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Telehealth Sound Issues

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52 comments

  • Avi

    Hi Dr. Long,

    I hope you are having a wonderful week so far. 

    I understand you're experiencing difficulty with your Telehealth connection and I'd be happy to provide you with suggestions to troubleshoot this issue. 

    I would recommend using this Pre-call Tool before your calls to test the quality of your connection. This is where you can test out your speaker volume or your microphone volume as well to see if it's in the acceptable range.

    Here is an excerpt from our Help Center on Telehealth if you continue to have issues:

    What do I do if I'm having audio problems?

    Follow these steps to verify your computer can capture and play audio:

    • Be sure your volume is not muted. This is a common cause for not being able to hear audio.
    • Check that your computer is using the correct audio device. Applications that use sound usually let you select a source.
    • Try to use a headset or speakers to confirm your computer can play audio.
    • Close any open media player (Spotify, Facebook, etc.).
      • Applications and media players can get control of your speakers and not let go until closed.
    • Your browser settings can get corrupted and prevent your audio from working properly.
      • Clear your browser cache of cookies and reopen the site.
      • Update your web browser to the latest version.
    • If you’re using a dedicated sound card, be sure to update its drivers.
    • Reboot your computer and try to play audio again.

     

    To learn more about how to optimize yourself for Telehealth, I'd recommend the following guide in our Help Center: Telehealth FAQs

    Please feel free to reach out if you want me to look in to a particular session or if you need anything else.

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  • Krista Kilbane

    My microphone shows that I'm muted but I can't seem to clear it by clicking the on off mute key on the screen.  What else would cause my audio to show the slash through the microphone and keep me from having sound?

    -1
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  • Gillian

    Hi Krista, check to ensure that your browser has permission to access the microphone that you're using. 

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  • Alison Pelz

    Hi, I am able to hear audio using Simple Practice, but it is really low.  If I go to another application like YouTube I can hear the audio just fine.  My sound on my computer is turned all the way up.  The sound is a little louder if I use headphones. 

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  • Alison Murphey

    Hi, When my telehealth client is using a phone to connect the audio is incredibly low and I can barely hear them. My computer volume is all the way up and nothing helps.

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  • Gillian

    Hi Alison P., Alison M., it sounds like you're experiencing similar issues. For both of you, are clients using headphones that do not have a mic attached? This can cause too-quiet audio from your client's end to your end. 

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  • Alison Murphey

    The issue has been for client's using headphones and those who are not using them at all. The audio is just far too quiet and I am unable to conduct a session. 

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  • Gillian

    Hi Alison, thank you for clarifying. I'm going to create a Help request on your behalf to our team - we'll get back to you with additional troubleshooting tips shortly via email. 

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  • Kelly Lepore

    I am not using headphone neither are my clients and I cant hear them or vice versa. It very frustrating and I have resulting in just calling them. It is not my IPAD or the phone. Any other suggestions that might help

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  • Tracy Turner-Bumberry

    I need help with not hearing about 50 % of my clients well at all. I did all the audio tests, and everything is good on my end. All clients can hear me quite well. I am really struggling to hear them, and they are having to put their phones right up to their mouths for me to hear them. Please help thanks!

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  • Gillian

    Hi Kelly, happy to help. Have you had a chance to use this Pre-Call Tool to double-check that you and your clients are ready for the call? https://tokbox.com/developer/tools/precall/

    Tracy, are your clients using headphones with a mic? I'd definitely recommend that they do to address the audio issue - also, be sure that the device you're using has the volume turned up. 

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  • Tracy Turner-Bumberry

    I've discovered that those I can't hear are using phones, so I recommended only using their phones if they have earbuds with a mic. Thanks!

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  • Jonathan Sibley

    I have also had problems with clients using phones. It may only be with Android phones but I'm not sure.

    Headphones don't seem like a good solution for working with a couple...

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  • Tonya Woods

    I have a question about sound on a shared screen, I did a test session with my co-worker and she could see my screen, but not hear the sound from my screen (it was a song video). She could hear my voice fine, but no the song from the video.

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  • Gillian

    Tonya, SimplePractice's Telehealth currently does not support streaming audio from shared videos - it's best to share the link to the video with your client through Secure Messaging and watch it together versus sharing your screen. 

     

    Jonathan, SimplePractice’s Telehealth platform does not currently support group and couple’s sessions if they are not in the same location. We are actively working toward this functionality. If your couple is joining from the same location, a headphone splitter might be a good option for them to look into. 

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  • Jonathan Sibley

    I've had no sound problem with some calls, including iphone and android phones.

    It would be great to figure out what happened with other phones. It is as though the microphone wasn't working as a speaker phone.

    When there is a sound problem, should clients be able to mute the sound in Telehealth and have a simultaneous voice call using the same phone, at least as a fallback?

    Thanks.

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  • Gillian

    Hi Jonathan, thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, as a fallback, you can mute the audio on both ends and hold a phone call and use SimplePractice's Telehealth platform for video only. 

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  • Joseph Renguso

    Hi Gillian. I can see my client, but can not hear them. They can see and hear me fine. 

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  • Gillian

    Hi Joseph, I'd be happy to help. Here's a guide on troubleshooting audio issues in SimplePractice: https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002997731-Telehealth-FAQs#whatdoidoi

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  • Nadine Diefenbacher

    Like Joseph I can see my client and cannot hear them.  They can see and hear me fine.  I am on an android phone.

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  • Gillian

    Hi Nadine, have you had a chance to review the guide on troubleshooting audio issues further up in this thread?

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  • Joseph Renguso

    This is what happened with two of my clients. When they first click on the link they are asked to allow Telehealth to access their microphone and camera. Both my clients didn’t accept the microphone. That’s why I couldn’t hear them.

    Solution; have them go to their settings on their phone and go to the Telehealth app. Once they click on it they will see that their microphone is turned off. Turn it on. Problem solved.

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  • Gillian

    Thanks for sharing this solution, Joseph! We're glad it's resolved.

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  • Lisa McMichael

    I am muted and I cannot unmute when I am on a telehealth session, My clients can not hear me. I have checked my computer and the sound is on and my browser has permission to access my microphone and camera. On the telehealth window on my browser, the box that shows my face has a microphone icon with a slash over it. How do I unmute it so that my clients can hear me?   

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  • Gillian

    Hi Lisa, happy to help. Can you share with me the browser you're using, as well as the device you're using and the operating system's version? 

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  • Beth Hermosillo, LMFT

    Hi, I am having the same problem as Lisa. The microphone icon over my picture shows that I am muted and clients cannot hear me, despite muting and unmuting on the control bar on the screen. This started suddenly yesterday during a telehealth session, but was fine prior to that. I am using a PC. I have tried using both Microsoft Edge and Chrome and checked the settings for both of them. There is no problem with my microphone using any other platform. I had to switch over to Zoom today. Any suggestions? 

     

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  • Gillian

    Hi Beth, happy to help. Our team would be happy to provide some troubleshooting assistance with this. Please reach out through the ? bubble in your SimplePractice account so the Success team can assist directly. 

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  • Deborah Bressler

    My clients can hear me.

     

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  • Deborah Bressler

    Sorry, my clients can't hear me.  I can hear them just fine.

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  • Suzanne Thompson

    Same as Deborah B.

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