How to setup audio?

What problems might happen during a video conference?

1. No one hears me during a video call;
2. I'm hearing an echo of my voice;
3. The audio lags or disappears;
4. How to improve the sound in unstable networks;
5. Background noise during a group video conference;
6. Recommended audio devices for video conferencing
7. Some useful rules of etiquette:

No one hears me during the video call.

There are three reasons for that:

• Wrong equipment has been chosen in the settings;
• The device itself is very quite;
• Your participant hasn't properly set his/her equipment.

Wrong equipment has been chosen in the settings

In order to choose the right one press "Settings" -> "Hardware...", in the menu of the "Audio capture" choose your device and click on "Test" button:

The device itself is very quite:

Choose "Settings" -> "Hardware...", in front of the "Audio capture" click on "Test" in order to:

• Adjust sensibility (1)
• Rely on automatic regulation (2)

Your participant hasn't properly set his/her equipment:

Ask him/her to open equipment settings in order to:

• check up the volume regulators;
• make sure he/her has chosen the right device in the equipment settings and successfully tested them.

I can hear an echo of my voice

TrueConf uses internal echo cancellation algorithms, though if it is unable to cope with the task, try to ask your party to:

• lower the speaker volume;
• move his/her microphone farther from the speakers;
• use the headset or special echo canceling microphone;
• check out whether the echo suppression is "on" in hardware settings.

The audio lags or disappears

• The main reason of the sound disappearance during a video conference is unstable or insufficient Internet connection speed. TrueConf is constantly trying to adapt to such conditions and increases buffering of audio which results in the increase of the audio delay between parties.
• Other applications (i.e. torrents, YouTube streaming) which heavily utilize your connection speed might affect video conferencing bandwidth and quality.
• Overloaded CPU can seriously affect video conference performance. Try not to use applications like HD video playback or Flash animation during video conferences on single core CPUs.

How to improve the sound in unstable networks?

1. • If you know that your Internet connection outgoing speed is restricted to the N kbps, reduce it to (¾ * N)kbps.
   • To do that choose "Settings" -> "Network..." and in the column "max. outgoing" set the required value:
   
2. Close applications which overload your CPU.
3. It is better to avoid wireless connections in multipoint video conferences.

Background noise during a group video conference

Most often background noise is caused by the computer cooling fans, noise from the outside (e.g. cars), the wind and other side noises. In order to eliminate the background noise you can:

• find a quiet place (close the windows);
• place the microphone closer to yourself and farther from the source of the noise;
• use a headset on laptops as microphones and web cameras embedded into their cases are more susceptible for the external noises.

Recommended audio devices for video conferencing:

• Headset AMH-300V;
• Headset Plantronics Audio 330;
• Headset Plantronics Audio 340;
• Microphone with hardware echo cancellation – Plantronics MCD100-M.

Some useful rules of etiquette:

• speak in turn, do not interrupt each other;
• speak as usual (do not shout or whisper);
• switch off the microphone when you sneeze or talk to someone nearby;
• keep the microphone as far as possible from the pile of documents quickly leafed at the last minute;
• don't blow or knock into the microphone: if it doesn't work, this won't help you :)