Overview
Beginning November 15, 2025, anonymous users can no longer start a meeting. Authenticated user attendance will be required to initiate or join all 8x8 Meetings.
This update is part of our ongoing commitment to make meetings more secure, reliable, and easier to manage.
Applies To
- 8x8 Meetings
- Anonymous Attendance
- Personal Meetings
Questions and Answers
What is changing?
Previously, once an authenticated 8x8 Work user had joined a meeting at any point, the specific meeting space was then considered validated and open to anyone, even after the initial meeting had terminated. This meant that anonymous users could later access that authenticated meeting space without an authenticated user being present.
Now with this new security change, at least one authenticated participant will be required to start a meeting.
How does this change affect meeting attendees?
- For authenticated (logged-in) 8x8 Work users, there is no change. They may create or start meetings as needed.
- If an authenticated user has not yet joined an existing meeting, then anyone who is not authenticated (logged in) when they attempt to access that meeting will be shown a Waiting for a moderator message until an authenticated user has joined the meeting.
How do I authenticate when joining a meeting?
To avoid waiting for an authenticated user when attempting to join a meeting, there are two methods for user authentication:
- Log in to 8x8 Work for Desktop: Users who are logged into the Desktop app are automatically authenticated when they join a meeting.
- Click Log-in in the Waiting for a moderator popup, and then sign in with valid 8x8 credentials.
Are there any global Meeting moderator settings available?
Some options in 8x8 Admin Console > Meetings > Settings can affect aspects of meeting creation and attendance.
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Note: See our online 8x8 Meet User Help guide for more information about controlling meeting moderator settings. |
The following meeting options are enabled by default, and can be adjusted by administrators if needed:
- All meetings will be moderated only by participants from this company
- A moderator is required to start a meeting
Disabling the setting A moderator is required to start a meeting will revert to the old behaviour of joining meetings. With this disabled, meetings can be joined and started by anyone.
Can I disable this so I dont need an authenticated user to start a meeting?
To disable this change and revert to the old behaviour, log into your 8x8 Admin Console and go to Meetings > Settings. Disable the setting A moderator is required to start a meeting.
An authenticated user will no longer be required to start a meeting. However, as before, you will still need an authenticated user to validate a new meeting space once it is created. After the validation, anonymous users will be able to join the meeting without an authenticated user present.
Can users control how their personal meetings are configured?
For companies that use Google Workspace products, we introduced Meeting settings in Google Calendar events. This allows individual users to modify parameters of the 8x8 meetings they’ve created.
For users to access this feature:
- First install the 8x8 Work Meetings for Google Chrome browser extension.
- In Google Calendar, create a new Event or edit an existing one.
- Click Log In next to the 8x8 logo. Follow any prompts to log into your 8x8 Work user account.
- Click Add 8x8 Meeting to add 8x8 Meeting details to your event.
- Click Meeting settings. This will not appear until after you’ve logged in.
- A new Meeting settings browser tab will open. Edit your individual settings for this specific meeting.
- Note that your meeting settings can be modified later, if needed.
- Changes are applied immediately. Once you’ve finished, you can close the Meeting settings browser tab.