Tech Forum

Zoom Alternative Host

The alternative host feature can only be used with other Church-provided Zoom accounts due to limitations. Local units wanting to provide individuals without access to the Church-provided Zoom account the ability to start scheduled meetings as the host can consider using the Zoom host key.
The following must be done to use the host key to start a meeting as the host:
- Meeting must be setup to:
o Allow participants to join anytime
o Waiting room must be disabled
- Host key must be shared with appropriate individual(s) and claimed as outlined in this article.
After an individual has claimed the meeting using the host key, they can enable the waiting room if desired for added security. If the host key is used to claim meetings, it is encouraged local units periodically change the host key to improve security and reduce potential issues.

I believe there's a setting to limit how long before the meeting that people can join.

I'd suggest using that to limit the "unsupervised time" in the absence of any leaders.

russellhltn wrote:I believe there's a setting to limit how long before the meeting that people can join.

I'd suggest using that to limit the "unsupervised time" in the absence of any leaders.

When this is in place the host key cannot be used to claim he meeting.
These are excellent suggestions, of course, if the host key is not being used, or once the meeting is under control of a host.

lajackson wrote:

russellhltn wrote:I believe there's a setting to limit how long before the meeting that people can join.

I'd suggest using that to limit the "unsupervised time" in the absence of any leaders.

When this is in place the host key cannot be used to claim he meeting.
These are excellent suggestions, of course, if the host key is not being used, or once the meeting is under control of a host.

I would have to check again but I'm pretty sure that I was able to claim host during the pre-meeting time
the gotcha is that the claim host is not available if there is already a host in the meeting

lajackson wrote:When this is in place the host key cannot be used to claim he meeting.

I'm puzzled. I understand that the meeting has to be open to all, because it's only after they join the meeting that a leader can use the host key to assume control. As such, you can't have any settings that prevent users from being able to join the meeting without host intervention.

My suggested setting only prevents people from joining the meeting hours/days ahead of time. It's kind of like leaving the chapel unlocked and unsupervised. You have no idea what might happen in there. The suggested setting keep the building locked until a little before the scheduled meeting time. The leader wouldn't be able to do anything before the doors unlock, but after that, I don't think there would be a problem.

russellhltn wrote:I understand that the meeting has to be open to all, because it's only after they join the meeting that a leader can use the host key to assume control.

Perhaps it has changed, but I was never able to claim control using the host key if there was any kind of restriction on when the meeting could be joined. I thought it was a Zoom thing, but maybe something else was happening behind the scenes that kept me from doing it. Or maybe it has changed.

lajackson wrote:Perhaps it has changed, but I was never able to claim control using the host key if there was any kind of restriction on when the meeting could be joined. I thought it was a Zoom thing, but maybe something else was happening behind the scenes that kept me from doing it. Or maybe it has changed.

Sounds like something that would need to be directed at zoom support.

I have been using an alternate host in Zoom for several months for a couple of different meetings by utilizing the host key to allow someone to claim the host of the meeting. However, recently that option has been disabled. In looking through the settings, it looks like it has been locked in the disabled position by admin. Is there anyway to get this option enabled on our account?

khansen188 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 11:00 am I have been using an alternate host in Zoom for several months for a couple of different meetings by utilizing the host key to allow someone to claim the host of the meeting. However, recently that option has been disabled. In looking through the settings, it looks like it has been locked in the disabled position by admin. Is there anyway to get this option enabled on our account?

I just tried it today (8/22/2024) and it worked without any problems.