ZOOM FAQs Meetings Waiting Room and Passcode Requirements, September 27, 2020

Overview

Starting September 27, Zoom will require that all meetings have a Passcode or a Waiting Room enabled for accounts with a single licensed user, Pro accounts with 2 or more licenses, and Business accounts with 10-100 licenses. For more information, contact your Customer Success Manager or Zoom support. You’re in control of your meeting security selections, and we have designed the options with security and ease of use in mind.

Note: Meeting passwords (passcodes) are already enforced for all free accounts. For Zoom for Government accounts with fewer than 100 licenses, Passcodes or Waiting Rooms will be required on December 13, 2020. 

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a Password and a Passcode?
As part of this change, we are making the distinction of calling the codes that are unique to your meetings “Passcodes” and will no longer be referring to them as “Passwords.” Passcodes are meant to be shared with your invited meeting participants along with the meeting ID for access.

“Passwords” will refer to your Zoom account login credentials. Best practice security guidelines tell users to never share passwords.

What if I don’t have a Waiting Room or Passcode enabled by September 27?
If neither is enabled, Zoom will enable a Waiting Room for your meetings.

How will this affect Zoom for Government customers?
Zoom for Government customers with fewer than 100 licenses will be required to have a Passcode or Waiting Room enabled on December 13, 2020. 

If I already have a Passcode or Waiting Room enabled, will anything change?
No, your settings will remain the same for your current selection. You or your administrator can change your security preference at any time.

How will this affect my calendar invitations when scheduling meetings?
If you already have a Passcode or Waiting Room on, there will be no change to how you schedule meetings.

If Passcodes are added to existing meetings, calendar invites need to be resent to include the Passcode. If Passcodes are added to new meetings, the Passcode will automatically be embedded into the meeting link (unless you have specifically disabled this feature)

Enabling Waiting Room for new or existing meetings does not affect calendar invitations.

What are Waiting Rooms and how do they work?
The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting by placing participants in a Waiting Room prior to joining the session. It is recommended that you review your Waiting Room selections and options for ‘join before host’ (not pictured) and which participants to place in the Waiting Room.

For a detailed overview of how to allow domains to bypass the Waiting Room and other Waiting Room features, please see this support article.

How do I enable Waiting Rooms or Passcodes?
Admins and users can log into their Zoom web portal and go into settings to enable a Passcode or Waiting Room at the account level.
If choosing to enable Passcodes on your account see this detailed support article. IMPORTANT: If you add Passcodes to an existing meeting, calendar invites will need to be resent to include the Passcode.
If choosing to enable Waiting Rooms on your account see this support article.

If choosing to enable Waiting Rooms at the meeting level, you can either start the meeting and use the in meeting security controls to enable a Waiting Room or if Waiting Rooms have been enabled on your account, edit the individual meeting to add a Waiting Room.

How will Passcodes affect participants joining the meeting via web, desktop or mobile client?
If you have selected Passcodes as your security method, a Passcode will be embedded into the meeting link automatically (unless you have specifically disabled this feature). With a single click, your meeting participants can join the meeting. If someone manually enters the meeting ID, they will also need to manually enter the Passcode.

How will Passcodes affect participants joining the meeting by phone?
Your security selection for meetings will not affect phone Passcode requirements unless you select “Require a Passcode when joining by phone.”

How will Waiting Rooms affect participants joining the meeting by phone?
For meetings with Waiting Rooms, participants will dial in as they normally do. They will hear a prompt that they are in the Waiting Room and the host will have to admit them.

How will Waiting Rooms affect the host joining the meeting by phone?
If the meeting has Waiting Rooms enabled and ‘join before host’ is disabled, then the host will be able to start the meeting and disable the Waiting Room by entering their host key. The host will hear audio prompts indicating that the Waiting Room has been disabled, all attendees will be admitted, and they can lock or unlock the meeting by pressing * 5.

How will Passcodes affect participants joining the meeting with Conference Room Connector (CRC)?
For SIP/H.323 devices managed by Conference Room Connector, if you’ve selected Passcodes, the Passcode is automatically embedded into the meeting information and one-touch join calendar meeting link (unless this feature is specifically disabled). Participants will see the meeting listed in the CRC and simply click to join.

