Echo or choppy audio
Fix an echo on the line, or audio that cuts out, sounds robotic or lags. Usually a speaker, a busy network, or Wi-Fi.
Echo
Who hears the echo matters. An echo is almost always the other person's voice coming out of a speaker and back into a microphone.
- You hear yourself: the echo is on the other person's side. Ask them to use a headset or turn their speaker down.
- They hear themselves: the echo is on your side. Try these:
- Use a headset instead of your computer's speakers.
- Turn your speaker volume down.
- Move your microphone away from the speaker.
- Make sure the call is only on one device. If a desk phone and your computer are both on the call in the same room, one will pick up the other.
Choppy, robotic or delayed audio
This is nearly always the network: the call's audio isn't arriving smoothly.
- Use a wired connection if you can. Weak Wi-Fi is the most common cause. If you must use Wi-Fi, move closer to the router.
- Stop big downloads and uploads while you're on calls: cloud backups, large file syncs, video streaming.
- Turn off a VPN and call again.
- Close what you don't need. A computer that's working very hard can make the browser's audio stutter. Close other tabs and apps.
- Try another network, like your phone's hotspot. If calls sound fine there, the problem is your network, not the phone.
For a desk phone, check its network cable and restart it. If your router has a setting called SIP ALG, turning it off often helps.
Only on some calls?
If one caller always sounds bad and others don't, the problem is likely on their end, like a weak cell signal.
If it keeps happening, note the time, then find the call in Reports → Call history and its Call #. Contact support and tell us what you heard (echo, choppy, delayed) and whether you were on Wi-Fi.
Or press Get help (the ? in the console's top bar). It searches help first, then sends us your request with the page you're on. Follow our reply under My support tickets in your avatar menu.
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