You can use the same microphone and speakers for Skype and for the CISCO phone, and anything else for that matter.  There is no need to change microphones or speakers when moving between software (unless you have a special need like excellent audio quality for a video).  Do get into the habit of checking the mic when you move from platform to platform.  Sometimes one program doesn't want to release the mic back to Windows to be used by another program.  A good digital kick to the tires will fix this.

See the troubleshooting section for more information.

There are a lot of options when it comes to microphones for meetings.  There is a mic out there that will work well for you and be easy to use. Talk to your manager about what your options are; most departments purchase headsets or other microphones for their staff.

Laptop internal mic:

As far as quality goes, the internal microphone on your laptop is probably the worst choice.  While it is convenient, the sound quality isn't great and it picks up a lot of ambient sound (think keyboard sounds, office chatter, air conditioner hum).  If you don't have a lot of meetings and don't use the phone a lot, your laptop mic is probably fine; if you are in a lot of meetings or on the phone, you should consider some alternatives.

Headsets:

Headsets are the best choice for sound quality and have the benefit of having integrated speakers.  They come in a wide range of styles and offer good performance for the price.  Most headsets have their own volume control and mute feature.  Two popular models around CSS are:

• Plantronics GameCom 388 Gaming Stereo Headset

• Logitech Stereo Headset H130

Webcams:

Most external webcams have an integrated microphone.  The microphones are often better than the one on your laptop but they do pick up a lot of ambient sound.

Ear buds with microphones:

Now that just about every cell phone comes with ear buds with an integrated microphone you probably have at least one extra pair laying around the house.  These can be used as your microphone.  The mic on ear buds is OK but not as good as those on headsets.  If you use ear buds with an integrated microphone, know where the mute and disconnect button is on them. 

Also, be very aware of where the microphone sits. It is easy for those mics to rub against clothing or skin, and that makes a very annoying sound on the other end.  Make sure the mic isn't touching anything.

Bluetooth mics:

These days, Bluetooth mics are everything from the old school stereotypical Wall Street over-the-ear cell phone numbers to earphones with integrated mics designed for comfort and to stay in when running.  You can pair just about any Bluetooth headset/microphone to your laptop.  Now you can pace around the house while participating in a meeting.  Woot woot!

There are a number of different places that control what microphone you use and its sensitivity.  Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with these settings.  Understanding how the various settings impact each other will help you create a stable set-up that will consistently work.  Don't wait until right before a meeting to test your microphone and check your settings.  Get in the habit of doing it daily, or at least every day that you have a meeting.

Microphone:

If you are using an external microphone such as a headset, webcam, or ear buds, it may have settings on the device.  Read the documentation and learn how to control the volume, mute, and disconnect features for your mic.

The Windows microphone settings controls what mics are configured to work on your computer, the mic's sensitivity, and the default mic used by programs. You can disable a microphone here (making it unusable for any program) but you can't mute a microphone in the settings.

The easiest way to access the windows microphone settings is to right-click the speaker icon in the lower right corner of your computer.  Select Recording Devices from the menu.

The Recording device screen will display all the devices Windows recognizes that can capture sound. Depending on what you have plugged in, there may just be one device or there may be many.   Any microphone showing as active in the Recording screen is available to use with any program that captures sound.

It can be challenging telling which device is which.  Look at the descriptions for the microphones for help.  If it says USB Audio Device, then it is whatever mic is plugged into a USB port.  If it says Line In, it is the device plugged into your mic jack.  Note that the newer Walden laptops don't have mic ports, only a speaker port.  If Windows recognized the device and installed drivers for it, the device name may display, such as HD Pro Webcam.

Also note, the Recording screen may show devices that you used previously but are not currently plugged in. If something is greyed out, then Windows can't find it, either because it isn't plugged in or because it isn't configured properly.

Here is an example of what the Recording screen may look like. Yours will look different.

You may need to do some tests to find out which device is which.  The easiest way to do this is to unplug all the mics.  The active mic (not greyed out) that is left should be the internal laptop mic.  Now add your other microphones in one at a time, and note the names for each one.

You may want to rename the mics; this makes it easier to identify them in the list.

If you connected a microphone to a laptop but you aren't seeing it in the Recordings screen, Windows doesn't recognize the mic. 

Go to the troubleshooting section to find out how to resolve this.

Default Devices:

You can set a mic as the default mic.  That mic will then be used by any recording program—as long as the mic is attached to the computer (you can change the mic in the program if you want).  If you don't want to use the laptop internal microphone, you may want to make your preferred mic the default. Then you don't have to constantly switch mics in your programs.

