Quizbowl tournaments played over Zoom are similar to classes and other virtual meetings held on Zoom. Players, coaches and tournament staff join a Zoom meeting set up by the tournament director. They’ll be assigned to breakout rooms where the matches take place. After each match, they’re moved back into the main meeting room to wait for assignment to the next match.
In a Zoom tournament, everyone connects via audio and video. Moderators read questions just like in-person quizbowl matches. Players will use the chat feature in Zoom to type “buzz” to buzz in. They can collaborate via voice or text on bonuses.
Because Zoom’s chat notifications aren’t very noticeable, some Zoom tournaments have players say “buzz” at the same time as they type “buzz” (the text being the official buzz). Other Zoom tournaments use a separate online buzzer system such as buzzin.live for buzzing.