May 2020: Passcode and security settings in zoom App

Our default passcode settings for all Zoom accounts have been updated to provide additional security and privacy. To participate in upcoming Zoom meetings and webinars, passcodes will be required. Moreover, we will be making the following changes in addition to the passcodes:

• In all account types, the Personal Meeting ID will have a Waiting Room enabled by default.
• Basic accounts will have screen sharing set to ‘Host only.

All free/basic accounts will be affected by these changes starting May 9th, 2020. We are currently evaluating the account strategies for Pro, API, Business, Education, and Enterprise accounts. (Previously, the effect was to take place on May 30th, 2020. Based on customer feedback, we are delaying this and re-evaluating.) 

Changes to settings

Passcodes for Meetings and Webinars

All meetings will be subject to the following settings as part of the passcode changes. As a result of this change, all settings on the web portal will be removed, and these settings will become a mandatory setting when scheduling:

• PMI (Personal Meeting ID) requires a passcode
• Each time a meeting is scheduled
• If instant meetings are to be held
• Participants must enter a passcode
• That will allow instant control over the Zoom Room

There is still the option for the host to set the passcode or to have it generated at random by the system. In this way, unwanted participants will not be able to join your meeting or webinar.

Before this change takes effect, we recommend that if you haven’t already set passcodes for your current meetings or webinars, you should cancel the existing meeting. After this, you should schedule a new meeting and resend the invite to your participants.

The user will always be prompted to enter the passcode when manually entering a meeting/webinar ID. If participants click on the meeting/webinar link, they won’t be prompted to inputde a passcode when they join the meeting. Zoom embeds the passcode into meeting/webinar links by default. The setting Embed passcode in-meeting link for one-click join can be disabled by disabling Embed passcode in-meeting link for one-click join in the account, group, or user settings.

Screen sharing

By default, screen sharing will be set to host only for free accounts when they create an account. This will ensure the security of the meeting and ensure the meeting will run smoothly. As a host, you can still allow participants to share their screens from the meeting controls, or from the web portal, if you want to change the default behavior. If you want to change the default behavior, you should leave sharing to the host only.

Waiting Room

For Personal Meeting rooms (PMI), Zoom enables the Waiting Room feature by default. Hosts can control when participants join a meeting by using the Waiting Room. Using the Waiting Room in Zoom gives you the option of admitting participants individually or all at once, so you can control who enters your meeting. If a link is shared outside of the intended participants, you should strongly consider enabling this feature to secure your meetings against unwanted participants. Click here to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Participants in my meetings will be affected by this?
Participants will not be affected by this change if they choose to join the meeting or webinar by clicking the meeting or webinar link that contains the meeting passcode. This is because the updated invitation contains a meeting passcode, and the new invitation is sent through the desktop calendar integration. In order to join this meeting, participants have to manually enter the meeting ID followed by the passcode, just as they entered the meeting ID.

In my role as host or alternative host, how can I obtain the meeting passcode?
In my role as host or alternative host, how can I obtain the meeting passcode? On the meeting details page itself, the passcode will also be displayed (accessible only by those hosting the meeting). After the meeting is assigned to an alternate host, the URL to join the meeting, as well as the invitation to attend, includes the passcode.

In the participant controls section of the Zoom Client, the passcode is displayed in the invite section.

My meeting passcode is not appearing. What do I do?
In your invitation, the host will include the passcode. If the host wants it embedded, the join link will also contain the passcode.

There may not be a passcode included in the invitation. Therefore, if that is the case, please contact the host for any updated information, or if you need a passcode.

Would it be possible to apply the updated passcode before my existing meetings take place, so that I can apply it in advance?
Your existing meetings can be edited and passcodes added before a change is made, and you can edit them before the change is made. Additionally, if you do not have a passcode for the Personal Meeting Room, you must do the same. You will then have fewer scheduled meetings after the change. Find out how to add passcodes to webinars and meetings.

If you use Personal Audio Conferences (PAC), you will need to do the same thing for those as well. Please click this link to find out more about adding PAC meeting passcodes.

Will I be able to register my existingoming meetings in advance for the updated passcodes before this change happens?
You can add a passcode when you schedule a meeting or webinar or create new meeting. The passcode set when scheduling the meeting will still be used if the meeting is rescheduled after the change has been made. See Meeting Scheduling for more information.

Do I need to make any changes to my Zoom Rooms?
The Zoom Room (software-based conference room system) automatically detects a meeting passcode in a calendar invitation when joining a paid account that utilizes Zoom Rooms. The meeting passcode is required if participants join from an older Zoom Room version or enter the meeting ID manually. When participants are entering the meeting ID manually through Zoom Room as well as when starting an instant meeting, a participant must provide a passcode.

Participants who dial in by phone will be affected in what way?
To join a meeting using a phone, participants will need to enter a numeric passcode.

There is a passcode to use for participants who join via phone for scheduled meetings, including meetings using personal meeting IDs (PMI) and personal audio conferences (PAC). Please find the numeric passcode within the meeting invitation for participants who join via phone.

The phone passcode will be in the dial-in information in the phone call tab of the Join Audio option when users join scheduled meetings from the Zoom client by clicking the join link and choosing to participate via phone for audio. You must enter the passcode followed by # during the audio prompts.

The host will have to send the phone passcode to participants for instant meetings using your PAC account or PMI. We recommend retrieving the passcode by clicking the link that says “copy invitation for participants” in the section of your account that is named Personal Audio Conferencing, and you can also do so through the Meetings tab within the Personal Meeting Room section of your account.

In what ways will this affect Cisco and Polycom’s Conference Room Connector and Zoom Connector’s support for SIP H.323/SIP?
Devices which are integrated with Zoom Connector for Cisco and Polycom will be able to detect the meeting passcode when the invitation is sent. They will automatically enter it when joining the meeting. For Zoom meeting participants dialing into the meeting manually by using a H.323 or SIP device, the passcode should be either included in the dial string or entered manually after dialing into the Zoom meeting. There will also be passcodes set for these instant meetings if the Polycom/Cisco room connector is used to start an instant meeting from an H.323/SIP endpoint.

What effect will this have on my participants’ screen sharing?
Screen sharing is enabled by default for free accounts, but can be disabled completely or enabled for participants only. When a paid account is used a paid account will keep its current screen sharing settings.

Which integrations will be affected by this change?
The ability to disable passcode settings within account settings has been removed, so meetings that were previously scheduled will require a passcode to join. Participants will not be able to join a meeting without a passcode, even if the host launches the meeting with the start_url. We have posted a developer blog post regarding how this change will affect APIs, Web SDKs, and Chatbots/Marketplaces and what needs to be done to keep integrations working.