Video Conferencing and the Power of Audio

A picture says a thousand words, but not when it comes to video conferencing.

Video conferencing is one of the most effective ways many businesses, individuals and schools communicate. Whether your preference is Teams, Zoom or Hangouts, we’ve all no doubt become adept at taking video calls. We won’t go into the benefits here, if you’d like a quick refresher you can hop over to our blog post on the?top 8 reasons to embrace video conferencing. While a lot of users conference remotely and individually, there is still a place for gathering a team together to deliver a video conference en masse.

There’s nothing worse than logging on to a group call and realising the meeting participants are struggling to hear you. If it’s not a poor internet connection, which you can’t do much about in the moment apart from a hasty ‘turn it off and on again’, there’s not a lot else you can do there and then.

Good quality audio is essential to get right. This key medium gives off a strong brand impression and can help with maintaining the engagement levels of your participants. Fortunately, there are ways you can improve your sound going forwards and some immediate issues to identify.

Some Typical Audio Issues

If you’re video conferencing at home or on the go alone, the setup is easy: find a quiet spot, put on your headset and away you go. If you’re in a shared or unfamiliar space, there are a few issues you could encounter.

• Damaged equipment: In a shared space like a conference room, which can get heavy traffic from all sorts of different users, the equipment can get accidentally damaged. A cable may come loose and get squashed by a chair wheel, a microphone can get liquid spilt on it. If the issue is noticed straight away it can be rectified, if it’s not, it falls to the next person to be stuck with buzzing noises or muffled sound.
• Larger rooms can echo: If you’re in a particularly large room and there are only a couple of you the audio can sound much less clear to the person on the other end.
• Laptop users without headphones: If users in the same room join a call from their own laptop, yet not everyone is using headphones, this can cause reverb during muting and unmuting to talk. Reverb can also occur on a one-to-one call by not wearing headphones and listening to the speaker whilst being unmuted.
• Too far away from microphone: This is mainly a problem in larger rooms where the microphone is so far away it struggles to pick up voices. Additionally, many microphones work best in the direction they’re pointed, so if the room you’re in has had a reshuffle, but the microphone hasn’t been moved, it may not be in its optimal position.

Guarantee High Quality Audio on Every Video Call

Whereas you can have a productive call without video, it’s near on impossible to have a successful video conference without (good) audio. Here are some general bits of advice to get you started on the path to better audio:

• Use the correct equipment: While AirPods might be the most fashionable in look, their microphone is on the side of the AirPod, a relatively long distance from the wearer’s mouth. In a room with multiple speakers, or louder than desired background noise, these aren’t the most suitable choice. Equip every video conference user with a purposefully designed headset with a noise cancelling microphone on an adjustable arm. This will ensure the only audio transmitted is that which is right next to the microphone.
• Connect with a powerful device: Use a laptop or desktop device to connect to your video calls where possible, as opposed to a mobile phone. The larger devices tend to be fitted with higher quality microphones in optimal positions. Mobiles are, as expected, designed for telephone calls, with a microphone at the bottom of the device suited for short range pickup.
• Room suitability: Start by choosing a room or space suited to the number of persons on the call, if possible. On top of this, the sound is very affected by a room’s furnishings and construction (number of windows, types of wall divider, etc). Soft furnishings absorb sounds and reduce echo, hard surfaces do the opposite. Try to add curtains/fabric blinds, carpeting or a rug, and if you’re particularly struggling, even a table cloth/covering, fabric chairs and cushions.
• Participant etiquette: Sometimes poor quality audio is nothing to do with the equipment. Introduce ‘meeting etiquette’ to ensure people know not to talk over one another, interrupt, hold side conversation, fidget with papers, tap with pens, type loudly, etc. If the microphone picks up extra noise this will contaminate the audio for the listener.

Design a Fit for Purpose Solution

The tips above only lightly touch on getting started. Microphone technology and acoustic treatment is a highly advanced field. When appropriately planned and spec’d, most meeting areas can experience crystal clear audio if well maintained.

There are many solutions in the market, ranging from low cost to pro studio level. What you ultimately pick will depend on how often you video conference, what space you have available and the value you place on these types of calls.

M-Tech can happily advise you on audio technologies to suit your requirements, ensuring you receive the best solution for your specific use case. We’re also well-versed in enterprise level video technologies,?chat to us today?for expert advice on your next audio-visual solution.