Zoom reports widespread outages impacting schools, hearings

A widespread Zoom outage on Monday affected schools, courtrooms and other places of business that had been relying on the video conference platform during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have received reports of users being unable to start and join Zoom Meetings and Webinars. We are currently investigating and will provide updates as we have them,” the company told ABC News in a statement. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.”

The company’s live service updates portal still listed partial outages for both its webinar and meetings services as of early Monday afternoon.

The outage appeared to be affecting parts of Europe and most of the U.S. East Coast, according to ABC, with several school districts and other institutions confirming an outage. Atlanta Public Schools, Texas’s Carroll Independent School District and the Michigan Supreme Court all wrote that the outage had interrupted their operations.

The company announced later in the morning that it was “deploying a fix” to resolve the interruptions.

Thanks for hanging in there! We are deploying a fix now. Service should be restored for some users and we’re continuing to complete the fix for any users still impacted. We’re sorry about the disruption.

Follow https://t.co/aqz5nSoQRw for updates.

— Zoom (@zoom_us) August 24, 2020

Currently @zoom_us is experiencing an outage impacting the eastern United States. We are working to resolve the issue and will provide an update when restored. Parents and students will hear from their local school regarding next steps and alternative ways for virtual learning.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) August 24, 2020

Well it was bound to happen, Zoom is currently experiencing partial outages across the nation. This isn’t a problem with CISD’s network. However, the app is working! We will let you know when the issue is resolved.

— Carroll ISD (@Carrollisd) August 24, 2020

ZOOM OUTAGE – Virtual Courtroom proceedings are being affected by a widespread Zoom outage in the US and beyond that is preventing courts being able to start and join meetings. Zoom is investigating; MSC will update MI courts as soon as there is more info. https://t.co/gcGZlPEk6M pic.twitter.com/tDsepjATJt

— MI Supreme Court (@MISupremeCourt) August 24, 2020

The public health risks of mass in-person gatherings have made the video call service a vital lifeline for schools and other gatherings.