Someone registered and tried to join a meeting a month early

[LindaKelley]

If an attendee tries to join the meeting a month early, could he/she still be in the Waiting Room on the correct day?

Also, if an attendee registers twice, does he/she count as two participants if the host does not notice the duplication?

Thank you!

Linda

[Ray_Harwood · Accepted solution]

Registration from different email addresses well result in two registrations – but it’s not possible to register twice with the same email address.

 Anyone attempting to enter early with Waiting Room turned on will indeed land in a waiting room and potentially wait a long time. Not much different than real life going to a meeting room and nobody else shows up. The entry likely wait too long. 

[bonitz-at-NCSU]

Is it possible for me as a host to open a meeting early, then set it to mute/camera-off and let it run in the background?  I have a conflict for a meeting time, but I want others to be able to join the meeting and participate normally.

If so, how much earlier can I join my meeting?  30 minutes?  

Also, is there any way to assign co-host duties (or reassign as host) to someone NOT associated with my organization?  I'm pretty sure there is not.  But wanted to see if there is a workaround.  Attaching screenshot that says only people on the same Paid plan with the same account can be given schedule privilege and become co-host or host. 

By the way, I searched the Zoom Community for answer on these two questions before asking here.

Thank you!

[Bort]

Hi @bonitz-at-NCSU 

Yes, its entirely possible to start a scheduled meeting early and just let it run with your video and audio off. It might be a bit confusing though to see you there, but not have you actually respond. There is no limit to how far ahead you can start your meeting, but I would recommend doing so only 10 minutes ahead of time, especially if you are not a paid user. This just avoids your meeting closing due to being idle. 

If you know you won't be there and want to the meeting to continue with you, you can schedule it so that you don't actually have to be there to start the meeting. There are downsides, such as less security (no Waiting Room) and no one having host controls. This article has more info about how to set up a meeting as such: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8780304262157-Starting-a-meeting-without-the-host-present 

Beyond that, there isn't really an official way to give someone outside of your Zoom account alt-host or scheduling privileges. These options have a firm requirement for both users to be licensed and on the same account.

There is the possibility or sharing your host key (with someone you trust), which would give them the ability to claim your host role in a meeting when you are not there. This also has its risks, as the host key is essentially your personal PIN number for your meetings, and if it leaks, then anyone could wreak havoc in your meetings. You can always change your Host key afterwards. This other Community post has info about the host key workaround: Alternate Meeting Hosts 

Hope that helps and let us know if you have any further questions. 

[bonitz-at-NCSU]

Many thanks, Bort!   I'm thinking of replacing my profile photo with a JPG or PNG of text saying something like "Sorry I can't be here. Have a great meeting!"

I greatly appreciate you explaining the options and highlighting the risks.   Very helpful!

[Ray_Harwood]

Hey, @bonitz-at-NCSU,

I'm going to write an expanded answer to your question -- something that I hope will have value to many Zoom Community visitors who ask something like, "I can't be at a regularly scheduled meeting that I set up... how can the meeting proceed without me?"

There are several ways, but as you alluded to, as long as you believe that only authorized people will have access to the meeting link (therefore reducing the possibility of "Zoom-bombing"), you can set the meeting to have a Passcode, not use Waiting Rooms, and set Join Before Host to 15 minutes or less.  Then anyone with the Join link can join and meet... there just won't be anyone as the official Host.

There are ways to designate a Host.  If you’re interested in this, please view these Zoom Support articles for more information:

• https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/208220166-Designating-an-alternative-host 
• https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362803-Scheduling-privilege
• https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205172555-Using-your-host-key

I know the support articles can be a little detailed and tedious, but I hope they give you some direction.  Feel free to ask additional questions here.

(Update: Sorry, @Bort ... I had started an answer earlier and got distracted.  Good answer, sir!

[bonitz-at-NCSU]

Thanks @Ray_Hartwood!

Super helpful!  I appreciate that you see how others might be in a similar bind as me.  I did reach out to others on my team here within our paid account, and sadly all three of my teammates also have schedule conflicts.  So conventional host-delegation was not an option.

What a helpful community we have here.  So glad to discover this!

Thanks again,

John