Why does zoom automatically answer calls on my phone?

[officialgallons]

It's been happening to me for some time that the zoom app on my android phone automatically answers incoming zoom calls. Is there any setting to change to avoid this problem?

[FORE-Craig]

Hi @officialgallons 

I'm not quite clear on what you mean by "automatically answers". If you don't want it to ring on your Android, you can just log out of the app. There was a recent change made in the system to allow you to break out which devices (desktop app, mobile app, appliance app, desk phone) ring when a call comes in. You can configure that on the Zoom web portal under Personal > Phone > Settings (https://zoom.us/pbx/page/telephone/myZoomTelephony#/my-cloud-phone/settings), then look for Call Handling.

I hope that helps!

[officialgallons]

Hi, thanks for reply.

By "auto answer" I mean that the mobile phone answers the call without any user intervention.

[FORE-Craig]

Hi @officialgallons 

Interesting! Is the call coming in and being answered in the Zoom Phone app interface automatically, or by the Android's native phone interface?

[officialgallons]

Zoom phone app interface but the problem seems not occurred every times but sometimes. Tomorrow I'll record a video and then attach the file to this thread. 

[FORE-Craig]

Hi @officialgallons 

That's so odd. I don't have an Android. Are there any new options in the Zoom app for Android that relate to it? Recording a video would be a good idea! I would also note if it happens when the phone is locked versus unlocked, and if the app is onscreen or not. 

In any case, I would suggest submitting a support request at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/requests/new.

[enielsen]

One other possibility is that something else on your phone is interacting with the zoom app to autoanswer. I had one user with an app that was some kind of game enhancing tool and it messed up the zoom app call notifications though not to the point of auto-answering.

[officialgallons]

From further investigation it seems that the automatic answer only happens if the phone is connected to the bluetooth headphones. I'm doing further tests to be sure of this.

[FORE-Craig]

I'm happy that you figured it out!

[jlrthegoatadmin]

This is it for sure. This happened to me before with a Bluetooth headset. The headset settings had an option for auto answering, but some Android phones also have a setting to auto answer when a Bluetooth headset is attached. Check both for the setting.

[officialgallons]

The mystery thickens. When the user receives a call, the phone is idle with the screen off. The screen turns on, auto answer is activated and the call is put on mute. Before proceeding with further investigation, I am updating the Epos software of the headphones and installing Android 13 on the smartphone. Next Tuesday I'll do a test with all the updated environment. I can't attach the video because only photos are allowed.

[formmeister]

Did you ever work out what was causing this? I seem to have the same issue and no setting on my phone, in Zoom, or the companion app for my headphones seems to exist.

[jlrthegoatadmin]

The user had a setting on their phone that automatically picked up calls if they had a bluetooth headset connected. Once they deactivated that setting the problem was gone.

[formmeister]

OK, thanks. I know that is an option on some Androids, but it does not exist on Pixel devices.

[jlrthegoatadmin]

Man, that's super weird. Try connecting a bluetooth headset. Maybe the option only shows if a bluetooth headset is connected?

[formmeister]

Haha, yeh, it is a bit weird but not all that surprising. Pixel phones are generally stripped of a lot of stuff that other Android manufacturers add. I was doing it with the headset connected. Fortunately, I think I have resolved it, though I am not totally sure how. The only other thing I found said that 3rd party apps might be interfering so I removed Phone permissions from an app that did not seem to need them (ESPN) and now I am no longer having calls auto-answered. Yay! Thanks for the prompt responses though!