Remember the famous Verizon commercials from earlier in this century? Call quality and geographic coverage were major issues at that stage in the development of mobile networks. Fast forward to 2022, and "can you hear me now" has more applicability to today's Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams video conferencing. The same is true for any other form of audio that involves an IP network, a conference room, and the need for all parties to comprehend each other.

Two decades after that Verizon campaign first appeared; why is this phrase still a common refrain, only now in many videoconferences? It has to do with several factors, not the least of which is the design of modern conference rooms. We have addressed conference room audio-video quality in an earlier post, and in this one would like to go a bit further, as audio quality will be crucial to creating meeting rooms that work for in-office staff and remote teams alike. 

Please read on to learn more about improving conference room audio in your Scottsdale, AZ, organization.

It wasn’t too long ago that conference room audio consisted of a lowly speakerphone. In the U.S., some of the first speakerphones were speaker add-ons to the ubiquitous Bell system phones in executive offices and boardrooms. In the 1980s and 1990s,  Polycom’s (Poly today) popular Soundstation speakerphones did much to diminish the use of the phrase “can you hear me now” at the start of every conference call.

Audio is still critically important in today’s age of video conferencing, hybrid workplaces, and fully remote teams. For individuals working on a laptop or even a smartphone, being heard is not problematic with the ever-higher quality of microphones in these devices and software DSP that can mitigate ambient noise. In a small huddle room, all-in-one devices like a Poly soundbar with a camera and microphone employ beam-forming microphones that do a reasonably good job capturing a small group. However, put a large group of people in a conference room, and the auditory challenges increase significantly.

Let’s take a closer look below at some of the issues and ways to improve sound quality and intelligibility in conference room audio-video systems.