You may occasionally see an issue connecting to a patient or colleague on a video consultation. This article has a list of things to try if you're seeing this issue. 😊
Most common causes
You're on a phone call at the same time - sadly, some phones aren't able to handle the microphone being used by two things, so if you're on a phone call at the same time, our video call is likely to have trouble. Make sure you hang up the phone call before you start your video call.
Another app using camera/microphone is running in the background - make sure you've closed any apps like Zoom, Skype, or any other previous video tabs that might be accessing the camera and microphone.
You're using a VPN - Right now we don't recommend using video consultations with a VPN. Not having a consistent IP address can cause problems connecting to a consultation. Our recommendation is to turn off your VPN for the video consultation, and then turn it back on after finishing.
There is a firewall blocking the connection - If you or the patient can see/hear yourselves but not each other, it is likely that there is a firewall blocking the connection. To fix this, please share this article with your IT department and ask them to update your firewall settings.
Testing your webcam and microphone:
You can test your webcam and microphone at these two external websites to see if there is an issue:
Microphone check: https://webcammictest.com/check-mic.html
Webcam check: https://webcammictest.com/
When joining a video consultation, you should see an option to test your microphone and request permissions:
Occasionally we see issues where this doesn't appear, or doesn't seem to have worked. This can then mean no sound for you or the patient OR no image for one of you. This is typically due to an issue with your camera and/or microphone being blocked at a phone setting level, but it is quick to resolve.
Mobile: Camera/microphone settings to check
iPhone
Go to your "Settings"
Scroll down and tap on your browser e.g. Safari
Scroll down and you should see "Camera" and "Microphone"
Tap into "Camera"/"Microphone" and click "Allow"
Android*
Go to your Settings
Click "App Settings & Notifications"
Scroll down and tap on your browser e.g. Chrome (you may have to click "See all apps" if not initially visible)
Click "Permissions"
Scroll down and you should see "Camera" and "Microphone"
Tap into "Camera"/"Microphone" and enable them
*If you are still having issues with Chrome on Android, please try allow change your Chrome settings by following these steps.
Settings to check when you've already begun a video consultation:
You should also try these steps while in the room, to check what camera is being used (you might need to click 'continue without devices' first to enter the room)
Desktop: Camera/microphone settings to check
See here to learn how you can run video consultations on your desktop (if you've got a webcam set up).
Google Chrome settings
Open Chrome.
At the top right, click the 3 dots, and then Settings.
Under "Privacy and security," click Site settings.
Click Camera or Microphone. Turn Ask before accessing on or off. To remove an existing exception or permission, to the right of the site, click Delete.
Settings to check when you've already begun a video consultation:
You can check what the room is trying to use by going to the cog in the top right (you might need to click 'continue without devices' first to enter the room)
If you're still seeing issues, please try clearing your cache and cookies.
Windows systems settings
This may also be related to your computers camera and microphone settings. See the Windows section of this article to learn how to tweak your computer's camera and microphone settings in your computer's Windows settings.
If you have any questions, chat to our support team. We're always happy to help! 👉