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Zoom Reports Partial Outage as Many Schools Return to Remote Learning Zoom Reports Partial Outage as Many Schools Return to Remote Learning
(32 minutes later)
The video call service Zoom reported partial outages on Monday morning, causing problems on the first day of classes for many schools in the United States as the tech company rushed to resolve the issue.The video call service Zoom reported partial outages on Monday morning, causing problems on the first day of classes for many schools in the United States as the tech company rushed to resolve the issue.
The company said it had “identified the issue” that was preventing users from starting and joining meetings, and was “working on a fix.” It said the problem caused users “to be unable to authenticate to the Zoom website.” “We have identified the issue causing users to be unable to start and join Zoom Meetings and Webinars and are working on a fix for this issue,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.”
As the coronavirus pandemic has kept students out of classrooms and office workers out of offices, Zoom has quickly become critical infrastructure for many school districts, companies and local governments. Just before 8 a.m. in California, the company said that it was “deploying a fix across our cloud,” and trying to restore service for users.
Zoom said it began receiving reports of users being unable to visit the website and start meetings at about 5:50 a.m. in California. The website DownDetector, which tracks outages at social media companies and tech companies, showed significant outages in major cities around the country, including New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. The site reported more than 15,000 outages by about 7 a.m. Pacific time. As the coronavirus pandemic has kept students out of classrooms and office workers out of offices, Zoom has become a critical lifeline for many schools, companies and local governments. Many courthouses rely on Zoom to conduct hearings, city councils govern through virtual meetings, and the police face reporters in video news conferences.
The Atlanta school district, which serves about 50,000 students, was among those affected by the outage. “We are working to resolve the issue and will provide an update when restored,” the district said on Twitter on Monday morning. “Parents and students will hear from their local school regarding next steps and alternative ways for virtual learning.” “Virtual courtroom proceedings are being affected by a widespread Zoom outage in the U.S. and beyond that is preventing courts being able to start and join meetings,” Michigan’s Supreme Court said on Monday.
Penn State University reported a “widespread outage” of Zoom service on its campus, and urged students to download Zoom’s desktop client as a possible workaround. Zoom said it began receiving reports of users being unable to start meetings at about 5:50 a.m. local time in California. The website DownDetector, which tracks outages at social media companies and tech companies, showed significant outages in major cities across the country, including New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. The site reported more than 15,000 outages by about 7 a.m. Pacific time.
By the third week of a typical August, nearly two-thirds of the 50 million public schoolchildren in the United States have returned to their classrooms. This year, many of the country’s largest districts have delayed the start of school or have chosen to begin the year with remote learning as the coronavirus continues to spread.
Zoom has proved invaluable for many schools, letting classes continue without students and teachers packed into classrooms. During the outage on Monday, schools in Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania reported problems. The Atlanta school district, which serves about 50,000 students, was among those affected by the outage. “We are working to resolve the issue and will provide an update when restored,” the district said on Twitter on Monday morning. “Parents and students will hear from their local school regarding next steps and alternative ways for virtual learning.”
Students and professors at Penn State University reported a “widespread outage” of Zoom service on its campus on Monday morning, and urged students to download Zoom’s desktop client as a possible workaround.
Hundreds of millions of people now use Zoom, up from about 10 million in 2019. Like other tech companies that have experienced sudden popularity, Zoom has scrambled to scale up its capabilities and security. In April, Zoom formed a council of chief information security officers from other companies to share ideas for improving quality and minimizing disruptions.