Ability to Allow Host to Unmute Participants Without Sending Request to Unmute

[lamottewebex]

I was recently upgraded to Webex 40.10.4.2 and am unable as host to unmute participants directly.  It now sends a request instead.  It does not matter if I have selected to allow users to unmute themselves or not.  Is there a way around this?  Our hosts control our meetings and need to be able to unmute speakers at specified times in our meetings without the speaker having to approve the request to unmute.

[gautgupt · Accepted solution]

All, it is important to follow the audio privacy of Webex users and therefore we introduced the functionality in our October update where host/cohost cannot directly unmute any attendee. Host/cohost can only send the request to the attendee to unmute.

However, we do realize that there are scenarios where host will need more control of a meeting and a need to be able to unmute the attendees directly. We are planning to introduce a moderated mute mode which allow host/cohost to do so. This will still be controlled where host will need to select the moderated mute mode. Exact details and timeframes are being worked out. 

NOTE: The Community Manager has marked this response as the current solution so that other community members can easily view the BU's response. The solution will be updated when there is more information from the BU.

[patterlk]

I agree! If Webex can't resolve the mute/unmute issue, teachers need to move to a better platform that is created with the online classroom in mind. 

[Charicen]

I want to echo this for teachers. We have a kindergarten teacher that teaches online with Special Ed students and they have difficulty unmuting themselves, but also can be disruptive if not muted. She needs to be able to unmute these students as needed to get interaction. 

Thanks

[Physio classes]

Agreed. I use Webex to deliver group exercise classes to older patients who are sometimes not tech savvy and can't unmute themselves. There's also a risk that if one were to have a fall or accident, and they're on mute, we cannot communicate with them.

[stephenwhiteifa]

Hello Mike, please reconsider this change to Webex functionality as the user-friendliness has been significantly reduced.

As others have already commented, the host now needing to send a request for the participant to unmute delays and interrupts the flow of a meeting needlessly. Prior to this backward step, users were able to mute themselves for privacy if they wanted to anyway, and is not not necessarily the risk you suggest; if all participants are agreeable to the host being able to control the meeting and enable flexibility to reduce audio interference and echoes. This is particularly annoying for participants joining by telephone who do not have the benefit of visual cues and Webex has created problems that may lose many loyal customers.

[Paolo.M.]

The problem now is that if I am the meeting host, and I mute a TelePresence partecipant (like a SX80), when I send the new unmute request it never arrives/appears on that endpoint.. so all our TelePresence devices never unmute when muted this way.. we already tried mute/unmute from physical microphone on rooms desks, but doesn't work if muted this way. A big issue for us at the moment.

[kndskelton]

If you have access / admin rights to the CODEC you can login and unmute the device.

[panderson25]

We have exactly this problem with dial-in users.  If I have to mute a dial-in user as host, I cannot unmute them later, and they have to be there to hear the "you can unmute yourself with *6" exactly when you mute them to know what to do.

[JKlingaman909]

Same problem with a telepresence room. We did find that you can use the dialpad to request to be unmuted, and then the host can unmute. The host can't unmute the room due to no notification on the Telepresence system. Dial in only users have the same issue , since there's no way for the user to approve the request from the host to be unmuted. 

[charlesgv]

Is this issue still there when trying to unmute telepresence devices?

What is Cisco's plan here to fix this loss of functionality? The TP device does not get a notification nor can the host unmute the devices. Is there is feature request or bug raised for this? 

[austinmarthomachurch]

Thanks for the update.

Can the Host and Co-Host Mute and Unmute themselves, we ask this because in scenarios where big groups like churches are managing the sessions we would need the flexibility to manage the church service and online folks to interact without an echo in between the service. There should not a privacy breach for a host and Co-Host. Hopefully you can make this update sooner than later.

[lamottewebex]

Thank you for the response. I know this functionality existed in the
earlier versions as I have used the function for the past 6 months. It
appears this was removed in the latest upgrade I received on 1 Oct 2020.