#1 2008-07-16 15:33:00

**_robhennigar_**

Echoing problem and other questions...

Hi all,

In some of the meetings we host, the presenter is in an office using a USB headset (VOIP) to communicate with participants and the audience is in a large room. The VOIP audio is projected to the participants through the computer speakers - or externally attached speakers if the room requires it. In this case, what happens is that the presenter gets  a bad echo, as the audio being projected to the audience through speakers is also picked up by the computer microphone and fed back to the presenter as an echo.

Is the only way to alleviate this to not have the audio "hands free" button selected, and when someone in the audience wants to ask a question they have to remember to turn the microphone on? A workaround that we sometimes employ is to not use two-way VOIP, and require participants to type questions in the chat box, but that is hard to do when there is a large audience, as in this example.

Any suggestions on  a better way to project audio to a large audience, and not get the feedback audio loop? All ideas are appreciated, in advance!

Rob

**_Patchouli_**

Re: Echoing problem and other questions...

Two things.

First:
Plug in a Microphone that has a ON/OFF button, so you can swith it on and off.

Second:
I think for VOIP, you can go into the Audio and Video Wizard of the platform and test the Echo or background noise levels while being in the actual room itself.

hope that helps

**_jcooper9099_**

Re: Echoing problem and other questions...

Yes those are good suggestions

Also tell your presenter to turn his computer speakers off. You see if the speaker issues a sound it goes into the microphone and then out the speakers, where then it re-enters the microhone again and is out put to the speakers again and now you have an echo cycle.

**_Patchouli_**

Re: Echoing problem and other questions...

j...... I like you, you should be workin at Macromedia......oups sorry...Adobe....

;-)

**_robhennigar_**

Re: Echoing problem and other questions...

J.

Thanks, but the idea is to have the speakers turned up on the "viewers" end, so that they can hear the presenter on the other end of the "line". With the audio up so that they can hear, the mic indeed does also pick-up the audio, causing the echo/loop.

So, it's probably that  on the "viewers" end they have to turn off their microphone, preventing the loop, and have to remember to turn it on when they want to speak/ask questions. Kind of a pain, but perhaps the only solution?

Thanks again,

Rob