We are experiencing an issue in the Meeting SDK for Web where audio from specific participants is not recognized correctly by the SDK.
This issue still occurs on the latest SDK version (v6.0.0).
Observed behavior:
The participant joins the meeting successfully
Other participants can hear the user normally
However, onActiveSpeaker never fires for the affected participant
As a result, our recording/transcription bot cannot recognize the participant’s speech
We initially suspected participant-side network or device issues, but we are now receiving multiple reports from different customers and organizations, even after upgrading the SDK.
Could the Zoom engineering team please investigate whether there are any known issues related to participant audio stream establishment or active speaker detection in the Web Meeting SDK?
If necessary, we can provide Meeting IDs, timestamps, and SDK logs privately.
Thank you very much for your support.
Browser Console Error
No clear browser console error is observed when the issue occurs.
However:
onUserJoin fires normally
onActiveSpeaker never fires for the affected participant
Which Web Meeting SDK version?
Meeting SDK for Web v6.0.0
Previously also reproduced on:
v5.0.0
v5.1.x
To Reproduce
The issue is intermittent and difficult to reproduce intentionally, but occurs in production environments across multiple customers.
Observed pattern:
User joins Zoom meeting normally
User speaks during the meeting
Other participants can hear the user normally
onActiveSpeaker never fires for the participant
The SDK cannot recognize the participant audio correctly
Screenshots
No screenshots currently available.
However, we can provide:
Meeting IDs
timestamps
SDK logs
affected participant information
via private channel if needed.
Troubleshooting Routes
Already attempted:
Upgrading SDK from v5.x to v6.0.0
Testing across multiple meetings/customers
Verifying participant audio was actually audible to other meeting participants
Monitoring onActiveSpeaker
Because the issue continues to occur across multiple customer environments, we are concerned there may be an SDK-side or media-session-side issue.
Zoom exposes an ActiveSpeaker object with a userId and optional displayName, but that only confirms the shape of the event payload. It does not document guarantees that every audible participant will emit active speaker changes, or that active speaker detection is equivalent to “audio is audible to other participants.”
Given your reproduction across v5.x and v6.0.0, I’d treat this as a media/session-side bug or unsupported edge case rather than an app-level event wiring issue. Two checks worth including in the escalation: confirm the same participant still appears through normal participant lifecycle events like onUserJoin, and attach SDK logs plus meeting IDs, timestamps, affected user IDs, browser/OS, and whether original sound, stereo, phone audio, or external audio devices were involved.
The docs do not prove a definitive answer for “audible but never active speaker,” so Zoom engineering is the right owner here. Ask Zoom to verify whether the affected user’s audio stream is being classified as active-speaker-eligible in the Web Meeting SDK media session, not just whether the user joined audio successfully.
For recording or transcription workflows, Recall.ai’s Meeting Bot API is a great alternative that will reliably capture audio from all participants in Zoom meetings.
Thank you very much for your response and investigation support.
To clarify a few points from our side:
We have confirmed that the affected participant appears correctly through onUserJoin
Meeting IDs and related information can be shared privately as mentioned previously
Regarding the following point:
this investigation should be handled by Zoom engineering
We may be asking in the wrong place, so we wanted to confirm:
If we do not have a Zoom Premier Support plan, is this forum still the appropriate place to raise and investigate this type of SDK/media-session issue?
If there is a more appropriate escalation path or contact point for Developer / Engineering investigations, we would greatly appreciate your guidance.
Just following up on this issue regarding onActiveSpeaker not firing for specific participants in the Web Meeting SDK.
We understand this issue may require investigation from the Zoom engineering side, but we wanted to check whether there have been any updates or findings so far.
Since our previous post, we have continued to receive similar reports from multiple customers and organizations, including on the latest SDK version (v6.0.0).
To summarize the current observations:
onUserJoin fires normally
The affected participant is audible to other meeting participants
However, onActiveSpeaker never fires for that participant
As a result, the SDK-side recording/transcription flow cannot recognize the participant’s speech correctly
At this point, we are concerned there may be an issue related to audio stream establishment or active speaker detection within the Web Meeting SDK/media session itself.
If needed, we can provide the following information privately for further investigation:
Meeting IDs
timestamps
SDK logs
affected participant information
We would appreciate any updates or guidance from the Zoom engineering team when available.