You'll notice there are two "default device" settings. Windows allows you to distinguish between the default device for general recording and the default device for audio and video calls (including Skype meetings), if desired. 

• Set as default device - All programs will have their audio captured by this device (unless otherwise configured).

• Set as default communications device - All calls/video calls will have their audio captured by this device (unless otherwise configured).

To set a device as default:

1. In the Windows Recording settings, select the device you want to make the default.
2. Right-click the device.
3. Select "Set as default device" or "Set as default communication device" from the menu.

Mic Sensitivity:

You can set the default sensitivity levels for your mic in the Windows settings.  The sensitivity controls how much sound the mic picks up.  If you have the mic as far away from you as possible and it is still picking up your breathing, adjust the mic's sensitivity.  The Windows setting will apply to all programs that use that device.  Most programs also have a mic sensitivity setting, and you may find it easier to control the mic settings there.  Experiment and see which you prefer. 

To adjust the mic sensitivity in Windows:

1. In the Windows Recording settings, find the device you want to adjust.
2. Look at the bar to the right of the mic.  Breath into the microphone.  Do you see green on the bar?  Then the mic is picking up your breathing. 
3. Speak into the mic.  Do you see green on the bar? How high does it go?  With a normal speaking tone, it should top out around the halfway mark.  More than that is probably too much.
4. Now that you know if your mic is too sensitive or not sensitive enough, click the Properties button.
5. Click the Levels tab.
6. Adjust the microphone slider either up or down, depending on what you found when you tested the mic. 
7. Click OK.
8. Test the mic again by breathing and speaking into it. 
9. Continue testing it and adjusting it until you are happy.

Test your mic settings with Windows Sound Recorder:

If you really want to get a good sensitivity level, use the Windows Sound Recorder to record your mic.  This way you can hear how much your mic is picking up and really fine-tune your settings.

To test your mic using Windows Sound Recorder:

1. First, go into the Windows Recording settings and disable all the microphones except the one you want to test.  This eliminates any bad results from the program using the wrong mic.
2. Click the Windows Start icon to access the Windows search feature.
3. Search for sound recorder.
4. Click Sound Recorder in the search results.
5. This will open the Sound Recorder.  Click the Start Recording button to begin the recording.
6. Test the mic.  Talk into the mic in a normal speaking voice.  Also breathe into the mic.  Type on your keyboard, and maybe drum your fingers on your desk.  Replicate any of the sounds you may make during a typical meeting.
7. Once you are finished making noise, click the Stop Recording button.
8. This will open a Save window.  Save the file somewhere you can find it.
9. Go find the file you just saved and double-click it.  Windows will launch it in Media Player. 
10. Listen to the recording.  Listen for how loud your voice is, how audible the other sounds are, and for background static humming or buzzing.  The hum or buzz is caused by your mic being too "hot".  Turn the levels down to get rid of that.
11. The speaker volume impacts how the recording sounds.  As you are listening to the recording, turn your speaker volume up and down to hear how that changes the recording.  Aim to have a good recording with your speakers at around 50% of total volume.
12. Use the information you learned listening to the recording to adjust your mic levels, and then record it again.

Remember with some microphones you can also adjust the distance the microphone is from your mouth.  This is another reason that headsets provide the best sound quality.  They provide more ways you can manage the mic sensitivity.

In the Skype Audio Device Settings you can configure which microphone you use with Skype and adjust the microphone sensitivity.  In the meeting room you can mute your mic.

Skype Audio Device Settings:

To access the Audio Device Settings, open Skype and click on Tools in the top toolbar or the gear. Then click on Audio Device Settings from the menu.

All of the microphones Skype has access to are shown in the Audio Device drop-down.  Unfortunately they usually don't display the same name as in the Windows Audio settings.  It can be challenging to tell them apart. You may need to test them one by one to figure out which is which.  Luckily, unless you plan on using a different device for the speaker and the microphone, you can test the devices by clicking the speaker play button and listen for the sound.  Whichever device is playing the sound is also the microphone.

The default mic selected in Skype is either the last one you used, the one set as the Default Communications Device in the Windows Audio settings, or the one set as Default in the Windows setting—in that order.  You can choose a different mic by clicking the drop-down arrow and selecting the mic from the list.

Note: The speaker and microphone options in Skype may change entirely every time you plug or unplug a device.  They may also change when you dock or undock your computer.  Try to avoid plugging or unplugging devices from your computer right before meetings.  Unless you have unique recording needs, try to find one set up that works for you and use it consistently.

Using two different devices for the mic and speakers:

You have the option of selecting different devices for the microphone and the speakers, if you want.  For example, you may want to use the laptop microphone but ear bud speakers.  You can do this, but the computer's internal mic and speakers must be set as the default for this to work.

