Zoom account support - reconfiguration

The letter that came from the Church said this about the Zoom Account that would be created:

a Church-provided Zoom license can be requested that:
• Can be shared within a unit.
• Can host two concurrent meetings.
• Does not limit meeting duration.
• Can be used for both interactive and noninteractive meetings

One of the wards in my stake such a Zoom account. It was apparently created by changing something in the old account that they had. It is configured as a "Basic" (i.e. free?) account with up to 500 attendees and a 40-minute time limit.

It also requires a passcode.

The ward would like it to be an account as advertised above - especially removing the limit to meeting duration. They would also like to be able to remove the requirement for a passcode for at least some meetings, but that is currently locked by an administrator.

The Church does not have support for these Zoom accounts. How do I rectify this situation?

Rick Winterton
Midland Michigan Stake
Stake Technology Specialist

Go to meet.churchofjesuschrist.org, and create the account.

At the point, I'd advise against trying to upgrade their existing account - too many have come back and reported problems with the process. I'd also suggest you create an email to use with the account, rather than trying to use someone's personal account. At some point that person is going to move on, perhaps sooner than expected. Currently, I'm not seeing a authorized process for moving the Zoom account to a different email without breaking the license.

Rick.Winterton wrote:They would also like to be able to remove the requirement for a passcode for at least some meetings, but that is currently locked by an administrator.

Having a passcode is best practice. There have been countless incidents of Zoom meetings being joined by individuals with malicious intent just by guessing the meeting number. If it were a webinar it wouldn't matter as much since they couldn't do anything, but still not the best route. They could make the passcode as simple as "1234" or the name of the ward though. The link in the meeting invitation contains the passcode in a hashed format so just sending the link out would also connect directly to the meeting without a passcode.

Thanks for the suggestion. I deleted the old account and recreated an account using a new email address.

Rick Winterton

New STS here... Can someone point me to the handbook / instructions / directions for administering the Zoom accounts for Wards?

Thanks!

dtavres wrote:New STS here... Can someone point me to the handbook / instructions / directions for administering the Zoom accounts for Wards?

This is all too new for any of that. All you've got in a letter announcing the availability of such licenses. As far as "administering": you create the license, hand over the credentials, and answer any questions.

In theory, you could upgrade an existing license they have, but there seems to be a lot of pitfalls with that. Especially if they have more than one login associated with the license. I'd suggest going over the various zoom threads to get an idea.

russellhltn wrote:This is all too new for any of that. All you've got in a letter announcing the availability of such licenses. As far as "administering": you create the license, hand over the credentials, and answer any questions.

Thanks... Am I correct in guessing that the "https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org/" page is where you grant / edit the licenses? I'm still getting "Authorization failed", but I'm guessing that's because MLS has not updated yet. The Stake President updated my record and it shows the STS calling, but I don't have access yet. I'm guessing a day or two, and the data should sync in MLS.

Am I correct in guessing that the "https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org/" page is where you grant / edit the licenses?

That is a "yes", that is correct.

The Stake President updated my record and it shows the STS calling, but I don't have access yet.

It shouldn't take more than an hour - usually much less time than that - especially if they go to https://lcr.churchofjesuschrist.org/ and make the change there. If they do it in MLS (can you still do that?), they have to do a "Send/Receive Changes", and it might take until the next day.

dtavres wrote:Am I correct in guessing that the "https://meet.churchofjesuschrist.org/" page is where you grant / edit the licenses?

Try incognito mode. Church websites have a lot of problems with stale cookies.

As far as "meet" is concerned, it should know about your new calling right away, as long as they recorded you as a standard position. Note that "assistant technical specialist" will NOT have access, only "Stake Assistant Clerk--Technology Specialist". You might want to verify your calling in the directory or member tools.

I was recently added as an STS, access to the webcast site was pretty quick but it took until the next day for access to meet and TM to recognize the new calling

kd7mha wrote:I was recently added as an STS, access to the webcast site was pretty quick but it took until the next day for access to meet and TM to recognize the new calling

Right, some rights will take a day, but my understanding is that the "meet" update is very fast. Presumably it checks the main database instead of a cached copy.

russellhltn wrote:Right, some rights will take a day, but my understanding is that the "meet" update is very fast. Presumably it checks the main database instead of a cached copy.

That site has access to check callings in real time.

I am in a similar situation - our stake technology specialist will be released shortly and the stake presidency is praying for inspiration on the new one. In the meanwhile I (High counsellor and stake executive secretary) am taking care of most of the technology related topics. In order to receive access I added the calling of STS to my member profile. But when I enter the meet.churchofjesuschrist.org homepage I do not see where I could get the new Zoom licenses for our stake. I am welcomed with my name and I am offered to have a google Suite account created for me. Do I need to do this?
I actually just want to create the Zoom Accounts for our stake as well as for the wards. This is especially important as we are planning the next stake conference, so I need this all set up in time.
Thanks for your feedback!

MarkusMayrl wrote:In the meanwhile I (High counsellor and stake executive secretary) am taking care of most of the technology related topics. In order to receive access I added the calling of STS to my member profile. But when I enter the meet.churchofjesuschrist.org homepage I do not see where I could get the new Zoom licenses for our stake.

It's been reported that the page doesn't work properly if you have two callings that give you access.

russellhltn wrote:It's been reported that the page doesn't work properly if you have two callings that give you access.

You usually also have to wait overnight after your calling is entered into LCR before it propagates throughout the system and is recognized by other pages, such as the Meet Portal.

lajackson wrote:You usually also have to wait overnight after your calling is entered into LCR before it propagates throughout the system and is recognized by other pages, such as the Meet Portal.

While true of some pages (like LCR), I think we've be assured by those who know the code that the delay for "meet" is sub-second.

I have the same need. Our stake has an aging membership and adding the the passcode is to much for many of them. The bishops are concerned that they will just give up and not attend at all. The waiting room is a great option , but it also requires the passcode. Please consider how to make this simpler for those who are technically limited.

jamiep39 wrote:

Rick.Winterton wrote:They would also like to be able to remove the requirement for a passcode for at least some meetings, but that is currently locked by an administrator.

Having a passcode is best practice. There have been countless incidents of Zoom meetings being joined by individuals with malicious intent just by guessing the meeting number. If it were a webinar it wouldn't matter as much since they couldn't do anything, but still not the best route. They could make the passcode as simple as "1234" or the name of the ward though. The link in the meeting invitation contains the passcode in a hashed format so just sending the link out would also connect directly to the meeting without a passcode.