Amazon Chime Adds New Security Features

The new tools stress the importance of security and simplicity of joining meetings

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CollaborationInsights

Published: June 3, 2020

Ian Taylor Editor

Ian Taylor

Editor

Amazon Chime recently introduced new access policy options for organizers to leverage when scheduling meetings. The latest security policies are aimed at protecting meeting organizers who seek security without compromising the simplicity of joining a meeting via Chime. According to Amazon, the new policies let meeting organizers restrict and enable user access based on an attendee’s Amazon Chime registration status. This includes verified email address and company affiliation,” Amazon said in a statement.

What’s more, meeting organizers can add restrictions on attendees so they can join meetings using in-room video systems or by dialing in. In a statement, Amazon said while passcodes might prevent ‘bad actors from randomly gaining access to a meeting, meeting IDs and passwords can are easily distributed and used by attendees outside of the meeting’s intended audience.’ The company added, Amazon Chime meeting organizers have the power to prevent such intrusions by restricting access even if the meeting ID and passcode get forwarded or compromised in any way.

When paired with Amazon’s other meeting controls such as ‘Event Mode,’ ‘Meeting Lock,’ and ‘Remove Attendee’ – meeting organizers and attendees can manage all their meetings and ensure relative security. The new controls might also provide a much-needed burden lift from the shoulders of IT by extending end-user-friendly management tools.

Of course, there are other benefits including cost efficiencies of deploying a single solution for internal and external collaboration. In terms of security, such features could help mitigate the risk of sensitive data making its way into the hands of a bad actor. Amazon Chime already takes security seriously, as each meeting is equipped with a 10-digit meeting ID. Not to mention, there are a host of other meeting ID options including meeting IDs that require a moderator to start, and personalized IDs. Amazon Chime users can opt for moderated meetings, which happens when they generate a new meeting ID.

These kinds of meetings do not start until the meeting owner enters the meeting. Similar to Zoom, Chime users can remote attendees, lock meetings, disable shared control in screen sharing, mute attendee actions, and more. Amazon Chime’s pay-as-you-go communications service connects users for collaboration experiences, and it’s backed by AWS security for online meetings, video conferencing, calls, and chat.

Ryan McHarg, Senior Product Manager, Amazon Chime, said employees and educators across the globe use tools like Chime, and it’s reflected in the usage stats. Overall, usage has increased, he added, “With this, so has scrutiny of security practices.” He further said customers want to know the content of their meetings and classes can be reached only to those intended to have access.

As more new players enter the video conferencing arena, it becomes increasingly crowded. Facebook is Zoom’s newest competitor, and it recently launched some healthy competition for the video conferencing giant. Chime remains overshadowed by Microsoft Teams, and Zoom – both of which offer more advanced features and have more daily active users than Amazon’s Chime video conferencing offering.

Customer ExperienceDigital TransformationMobilitySecurity and ComplianceVideo Conferencing
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