Update (12:15 p.m. ET): Zoom has distributed a fix for the outage and says service should be restored for some users. [Zoom has been out of service for many users in the U.S. and U.K., causing major disruptions for workers using the video conferencing service and for teachers and students returning to online schooling.

Zoom acknowledged the partial outage on its service status page and said via Twitter that it is aware of the problem and is investigating.

"We have received reports that users are unable to access the Zoom website and start or participate in Zoom meetings and webinars. We are currently investigating and will provide updates as they become available."

According to DownDetector, the more than 12,000 reported problems began around 8 a.m. EST and have occurred primarily on the East Coast of North America and in the UK.

Zoom has become almost indispensable in recent months as millions of people have turned to video conferencing services to work from home or take online classes. The sudden surge in usage caused security problems for Zoom in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and the company addressed many of them.

As the morning dawned, many reports of Zoom outages came in from the Midwest and West Coast, where users woke up unable to attend meetings or log into Zoom. Many parents and educators found themselves having to postpone scheduled school classes:

At 10:23 AM ET, Zoom tweeted that it had identified the problem and was working on a fix.

Later, shortly after 11:00 a.m., Zoom distributed a fix and said service should be restored for some users. For users who are still experiencing disruptions, the company said it continues to work on resolving the issue.