Appendix A - Audio Problems
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Audio Sounds Choppy in a Conference
Poor conference audio may be caused by upload bandwidth limitations. For example,
some sites have 1 Mbps download bandwidth, but only 128 kbps upload bandwidth.
Under such conditions, try multiple hosts for the conference.
Poor Sound
Poor or scratchy sound is a symptom of a problem with network connections, or a faulty
network card. The following issues could contribute to poor sound quality:
■
There may be packet loss on the IP network. Check the network performance,
latency, and throughput. A 200 millisecond round trip latency as determined from a
ping should deliver good audio quality.
■
Older network devices may have performance problems. Make sure to use the latest
driver.
Audio Contains an Echo
The following tips may be useful for reducing echo heard during the conversation:
■
Try using a headset with plugged into the sound card. Another suggestion is to use
a USB-enabled headset, which bypasses system sounds by acting as its own sound
device.
■
If using a boom type headset, note that some boom headsets can create feedback
between the boom microphone and the headset earpiece.
■
The microphone balance is not muted in the playback section of Windows audio
controls. When configuring sound, examine the volume control setting.
■
Echo will occur if the user’s microphone can pick up sounds coming from the
speakers used for the softphone call (when not using an integrated headset).
■
The microphone level might be too high or the amplifier might be turned on in the
generic Windows audio controls.
