Alternative hosts are not notified

API and Webhooks
1

Overview
The Zoom API allows for alternative hosts to be added programmatically to meetings. This enables multiple people from a company to be able to become a host (in the event the host is unavailable to start a meeting).

I’m using the API to programatically create meetings with alternative hosts. This is my post request:

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/[host_email]/meetings?=' \
  --header 'authorization: Bearer [token]' \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "topic": "Testing alternative hosts",
  "type": 2,
  "start_time": "2020-07-13T18:30:00Z",
  "duration": 0,
  "password": "[password]",
  "settings": {
		"host_video": true,
		"participant_video": true,
		"alternative_hosts": "[alternative_host_email]",
		"mute_upon_entry": false,
		"waiting_room": false
  }
}
'

Everything seems fine: 201 response with the expected parameters on the response. On the Zoom admin area, the meeting is created and the alternative hosts set correctly.

The problem is that the alternative hosts don’t get the invitation email.

Am I missing any attribute on my request?

If I create the meeting via the web admin area with the same parameters and the same alternative hosts, they get the invitation email.

Thank you in advance.

2

Hey @pvicente,

Make sure your Alternative Host Email Notification setting is turned on:

Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 11.46.47 AM
Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 11.46.47 AM1037×490 35.5 KB

Thanks,
Tommy

3

The Alternative Host Email Notification setting is turned on for the host user but the alternative hosts don’t get the email notification

4

Hi,

I’m going to add a bit more context here so maybe you can help me.

We call the API using a JWT token which comes from an app created on the app marketplace.

The API allow us to create meetings with a host and alternative hosts, both licensed users. The host can see the meeting created on his Zoom meetings area but the alternative hosts neither receive a notification nor can they see the meeting on their meetings area.

If we cancel the meeting via API then the alternative hosts receive a cancellation email which says that our main Zoom account, not the host account, has cancelled the meeting.

Thanks,
Pablo.

5

Hey @pvicente,

I am not able to reproduce this issue. With the following request body payload, I am getting an email sent to my alternative host:

POST https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/me/meetings

{
  "topic":"Alternative Host Email Test",
  "type":2,
  "start_time":"2020-07-30T09:00:00Z",
  "duration":30,
  "settings": {
    "alternative_hosts": "tommy@mail.com"
  }
}

Thanks,
Tommy

6

Hi @tommy,

Thanks for taking the time to investigate this issue.

I believe I may know why my alternative hosts are not getting the notifications. The account I’m using to create the meetings, which is the same I used to create the marketplace app (where I get the JWT token from) is not the owner account, it’s an admin account.

It seems like the notifications configuration belongs to the owner account. So, when I change the meeting main host replacing:
https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/me/meetings
with
https://api.zoom.us/v2/myuser/admin_user_id/meetings

The email notification configuration is still inherited from the owner account. That means that, if the owner account has the notifications disabled, the meeting’s host notifications configuration doesn’t apply.

Does this make sense to you?

Thanks!

7

Hey @pvicente,

Correct. If your account admin/owner has disabled the email notification settings at the account level and locked it, then it will not send.

Thanks,
Tommy

8

Hi Tommy,

We got an issue in opposite way. We have turned OFF the alternative host email notification in both account level and user level. However, our users still received the email titled “You are no longer an alternative meeting host” if we removed the users from alternative by Zoom API. It won’t happen if we remove the alternative host in Zoom website.

Regards,
Ben

9

Hi @bscng,

Can you share your account ID and example of the API request you’re making when the email is triggered? I’m happy to take a closer look at this for you.

Thanks,
Will

10

Hi Will,

Our account number is. We used the update meeting API to remove the alternative hosts.
URL: {{baseUrl}}/meetings/:meetingId (PATCH)
Body: {“settings”: {“alternative_hosts”: “”}}

Thanks,
Ben

11

Hey @bscng,

Thanks for sharing that—can you include the Meeting ID you’re using in this request you’ve provided the snippet for?

Thanks,
Will

12

Hi Will,

The meeting ID is 93694843409. Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Ben

13

Hey @bscng,

Thanks for confirming those details. In taking a look at your account, I can also confirm that your settings seem to correctly reflect having that notification off. As a next step, is it possible to forward us one of the email notifications to developersupport@zoom.us that the alternative host received? This should help us to take a closer look.

Thanks,
Will