For unmanaged SIP/H.323 devices as well as instant meetings, users will be prompted to enter the Passcode.

How will Waiting Rooms affect participants joining the meeting with a Conference Room Connector (CRC)?
If you’ve selected Waiting Rooms as your security method, participants joining the meeting via SIP/H.323 devices will be placed in the Waiting Room until you admit them. You can customize who is put in the Waiting Room in your settings.

How will Passcodes affect participants joining my meeting with Zoom Rooms?
If you’ve selected Passcodes - Zoom Rooms and controllers running versions 4.5.0 or higher that have calendar integration and “Bypass the Passcode when joining meetings from meeting list” enabled can join a meeting from the meeting list, without needing to manually enter the meeting Passcode.

If you’ve selected Passcodes and room participants join by entering the meeting ID, they will be asked for a Passcode before entering the meeting and will need to manually enter it.

How will Waiting Rooms affect participants joining my meeting with Zoom Rooms?
If you’ve selected Waiting Rooms as your security method, participants joining the meeting via Zoom Rooms will be placed in the Waiting Room until you admit them. You can customize who is put in the Waiting Room in your settings.

How do these changes affect Webinars?
There is no change with the September 27 release. Passcodes are already enabled by default for Webinars, but admins and users have the ability to disable passcodes for Webinars.

What happens if my administrator locks the Passcode for existing meetings?
For existing meetings, a Passcode will automatically be generated and applied to every meeting, and your existing invitations need to be resent to include the new Passcodes.

What happens if my administrator locks the Passcode for new meetings?
For new meetings, a Passcode will automatically be generated and applied to every new meeting and invitation.

What happens if my administrator locks the Waiting Room?
A Waiting Room will be added to all meetings. You will have to admit guests into the meeting from the Waiting Room. You can customize who is put in the Waiting Room in your settings, unless your administrator has locked that capability.

What happens if my administrator locks both Waiting Room and Passcode?
For existing meetings, a Passcode and Waiting Room will be enforced on all meetings. The Passcode will automatically be embedded into the meeting link, and existing invitations need to be resent to include the new Passcode. Meeting participants who cannot bypass the Waiting Room based on your settings will have to wait to be admitted into the meeting. You can customize who is put in the Waiting Room in your settings.

For new meetings, a Passcode and Waiting Room will be enforced on all meetings. The Passcode will automatically be embedded into the meeting link, and included in your meeting information. Meeting participants who cannot bypass the Waiting Room based on your settings will have to wait to be admitted into the meeting. You can customize who is put in the Waiting Room in your settings.

What happens if my admin locks a selection?
You cannot disable your admin’s selection. This feature has not changed.

Can I see which of my meetings have Waiting Rooms or Passcodes enabled?
Yes. Users can log into their web portal, and in the “Meetings” tab see a list of meetings that have been scheduled without a Passcode. This is indicated with a red warning icon.

How can I configure approved domains for the Waiting Room bypass feature?
Unless your admin has locked the Waiting Room settings, you can configure a list of approved domains, whose users can bypass the Waiting Room here.

For admins

Will my Passcode/Waiting Room selection affect all users?
Yes. You can define a default setting at the account or group level. This will impact new meetings for those users but they can still customize the setting on a user or meeting level. You can lock a setting if you'd like all future and previously scheduled meetings to have a particular setting. All meetings must have either a Passcode or Waiting Room, so if a meeting has neither, Zoom will enable a Waiting Room.

Can I see which meetings on my account currently have Waiting Rooms or Passcodes enabled?
Yes. Admins of paid accounts can find meetings that are scheduled without a Passcode by pulling the following report.

Can I lock my selection for all users? For only certain users?
Yes, you can lock at the account or group level. Note: if you are making a selection that you want to apply to all your users meetings, you must lock the setting.

What if I don’t lock my selection?
Users can change their settings to enable either Passcodes, Waiting Rooms, or both. All meetings must have a Passcode or Waiting Room enabled.

Will my Passcode/Waiting Room selection override my user’s previously selected option?
If a user has already selected a security option, no - unless you make a selection and lock the option. You must lock your security selection for it to apply to all meetings.

Does this document apply to LTI integrations?
Yes.