One Simple Thing #4:
Optimizing Audio for Multiple Logins
Craig Shibley, MBA, CTS
So, you’ve got a great remote instruction/collaboration setup that you’re proud of. Video and audio are great. You run the sound tests and everything is perfect. Your call is ready to go.
Then you get set up and there’s feedback or weird delays, and you discover it’s from multiple devices being brought into the call from the same location. A professor wants to use the system and their own laptop in the same meeting. Or in a conference room and there are two presenters sharing from multiple devices, all logged in. What now?
Here’s a simple thing to make sure you relay to faculty and other end-users. The most common workaround is to mute the microphone and the speakers on the second device. This usually solves the problem with feedback in a call. But what if you also need the device to play sound in the room you’re in while not interfering with the call?
The best practice is to not join audio from the second (or third, etc.) device in the call at all. Let the room system you’re in handle all call audio. Not only will this solve feedback issues, but also help (albeit a tiny bit) with some bandwidth issues.
The examples below are from Zoom and WebEx, but all platforms will have something similar.
In Zoom:
In WebEx:
That’s great and all, but what if I need to share audio from the second device? Well, as an oversimplification of what’s going on, the “call audio” is completely different from the “share audio.” You can still share audio from devices that are not connected to the call audio.
(And when sharing video, make sure optimize for sound/video is selected.)
In Zoom:
In WebEx:
This simple change will make your end-users’ lives a lot easier, which in turn should make yours a lot easier as well. Give this a try in a multiple login scenario and audio issues should go away, or at least help troubleshoot other issues.
Thanks for reading.
Get to Know Craig Shibley
Craig Shibley has been in the AV industry for twenty years, and in higher education for ten. He currently serves as the Director of Multimedia Services for California Baptist University in Riverside, CA. Craig is a HETMA steering committee member and the founder of CheckMyAV.com, an all in one AV testing resource and blog. He holds an MBA from California Baptist University and CTS certification from AVIXA. Connect with Craig through the social links below.
checkmyAV was started in order to give AV techs a quick and easy resource to check their audio-visual systems. Tired of going to video sites and dealing with ads embedded in videos and inconsistent content, checkmyAV was created to give techs useful video and audio files to check their setup while being ad-free and user friendly. checkmyAV content is created by Craig Shibley.