Infuriating One Time Password Feature

[GITtoronto]

We are a small, not-for-profit educational institution using Zoom to run virtual classes and workshops. We have 3 Pro accounts, and run no more than 2 classes/workshops at a time - however, the classes & workshops are run by a faculty and guest speakers group of about 12-15 people, some of whom are international. 

We've recently been hit with the One Time Password feature roll out. No notice, no heads up, no time to prepare. 

Now, when anyone tries to log into one of our Pro accounts, they are asked for a One-Time-Password - despite logging in from regularly used devices/networks. A device seems to only be remembered for a couple of days at most - if at all. I was asked for OTP 3 times in 30 minutes on the same exact device and network.  

The 3 accounts are registered to our office staff emails, and our office staff are only in during regular business hours, while our classes and workshops take place almost exclusively outside of those hours. This means that either a) Instructors cannot log into Zoom and run their class/workshop at all or b) our office staff are required to work outside of regular hours to assist with logins. We cannot provide login info to those email accounts to our instructors, as they are active accounts used for sensitive & confidential communications. 

This has caused us delays in classes, and cancellations of workshops (huge financial loss for us - workshop presenter still needs to be paid per contract, all registrants of workshops have to be refunded their fees because we were unable to get Zoom up and running). 

I've searched the forums and saw one Zoom Support rep suggest to someone else to contact Zoom Support and request that the feature be disabled. I've done this - and after 2 days I finally got a response. The response was a condescending explanation of the OTP feature and links to info on OTP and 2FA. No actual solution. 

I'm starting to feel that this is less of a security feature, and more of a strong-arm move to extort users into buying licenses they don't actually need. If that's the case, then the plan is backfiring because in an attempt to get more money out of us, Zoom will likely lose our business altogether. 

Incredibly disappointing & frustrating. Especially in seeing so, SO many posts about this same issue. 

Looking into Zoom alternatives at this point because this is a deal-breaker. 

[NWSS_IT_Admin]

I'm coming to the same conclusion. This is a deliberate policy by Zoom to force its customers into buying more licenses. They are not interested in small fry like us (charities, small education institutions) - they want the big Corporates. So it's basically a kick in the teeth for the SMEs like us who got them where they are now. Zoom's share price dropped drastically in Q1 of this year, so now they have adopted a cynical (Bloomberg refers to it as "aggressive") sales policy and, sadly, the investors love it because Zoom's share price is creeping back up.

[Pepito142]

@GITtoronto have you tried to share your Host Key with the other teachers?  If the meeting is set to "Allow participants to join anytime" then, anyone with your Host Key can claim host without needing to sign-in into any zoom account.

Hope this helps

[ccpc]

Totally agree. I just submitted a request. I will see how they respond, but a snarky, condescending reply will end our working relationship with them. Definitely a money grab. There are many other companies one can choose.

[ACGL]

Did you get a response? was it snarky or helpful? I'm trying to get information about what qualifies for an exception and if any organization has actually gotten one.

[ccpc]

Yes. But, it was not helpful, basically more money.

[ACGL]

Would you mind sharing any of the alternatives that you've been looking at? I'm starting to research what services can work for my nonprofit since zoom doesn't seem like it can meet our needs anymore.

[devolver]

The "no notice or warning" is my favorite part. Completely disruptive to our business and scheduled meetings. Definitely has given us some pause to look into alternative providers.

[RevTara]

Has anyone tried claim host as a workaround? Sadly so far we haven’t found a zoom alternative for what we need. 

[PleinAirPainter]

Even more infuriating is when they send the passcode and it doesn't work!  Still get an "invalid passcode" message.  Sent the same passcode twice and both times it didn't work.  Finally sent a second one and it didn't work.