Troubleshooting & Basics

Use the below information with your Support, Success, and Product teams to better assist your customers. Feel free to add as much or as little of this information to your own documentation!

The information in this document is intentionally brief and neutral to allow for your team to more easily add your voice and tone.

Video call tips & tricks

We've compiled a list of best practices we believe to be worth reviewing in order to have the best experience:

• Try using headphones or a headset to reduce background noise and improve focus

• Mute yourself when you aren't speaking, so as not to distract from those currently speaking or cause echo

• Use a browser that is up to date. Chrome or a Chromium-based application provide the best user experience

• Verify your browser has access to Camera and Microphone, then be sure to test before your call:

  Mac: Camera Permissions | Microphone Permissions Windows: Camera and Microphone Privacy

Initial troubleshooting

Many of the most common issues experienced while on a video call can be resolved with a few steps:

• Refresh your browser page

• Try loading the page in a private or incognito window

• Quit/close your current browser and try joining from a different browser

• Close any other applications or tabs that may be controlling access to the camera or microphone

• Sometimes bad browser data can interfere with the Whereby user experience. Try clearing your cache and cookies to correct the issue. Instructions for clearing your cache and cookies for supported browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera

Resolving choppy audio or video

There are a number of factors that can contribute to inconsistent quality on a call, like network conditions and computer processing power. Work through the options below to try and improve the experience:

• Try restarting your WiFi router

• Get closer to the router, or connect via ethernet

• If possible, try connecting via another network temporarily (for example, a hotspot connection)

• Close any applications or browser tabs that you aren't actively using on the call

• Disable any background video effects or noise reduction

• Turn off your video while on the call

Blocked Camera & Microphone access

You may have accidentally blocked the meeting's permission to use your camera and microphone for the meeting. Or, your browser doesn't have your device's permission to utilize the camera and microphone. Follow the recommendations below to correct common problems:

• Check to see if you've accidentally blocked permissions. For Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, you can find a camera icon in the address bar. Select it and then click 'allow'.

  • For Safari, you can select Safari in the menu bar and then Settings -> Websites then select the camera and microphone options and make sure your website is set to allow.

Operating system permissions

If you've verified the website has proper permissions, it's possible your browser does not have proper permissions from your device operating system. Select your platform below to verify your device settings:

macOS

Apple has system-level privacy controls for your mic and camera. These are great for privacy, but it is possible that your browser was mistakenly blocked from accessing your devices after an update or accidental answer of a prompt.

You can check on this and allow your browser to access them from the Privacy & Security section in your System Settings (System Preferences on older operating systems).

To access these settings, do the following:

1. Click on the Apple in the top left of your desktop -> select System Settings

2. Click on the Privacy & Security section

3. Click on Camera in the list of options and enable the toggle next to your browser to allow access

4. Repeat Step 3 for your Microphone

5. After the above, restart your browser for the updates to take effect

Windows

In Windows 10, you're able to set a default Microphone, but there are also system-level Camera permissions on what applications can access your camera. For either of these settings, the first step is open your system settings by clicking on the Start menu and selecting the Settings gear.

Default Mic

1. Type "Mic" into the search bar

2. Select the Sound settings

3. Scroll down to Input and use the dropdown to select the proper input device

Camera Permissions

1. Type "Cam" into the search bar

2. Select camera in the app permissions

3. Verify your browser has permission to access your camera

Mobile

When permissions have been denied, you can tap the "Try Again" button and select to Allow.

If they are still blocked, the only way to reset them is to go in to the Settings app of your device and find the permissions to reset. Here are the general steps to do so:

1. On your device, open the Settings app

2. Search for the application by its name

3. Toggle on the microphone and camera permissions

Difficulty joining the room or not receiving any audio/video

In some cases, privacy and security tools or settings can interfere with the media being exchanged in a meeting. Check the options on your device or your network to make sure you're able to connect to a call:

• Disable any ad-blockers, VPN, or privacy extensions. Occasionally, browser extensions can interfere with how Whereby loads, which can manifest as video, audio, or room joining issues.

• Check your firewall, proxy, or other security softwares (like anti-virus) to make sure they aren't blocking connection requests. You can try temporarily disabling them to see if it improves the connection. Port 443 will need to be open to all TCP and UDP traffic for a meeting to work.

• If you aren't receiving any audio/video (i.e. can't see/hear everyone), then we recommend going through the troubleshooting steps in the 'Resolving choppy audio or video' section above, too.

Resolving disconnects on mobile

If you lock your phone while in the call, you can experience a disconnect from the room a few minutes later. We suggest keeping the call active with your screen on in order to prevent this from happening.

If you have Apple's iCloud Private relay feature turned on for your device, you may also get disconnected from the room every 5 minutes. You can either turn this feature off or join the call from another browser, such as Chrome. Only calls on Safari are impacted by this feature.

In-room call quality indicator

When we detect a network issue during the call, you will see a yellow indicator appear. The indicator doesn’t mean that you will perceive any reduced quality; it means your network conditions are in such a state where you might experience reduced quality.