.
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Enter the number of guests.
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Enter the guest's city and state (in that order) to populate their location via the dropdown—this sets the appropriate timezone.
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Choose whether to view times in your timezone or the customer’s.
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Select a time and complete the reservation as usual.
In the Purchases tab, you’ll see all standard reservation details, plus the timezone in which the reservation was made. All emails sent to the guest will reference this timezone.
Starting the Zoom Meeting
You can start a Zoom meeting directly from your Dashboard in multiple calendar views:
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List View: A “Start Online Experience” button will appear at the top of the Roster when the event is ready to begin.
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Day & Week Views: Click the event’s timeslot and then select Start Meeting.
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Month View: Navigate similarly to the desired reservation and launch the meeting.
If you need to change the meeting link (e.g., to update credentials), click the icon next to the “Online Experience” label at the top of the Roster.
Guest Experience Upon Joining
When a customer clicks their Zoom link:
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If the reservation is valid and all conditions are met, they’ll be redirected to the Zoom meeting.
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If not, they’ll be shown a clear explanation of why the meeting cannot be started—such as trying to join too early or after a cancellation.
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If it’s too early to join, Xola will display how much time remains until the event starts.
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If the reservation has been canceled, they’ll see a message saying, "Your reservation has been canceled."
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- If a balance is due, the guest will be prompted to pay before entering the Zoom room. Once payment is complete, they can return to the meeting screen and click Payment Complete to join.
Tips for Success
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Test Your Setup: Before hosting your first virtual experience, conduct a test meeting to familiarize yourself with the Zoom interface and ensure all settings are configured correctly.
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Communicate with Guests: Clearly communicate any technical requirements or expectations to your guests in advance, ensuring they are prepared for the virtual experience.
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Monitor Guest Participation: During the meeting, actively monitor guest participation and engagement to provide a high-quality experience.
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Stay Updated: Regularly check for updates to the Zoom integration to take advantage of new features and improvements.