Zoom and Google Calendar in TuitionDesk: What Syncs and When

If you run online classes, you know the routine. You make a Zoom link. You send it to parents. Then the class moves to 6 pm, and you have to fix the link, the calendar and the message. Something always gets missed.

TuitionDesk now handles most of this for you. This guide explains, in plain words, what is built and working today, what changes on its own, how long it takes, and what to do when something goes wrong.

We only describe what the product does today. If a thing is not listed here, do not assume it happens.

What you can do with Zoom today

1. Connect your Zoom account

Example: You own a centre with one Zoom account. You connect it once and never paste a link again.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings > Video Conferencing.
2. Click Add Zoom.
3. In Zoom Marketplace, create a Server-to-Server OAuth app. Zoom gives you an Account ID, a Client ID and a Client Secret.
4. Paste those three values into TuitionDesk and save.
5. Click Test connection. It checks your details with Zoom. It does not create a meeting.

You can add more than one Zoom account. Tag an account to a branch or to one teacher. A class then uses that teacher's account first, then its branch account, then the centre default.

2. Zoom links are created for you

Example: Class 9 Maths runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday online. Mrs. Meera does not create anything. Each class already has its own Zoom link on its card.

Steps:

1. Create the class and pick Zoom as the meeting provider.
2. Set the class to online and save its schedule.
3. TuitionDesk creates a meeting for each coming class in the next 30 days.

A new meeting is also added every night at about 3:30 am (India time) as classes roll into the 30-day window. Each run creates at most 40 meetings, so a very large timetable may fill in over a few days. If one class is still missing a link, open it and use Create meeting.

3. Keep Zoom in step when a class cancels or moves

Example: Friday's class is cancelled for a holiday. The Zoom meeting is deleted too, so no parent joins an empty room.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings > Video Conferencing.
2. Click Turn on Zoom sync.

From then on, when you cancel a class, move it, postpone it, change it to offline, or replace its link with your own, the Zoom meeting is deleted or moved to match.

Two things to know:

• It only applies to classes created after you turn it on. Older classes are left alone on purpose.
• Your Zoom app needs the meeting update and delete permissions. If it does not, Zoom refuses the change and TuitionDesk tells you.

4. Start the class and tell parents

Example: At 5:00 pm the teacher taps Start Online Class. Parents of enrolled students get a "Join now" message.

Steps:

1. The assigned teacher opens today's class.
2. Taps Start Online Class.
3. Parents get the notification and tap Join.

Starting the class also checks the teacher in. This is for the assigned teacher only.

5. Attendance from the Join button

Example: Fifteen students tap Join from the app. Three never do.

Students who tap Join get a provisional present mark. The teacher sees the list when completing the class and confirms it. Students who never joined show as absent as a suggestion only. Nothing is saved as absent until the teacher confirms.

Attendance does not come from Zoom's own participant list. It comes from the Join button in TuitionDesk.

6. Recordings

Example: A class is recorded in the Zoom cloud. When Zoom finishes processing it, the recording link appears on that class for students to revise.

This needs the webhook set up (see below) and a plan that includes class recordings. TuitionDesk saves only the Zoom link, not the video file. If the teacher has already added a recording link, it is not replaced.

7. Zoom tells TuitionDesk what happened (optional)

If you add a webhook secret token when connecting Zoom, Zoom can tell TuitionDesk when:

• a class starts (so the class shows as live),
• a recording is ready,
• someone deletes a meeting or a recording in Zoom.

In your Zoom app, set the event address to the one shown in the TuitionDesk form. It ends in /api/webhooks/zoom.

What syncs between TuitionDesk and Zoom

What	Direction	When	How fast
Zoom meeting for a class	TuitionDesk to Zoom	When the schedule is saved, and nightly top-up	Within seconds for new schedules; nightly for later weeks
Class cancelled	TuitionDesk to Zoom	On cancel (Zoom sync on)	Usually within 2 minutes
Class moved or postponed	TuitionDesk to Zoom	On change (Zoom sync on)	Usually within 2 minutes
Class made offline, or link replaced	TuitionDesk to Zoom	On edit (Zoom sync on)	Usually within 2 minutes
Meeting deleted in Zoom	Zoom to TuitionDesk	When Zoom reports it (webhook on)	Within seconds
Class started	Zoom to TuitionDesk	When the meeting starts (webhook on)	Within seconds
Recording link	Zoom to TuitionDesk	When Zoom finishes the recording (webhook on)	Depends on Zoom
Attendance	TuitionDesk only	From the Join button	Not synced with Zoom

"Usually within 2 minutes" is real: changes are queued and sent every 2 minutes. If Zoom is busy or down, TuitionDesk tries again, up to 5 times, and then gives up and tells the owner. Cancelling or moving a class never fails because Zoom is slow.