To choose different devices for the mic and speakers:

1. First go to the Windows Recording settings and confirm that the computer's mic and speakers are set as the default.
2. Open Skype and go to the Audio Device Settings.
3. Select PC Mic and Speakers from the device list.
4. The speaker and microphone selectors are now separate; you can choose one device for the microphone and another for the speakers.

There are two mute buttons in Skype.  You are muted by default unless you are the meeting organizer.

Mute yourself:  Click the microphone button on the main meeting page or by your name in the participant list to mute yourself.

Presenters can mute anyone: If you are a presenter you can mute anyone individually or the entire group.

• Mute individuals by clicking the microphone icon next to the person's name.
• Mute the group using the Participant Actions button.

As with microphones, there are a lot of options when it comes to speakers for meetings. 

Laptop internal speakers:

Your laptop speakers are about as good as your laptop mic; they work but they aren't great.  You must use your laptop microphone if you use your laptop speakers. Otherwise you will get an echo or feedback. 

See the preventing echoes section for more information.

Headsets:

The same headsets that work for microphones also work for speakers.  Usually the big concern with the speaker component of a headset is how it fits over the ear.  Some people like both ears covered, some like one.  Unless you use the headset to make audio or video recordings, it is fine to select the headset based on ear comfort rather than microphone quality. 
 

Ear buds, Bluetooth or wired:

Ear buds work well for speakers.  They are discrete, stay out of the way, and are readily available. 

External speakers, Bluetooth or wired:

If you have a permanent setup and can make noise without annoying people, external speakers may be a good option.  They could be wired or Bluetooth.

In Windows, there are two different sets of controls for speakers. The Playback settings control which speakers are configured to work on your computer and the default speaker—just as the Recording settings control these things for microphones. There is a speaker level in the Playback settings but it controls speaker volume just as the Mixer does.

The Windows Mixer controls the volume for the speaker set as the default.

Playback Settings:

The easiest way to access the Windows speaker settings is to right-click the speaker icon in the lower right corner of your computer.  Select Playback from the menu.

The Playback devices screen displays all the speakers Windows knows about.  Depending on what you have plugged in, there may be just one device or there may be many.  All speakers that show as active are available to use with any program that plays sound.

As with microphones, it can be challenging to tell which device is which.  Luckily it is easier to test speakers than microphones.  Right-click the selected speaker and select Test from the menu.  Listen for the sound.

You may also see speakers that are greyed out, meaning they were used at one time but are currently not active.  This is because they are disabled or not plugged in to the computer.

You can re-name speakers the same way you re-name microphones.  Right-click the speaker, select Properties from the menu, and type the new name in the text box.

Default Devices:

You can set a speaker as the default.  Those speakers will then be used by any program that plays sound unless you change the default in the program.

As with microphones, there are two default device settings.

• Set as default device - All programs will have their audio played through this device (unless otherwise configured)

• Set as default communications device - All calls/video call audio will be played through this device (unless otherwise configured)

To set a device as default

1. In the Windows Playback settings, select the device you want to make the default.
2. Right-click the device.
3. Select "Set as default device" or "Set as default communication device" from the menu.

You can control the speaker volume through the Mixer.  This is the name of the volume control behind the speaker button in your Windows tray.

The quick way to change the speaker volume is to click the speaker icon and change the volume using the slider.

Here's the sneaky thing that you may not know.  In an attempt to be helpful, Windows applies the volume setting differently for different programs.  You can control the volume for each program through the Mixer and force Windows to do what you want rather than what it thinks it needs to do.

Windows sets the sound for Skype lower than other programs.  If you find yourself turning your speakers up whenever you're in a Skype meeting, this is why.

To access the Mixer:

1. Click the speaker icon in your Windows system tray.
2. Click the Mixer link. If you see two different mixers, you have programs using two different speakers

In the Mixer you will see a master volume slider (Device) and volume sliders for each open program that can play sound. You can set the default volume for each program independently.

The master volume slider will adjust the program's volume based on their current settings.  For instance, if the CISCO IP phone volume slider is set at 25% and the Lync volume slider is set at 50%, moving the master slider will increase each program's volume by the same amount starting at where they are set.

In the Skype Audio Device Settings you can configure which speaker you use with Skype and adjust the volume.  In the meeting room you can mute your speakers.

Skype Audio Device Settings:

To access the Audio Device Settings, open Skype and click on Tools in the top toolbar or the gear. Then click on Audio Device Settings from the menu.

