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mmuller
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April 11, 2023
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Multiple Hosts in an Account?

  • April 11, 2023
  • 2 replies
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Hello all, I have a Zoom account for my business, and I'm also the president of the board for a non-profit, who also has a Zoom account.

 

Is it possible to have my login set up as an additional host on the board account, or do I have to log in with the board account? If so, will that prevent the director who uses that login from joining meetings?

 

I've been looking but can't find any info or articles on that topic.

 

Thanks

Best answer by Ray_Harwood

Thanks for the info, @mmuller.

 

If hosting the meeting in your coordinator's absence is your primary need, you can use the Host Key method.  It's pretty simple, but has a few requirements. This Zoom Support document has the details, including how to customize the key (Zoom creates a random key to start):

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205172555-Using-your-host-key 

 

This approach will only work if the meeting is set up with Waiting Room disabled, and Join before host enabled.  With this combination of settings, anyone can enter the room (you can set how much time before the scheduled meeting the room can be entered (I recommend setting to 15 minutes if having conversations among early arrivers is a good thing, or 5 minutes if you need to restrict conversation.

 

At that point, you can join the meeting, and if the host has not yet started/joined the meeting, you have the option to "Claim Host" as described in the support document... basically clicking on Claim Host on the Participant panel and entering the Host Key.  Voila - you're the host!  If/when the coordinator joins, they have the option to reclaim Host, or remain as Co-Host.

 

If security of your meeting is an issue, either of you can enable the Waiting Room, and if there's someone that shouldn't be in the room yet, a Host can move anyone into the Waiting Room at any time (when it's enabled).

 

I do recommend changing the Host Key "regularly", like once a quarter if you two are the only ones with access to it, or once a month if you make the decision to share it with another (trusted) member of your organization.

 

That's the simplest method... but to your point about adding you as and admin:  the non-profit admin can add your existing business account as an "external account" and assign you admin rights.  This gives you additional capability to assist in managing the non-profit's account, but also has some additional "hoops" to jump through.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/6583246047117-Managing-and-delegating-account-administration

(Ignore the reference to SDK accounts.)

2 replies

Ray_Harwood
Community Super Champion | Customer
Ray_Harwood
Community Super Champion | Customer
April 11, 2023

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @mmuller.

There are ways to access multiple accounts, and the method used depends a lot on what you’re trying to accomplish. First, let’s be clear:

  • Sharing an account by sharing login credentials is against Zoom’s Terms of Service.

Second, unless your nonprofit provides accounts for many people, there’s no magic to holding a meeting on the nonprofit account versus on your business account. If you are an employee, maybe your employer discourages or prohibits using your account for non-business purposes, but if you’re the owner of a small business or not otherwise prevented, there’s no real reason to put yourself in the position of having to manage multiple accounts you use. 

 

A couple of questions for you:

  • Someone is the owner for the nonprofit’s account; is that you, or another user?
  • What do you need to do on behalf of the nonprofit’s account?
  • How many users are in the nonprofit account? Most of the time, there’s just one user on the organizational account.

With some insight into what you need, I can provide more detailed guidance.

 

I manage accounts and provide services to several clients who have their own Zoom organizational accounts; there’s always a little bit of extra effort required to “change gears” when working on their accounts, but there are some relatively easy ways without paying for an extra account. 

 

M
Newcomer
mmullerAuthor
Newcomer
April 11, 2023

Hi Ray,

 

My business account has the one login, and it's working fine.

 

The non-profit has a coordinator who logs in with the one login we have.  However, sometimes she's late for a board meeting in which case I need to be able to open the room and admit people. I don't want to log in as the coordinator. I'd prefer to use my own business login as an admin.

 

After posting the message, above, I did some more digging into the actual MY Account page and found Admins. My guess is Owners own the account, and Admins have room rights? Should she just add me as an admin to the non-profit account?

Ray_Harwood
Community Super Champion | Customer
Ray_HarwoodAnswer
Community Super Champion | Customer
April 11, 2023

Thanks for the info, @mmuller.

 

If hosting the meeting in your coordinator's absence is your primary need, you can use the Host Key method.  It's pretty simple, but has a few requirements. This Zoom Support document has the details, including how to customize the key (Zoom creates a random key to start):

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205172555-Using-your-host-key 

 

This approach will only work if the meeting is set up with Waiting Room disabled, and Join before host enabled.  With this combination of settings, anyone can enter the room (you can set how much time before the scheduled meeting the room can be entered (I recommend setting to 15 minutes if having conversations among early arrivers is a good thing, or 5 minutes if you need to restrict conversation.

 

At that point, you can join the meeting, and if the host has not yet started/joined the meeting, you have the option to "Claim Host" as described in the support document... basically clicking on Claim Host on the Participant panel and entering the Host Key.  Voila - you're the host!  If/when the coordinator joins, they have the option to reclaim Host, or remain as Co-Host.

 

If security of your meeting is an issue, either of you can enable the Waiting Room, and if there's someone that shouldn't be in the room yet, a Host can move anyone into the Waiting Room at any time (when it's enabled).

 

I do recommend changing the Host Key "regularly", like once a quarter if you two are the only ones with access to it, or once a month if you make the decision to share it with another (trusted) member of your organization.

 

That's the simplest method... but to your point about adding you as and admin:  the non-profit admin can add your existing business account as an "external account" and assign you admin rights.  This gives you additional capability to assist in managing the non-profit's account, but also has some additional "hoops" to jump through.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/6583246047117-Managing-and-delegating-account-administration

(Ignore the reference to SDK accounts.)

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