If you’re having trouble hearing others or they’re having trouble hearing you during a call, you can test your mic and speakers without others on the call knowing, as long as you remember to mute yourself first.

Test your speaker and microphone in Zoom. If you can’t hear participants or be heard during a Zoom meeting, try using these five simple tips to troubleshoot the issue. Check out Common Fixes for Home Networking Issues for more tips for improving your home network connection. When you’re in a virtual meeting, ask other members of your household to avoid activities that use lots of bandwidth. If that’s not possible, moving closer to your router may help. Connecting your device to an ethernet jack will also provide a more stable connection than wireless. To avoid this, close as many programs and tabs as you can before hopping into a call. If your internet connection isn’t strong, you and your participants may hear garbled voices or speech delays. Learn more about equipment recommendations for remote work. There is an inherent delay with a Bluetooth audio connection compared to a wired one and you’ll need to worry about keeping your equipment charged. While you can use Bluetooth, there are some drawbacks. Even better, try a wired headset with active and passive noise cancellation. Your audio quality will be vastly improved if you use wired headphones with a built-in microphone. And computer mics can pick up room noises or vibrations from your desk. While your laptop’s built-in mic will work, it may not always pick up your voice clearly. Remember to mute your microphone when you’re not speaking and encourage others to do the same. Instead, pick smaller rooms filled with furniture, curtains, or carpeting. Your sound quality may also suffer if you’re in an empty room with hard surfaces that produce lots of echoes. Before you’re tempted to attend a meeting outdoors, consider that even the slightest breeze can get picked up by your microphone. Turn off or move away from noise sources like air conditioners or washing machines. Strive to have a quiet background for your calls. By making some small tweaks and learning a few troubleshooting tips, you’ll be better prepared to hear-and be heard-during your next Zoom session. The good news is that the problem is often easily solvable. Poor audio quality during video meetings is troublesome.

Zoom for conference calls