All of the speakers Skype has access to are shown in the Audio Device drop-down.  Unfortunately they usually don't display the same name as in the Windows Audio settings.  It can be challenging to tell them apart. You may need to test them one by one to figure out which is which.  To test them, click the Speaker play button and listen to for the sound.

The default speaker selected in Skype is either the last one you used, the one set as the Default Communications Device in the Windows Audio settings, or the one set as Default in the Windows setting--in that order.  You can choose a different speaker by clicking the drop-down arrow and selecting the mic from the list.

Note: The speaker and microphone options in Skype may change entirely every time you plug or unplug a device.  They may also change when you dock or undock your computer.  Try to avoid plugging or unplugging devices from your computer right before meetings.  Unless you have unique recording needs, try to find one set up that works for you and use it consistently.

Using two different devices for the mic and speakers:

You have the option of selecting different devices for the microphone and the speakers, if you want.  For example, you may want to use the laptop microphone but ear bud speakers.  You can do this, but the computer's internal mic and speakers must be set as the default for this to work.

To choose different devices for the mic and speakers:

Mute your speakers in Windows:

Click the speaker icon in the tray and then the speaker icon in the volume slider. This mutes all speakers in every program at once.

Mute your speakers in Skype:

There is a sneaky volume control in Skype that is often set to mute by default.  If you can't hear anything in Skype, this should be the first thing you check.

Click the phone icon in Skype.

Click the speaker icon to mute or unmute your speakers.

There is one easy way to avoid feedback and echoes. 

If you use the laptop speakers, you must use the laptop microphone. 

You can use any microphone with an ear bud style speaker, whether that is a headset or traditional ear buds. 

Feedback and echoes are created by a very specific circumstance.  They occur when a speaker broadcasts audio, an open microphone picks it up, and feeds it back into the system as a new sound, and the speaker plays the new sound, which the open speaker picks up, ad infinitum until something stops the chaos. This creates a feedback loop that results in echoes, squealing, or both.

Normally a microphone and speaker are integrated and work together to avoid these situations.  Here's what happens when you use the microphone and speakers on your laptop.  The microphone is usually open or live, meaning it picks up any sounds it hears and send the sounds into the system.  Your speaker knows to not broadcast any sounds coming from your microphone.  When sound comes out of the system, the speaker broadcasts it out.  Your microphone knows to not pick up any sound coming from your speaker.  They work together to avoid feedback.

Feedback and echoes occur when you are using a microphone from one device and speakers from another device.  And specifically, when the speakers are playing to the room, so to speak, as opposed to playing to your ears through ear buds or a headset.

Finding out where the noise is coming from:

If you hear yourself echoing, the issue is with someone else's setup.

If you hear other people echoing, the issue may be with you.

You can tell who is making the noise by checking the Participant list in the Skype meeting.  The microphone icon changes when someone's microphone is transmitting audio.  You will also see a blue line under their picture in Skype.

Echoes in hybrid meetings:

Echoes tend to happen in hybrid meetings when at least two people are sitting by each other, both are in the meeting space, and both have live microphones.  Both microphones are picking up sound and transmitting it into the system. 

Fortunately this doesn't happen often in Skype, as it mutes everyone except the Meeting Organizer as they come in.

Coming soon... Like later today soon...

This section includes troubleshooting steps for the common audio issues seen in Skype.  You may not be able to do all of these things immediately but you should work through the steps when you have time.  And if you have recurring issues, you should get Frontline involved sooner rather than later.

Always have a backup plan for audio issues.  Worst-case scenario, use chat if your mic refuses to work.  Ask someone to record the meeting for you if you can't hear.

Computer microphone and speaker ports are often the first thing to break on a computer.  If you are consistently having issues with devices that plug into these ports there is a good chance the port is bad.  Contact Frontline, and talk to your manager about getting a USB converter such as this one from Amazon.

I can't hear anything!

1. Check the volume in Skype. 
2. Check the volume in Windows. 
3. Verify that the correct speakers are selected in the Skype Audio Device Settings.
4. Verify the speakers are active in Windows Playback settings.
5. Leave the meeting and come back in.
6. Unplug your speakers and plug them in again.
7. If it is a USB speaker, try a different USB port. 
8. Reboot your computer.
9. Contact Frontline for help.  There may be a system issue.

No one can hear me!

1. Verify that your mic isn't muted in Skype.
2. Verify that the correct microphone is selected in the Skype Audio Device settings.
3. Verify that the microphone is active in Windows Audio Device settings.
4. Leave the meeting and come back in.
5. Check the microphone levels in Windows Playback settings.
6. Unplug the microphone and plug it back in.
7. If it is USB device, try a different USB port.
8. Reboot your computer.
9. Call Frontline; there may be an issue with your device or your computer.