How to schedule a meeting without participating, meeting will last longer than 40 min

[ricardo2022flor]

Hi there,

Is it possible to schedule a meeting and invite participants to the meeting without being a participant ?

I need to schedule a meeting for 2 zooms users, without participating myself.

Also, I'm on the basic plan with zoom, this means any meeting I organize will have a limit of 40 min.

However, I anticipate the meeting lasting up to 1 hr.

What can I do ?

Should someone else set up the meeting ?  

In order for the meeting to last beyond 40 min, must the organizer have an upgraded account ?

thank you for any input

[WBinvestigator]

Hi! I'm not 100% sure if you can host a meeting for participants without joining it yourself, but here are some things to try when scheduling the meeting so that others can join without you:

• Under Security, make sure Waiting Room and Require authentication to join are NOT selected so that participants don't need your approval to join
• Under Options, select Allow participants to join any time. This may allow them to join before you, meaning they could join and have the meeting without you there to start it
• Under Options, add at least one participant as an Alternative Host. This may allow them to start the meeting without you as the host to start it

As for the 40 minute time limit, this page might be helpful. It includes FAQs and more details on the time limits and how to get around them. If your account is through an administrator, then they will need to change the time limit setting. If it is your personal account, then you'll need to upgrade your account for more time. To answer your questions - if you have the basic plan, then someone else should set up the meeting, because "the maximum meeting duration is determined by the license type of the original host of the meeting." So, the plan that the person who organizes the meeting has will determine the maximum amount of time allowed for the meeting.

I hope this is a little helpful!

[Ray_Harwood]

Hi, @ricardo2022flor,

It is possible to schedule a meeting that you do not attend, but this would require a paid account.  Any meeting that you schedule that is attended by anyone else will be subject to the 40 minute limit.

With a Pro, Business, Enterprise, or other paid account, @WBinvestigator correctly points out that an Alternative Host could be assigned to the meeting, but Alternative Hosts must be on the same organizational account as the person that schedules the meeting.  Two other approaches are possible:

• Scheduling Privilege: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362803-Scheduling-Privilege 
• Host key: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205172555-Using-your-host-key 

Both articles are a little technical, but they do go through the steps involved.  Both require paid accounts, and Scheduling Privilege does require cooperation of two people on the same account.  However, using the Host Key can be done with anyone you trust, whether or not they're on the same account -- but the Host Key shouldn't be given out unless needed, and probably should be changed regularly if you use this method.

Ray

[MarkusMattern]

Hello Ricardo, I would try to add an alternative moderator. This is a possible option in the meeting scheduling menu. I am not 100% sure, but this should allow someone else to be Host of your meeting. The option to allow others to join at any time should also be activated. 
I would do a quick test call to check the options. But this should be possible.

[JGB1234]

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202828525-Allow-participants-to-join-before-host  According to this zoom support page, yes, you can do this by selecting "Allow participants to join at any time"