Ongoing work to address audio issues reported
Over time we have received reports of audio issues here on the forum and via support emails, such as:
- One-off AGM with up to 50+ participants from @JC-Sheffield
- Audio&Video connection errors from @jdaviescoates
- Audio&Video connection errors from @NickM
We recognize that reliable audio is the most important feature of a videoconferencing platform, so we are taking all these reports seriously and appreciate all our members working with us to improve Meet.coop’s service and the BigBlueButton software. Here is an update of what we have done, what we are currently doing, and longer term fixes that we are currently making arrangements for.
Connectivity
In the early days, some reported that mics/cameras could not connect in certain browsers or network environments, particularly with Apple devices and on Safari. This was the highest priority because if someone could not connect at all, nothing can help them.
Through comparing Meet.coop’s server with some others hosted independently by other members, we narrowed the problem to a network configuration, which was fixed by moving our TURN/STUN to a different data centre, and have since verified the fixes on Apple systems that have previously failed to connect. We also did not receive new reports of this issue, so we consider this resolved at the moment.
We expect our services to work on all major browsers, on desktop and mobile. If this is not the case please report this.
Audio quality
This is a tough one as there are multiple causes (e.g. network, input devices) and outcomes (e.g. choppy, unclear, feedback, background noise). While feedback and background noise is usually addressed by using headphones and muting when not speaking, the other two are related to multiple factors.
We found that network latency above 300 ms and excessive jitter would cause choppy audio. We debugged with some user members to get network logs to validate our assumptions, and recently provisioned a new server in EU at another data centre, so we can have a reference for comparisons. This was only possible because we now have enough recurring contributions that we are able to pay for this second server. In the next weeks, we will be offering services on this EU server.
The immediate benefit for primarily EU-based users is to have better audio experience once they switch over to the EU server due to lower latency. The secondary effect is we now have a basis to do comparisons to improve our overall understanding.
User interface
We understand there are general UX and accessibility issues in the BigBlueButton interface itself. We have recently on-boarded Simply Secure, a non-profit design firm, as an Operational Member, and we are cataloguing a lot of the usability issues reported by our members and making plans to address them.
In the meantime, our Product team is supporting members in how to work around some of these audio issues with practices and moderation techniques that we find are helpful to other members, while the Technology team continues to tune our services to map and address these issues. Again, we appreciate all your patience working with us to improve our shared videoconferencing platform.