Multiple People using the same account, can that cause problems? The specific situation is this:

[LaurelMoorhead]

I'm part of a nonprofit that allows various people enter the zoom account using the same password and user name. There is no specific administrator or different passwords for different people to enter.

Recently someone entered the zoom account and started a meeting. They were in the meeting but it was not acting like they were the host of the meeting. They could not see when new people were in the waiting room, waiting to join the meeting.

Is it possible that when I went into the account an hour before the meeting to create a different meeting on a different date, when I didn't sign out of the account after I was finished, could that have created a problem for the person starting the meeting?

I wasn't at the meeting with them so I am not certain what they experienced but they did say that they couldn't see all of the people in the waiting room, and so, could not let them in to start the meeting.

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @LaurelMoorhead.

Sharing the account credentials is a bad idea, and potentially in violation of Zoom's Terms of Service. Can you elaborate on your need for meeting initiation shared by many?  There are various ways of setting this up properly and safely, and with more information, I can give you the best information. 

[PacRidgeCap]

Did you ever provide an answer to the above question...?

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @PacRidgeCap.

I’m not sure which question you’re referring to, but here’s a summary of the points relevant to this thread:

• Sharing one Zoom Pro account among multiple people is both against Zoom TOS, and often problematic when dealing with logins and shared scheduling.
•  I’ve posted many responses in other threads about ways to let one person own and manage the account and meetings using the Host Key approach to allowing others to manage any meeting that the owner can’t attend.

[PacRidgeCap]

Thank you.  We have 1 pro account and two licensed users.  I was confusing who can do what..

[LaurelMoorhead]

The non-profit I'm referring to has no paid staff and in order to share the work load, many people schedule and start meetings. There is no real way for non-profits to limit themselves to a single person to do this, as it is too much of a burden on a single volunteer. 

I will let them know that they may be in violation of the Terms of Service but that may mean they will have to look for another platform to host their meetings.

This is very disappointing.

Just to be clear, I am not talking about my personal Zoom account, but I am talking about a nonprofit organization that I was trying to help out.

[JimOjeda]

Hi Laurel, the solution is actually a pretty simple one. You basically get a few of your volunteers to create their own free zoom accounts and then in your main one, under Users, add them as free users to your main account.

They'll get an email from zoom telling them they are being invited to join your organization's account. Tell them to accept the invitation.

Once they do, they will be added as users in your main account.

Then you make sure and jot down the Host Key, which is what you'll be able to share with them.

Then, in your Meeting Options, look for the section that says, "Waiting Room Options" and click on the "edit options" link below that.  In the section where it says "Who should go to the waiting room?", Select the one that says "Users Not In your Account".  That way, those who are logged into their zoom account and connect to the organization's zoom will be let in immediately into the main room and not be stuck in the waiting room.

Once in the main room, they can click the 3 dots where it says "more" and then click on the option that says something like "Claim Host with Host Key" or "Claim Host Role..." something like that. Just make sure they don't choose the one that says "Login as host" because with that option, the need to log into the main zoom account, which is the part that is against Zoom's TOS.

Once they've simply entered their host key, they are now hosts able to admit anyone who's waiting in the waiting room, share screen, and do anything a regular host can do.

With the Host Key, anyone can take the role of Host if there's no host yet in the meeting.

It's smooth and easy, just takes a little training.

Let me know if there's any way I can help you with this.

[ReVoice]

I have a similar issue though there are some differences:

• We are a small nonprofit that has used Zoom often for those that cannot attend meetings in person.
• The organization itself does not have an account.
• There are several of us in the NGO that are pro users and we provide meetings from our accounts when needed.
• Occasionally it's necessary that there be an "Alternate Host" as the account holder/scheduler cannot start the meeting that day.
• Now we have a problem, as the Zoom system does not allow someone to be assigned as an Alternate Host unless they are a user of the scheduler's account.
• Since all of our individual pro accounts are either personal or part of businesses that are not the NGO, we really can't add these people to our accounts

As an example, since my pro account is for my business and/or personal use, if I were to add any of the the NGO board as users to my account, wouldn't this create possible issues with my or my business's privacy if I were to use the steps you outlined?

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @ReVoice.

Your are correct: In your case, I would not recommend adding an external person to your business account.

For you – and others in this situation, where members of an organization, typically but not always nonprofit or NGO, use their personal or business accounts for an external organizations’s meeting – there is a solution, called the Host Key method.

See my response to this post for information about all of the ways to allow someone to schedule a meeting and have someone else Host it:

https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Meetings/Sharing-hosting-duties/m-p/183799
The Host Key method is mentioned there in some detail at the top, along with a Support article that has more details.

Setting this up requires precise adherence to the following:

• Meeting must require Passcode (technically speaking, it could instead require all attendees to be authenticated, that is, logged into a Zoom account, but this is problematic for most groups like yours)
• Meeting must not have Waiting Room enabled.
• Meeting must be set for Join Before Host, usually at the 15 Minutes before setting.
• Trusted individuals must know the Host Key and how to Claim Host.

Once you’ve done this a dozen times or so, it seems easy; the first couple of times might give people trouble if the process hasn’t been followed correctly. 

[ReVoice]

Thank you for you suggestions - I am concerned that this would not include the Waiting Room as we really need to continue with good security.

Earlier in this thread there was a post from JimOjeda  that may fit our needs better?

His approach includes using the Waiting Room with the Users Not In your Account option, adding the substitute host as a user in my account and supplying them with my Host Key.  After they login and claim the Host role, they would be able to let appropriate attendees in from the Waiting Room.

Is this an appropriate (and secure) method?  Does adding a few persons as Users in my account cause any issues?

[Ray_Harwood]

@ReVoice,

Sure, if you’d like to try that, it should work, but putting them on your account will Involve them having an extra account to manage, but sounds like it would work with a Basic/free account, so not any additional charge. But it seemed like you didn’t want to add people to your business account (even Basic users) due to possible security issues. 

Note that the requirement to disable Waiting Room only applies to the default action of having the Waiting Room disabled when initially joined. If early arrivers do not have the Host Key, and then someone with the Host Key arrives, you can establish/announce a process (so it’s not a surprise to attendees) that the Waiting Room is being enabled, then enable Waiting Room and send everyone (or only suspicious characters) out to the Waiting Room. Then admit them as appropriate. That gets around the dual account issue, if that’s problematic.