TuitionDesk does not read a changed time back from Zoom. Change times in TuitionDesk, not in Zoom.

What you can do with Google Calendar today

Google Calendar is separate from Zoom. It also gives online classes a free Google Meet link.

Connect it

Steps:

1. Open Settings and find the Classes and calendar card.
2. Click to connect Google Calendar and sign in with the Google account you want to use.
3. Allow TuitionDesk to manage calendar events.

What lands in the calendar

Example: Sunita is a parent of two students in different classes. Both classes appear on her Google Calendar with the right time. The online class has a Meet link on the event.

• Each class gets a repeating event in the connected Google Calendar.
• Online classes get a Google Meet link.
• Invited: the class teacher, every enrolled student with an email, and their parents with an email. Google emails them the invite.
• Add or remove a student, change the teacher, or link a parent, and the invite list is updated.

When a single class changes

What you do in TuitionDesk	What happens in Google Calendar
Cancel one class	That one day is removed. The rest of the series stays
Move, postpone or reschedule one class	That one day moves to the new time
Change one class to offline	That day is removed from the calendar
Change one class back to online	That day is put back
Change the schedule time of the class	The repeating event is rewritten
Change your centre timezone	You are asked to re-sync, and every class event is rewritten in the new zone

Parents and the teacher also get a TuitionDesk notification when a class is cancelled or postponed. That is separate from the calendar.

TuitionDesk sends changes to Google. It does not read changes made in Google. If someone drags an event in Google Calendar, TuitionDesk will not know. Always change classes in TuitionDesk.

Plans and limits

Feature	Free	Starter	Growth	Pro	Enterprise
Google Calendar and Google Meet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
New classes added to Google Calendar per month	No limit	No limit	5	20	No limit
Calendar changes per month	No limit	No limit	20	50	No limit
Zoom connection and automatic links	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Start Online Class and Join notification	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zoom recording link on the class	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Different mode for a single class (online or offline)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

The Google Calendar monthly numbers count from the 1st of each month. When you hit the limit, the class still saves, but TuitionDesk tells you the calendar was not updated. These numbers can be adjusted by TuitionDesk per plan, so confirm your own plan's numbers with us.

What can go wrong, and what to do

Zoom says your details are wrong. This happens if the secret was changed or the Zoom app was switched off. You get a notification and an email, at most once a day, saying Zoom could not create meetings and how many class dates have no link. Open Settings > Video Conferencing, check the details and click Test connection.

A class has no Zoom account. If no account is set for that teacher, branch or centre, the class is created with no link. Add an account, then open the class and use Create meeting. If a branch's own account was removed, its classes use the centre account and show a note saying so.

Zoom refuses to update or delete a meeting. The Zoom app is missing the update and delete permissions. Add them in Zoom Marketplace.

Someone deletes the meeting in Zoom. With the webhook on, you get a notification. The class is kept but its link is cleared. You can create a new meeting, put back one Zoom still has, or paste a link. If nobody chooses, a new meeting is created 24 hours before the class. Without the webhook, TuitionDesk finds out the next time it tries to move that meeting.

You cancel a class in TuitionDesk but Zoom sync is off. The Zoom meeting stays in Zoom. Turn on Zoom sync for future classes, or delete the old meeting in Zoom yourself.

Google Calendar stops working. If Google no longer accepts the saved sign-in, for example you changed your Google password or removed access, calendar updates fail and the class shows a sync error. Go to Settings and connect Google Calendar again.

Old classes. A month after a class is removed, TuitionDesk clears its stored Zoom meeting link. This only applies to classes removed after you turned Zoom sync on.

A simple setup to start with

1. Connect Zoom and press Test connection.
2. Turn on Zoom sync before you create next month's classes.
3. Connect Google Calendar if you want parents to see classes on their phones.
4. Create one test class, cancel it, and check Zoom and your calendar.

Ready to try it with your own centre? Start free on TuitionDesk.