Troubleshooting Verkada Two-Way Audio Delay and Echo
Verkada's two-way audio feature is a powerful tool, allowing for real-time communication through the camera's built-in speaker and microphone. It's invaluable for greeting visitors, deterring intruders, or making announcements. However, technical issues like significant audio delay (latency), echo, or poor quality can make communication difficult and frustrating.
These problems are typically not caused by the camera hardware itself but are symptoms of network conditions. This guide will help you understand the causes of audio delay and provide practical solutions to improve performance.
The Root Cause: Network Latency
Two-way audio on an IP camera works similarly to a Voice over IP (VoIP) phone call. Your voice is converted into digital data, sent over the internet to the camera, and then converted back into sound. This entire round trip takes time, and that time is called latency.
Common causes of high latency and poor audio quality include:
- Slow Upload/Download Speeds: A bottleneck in either your device's upload speed or the camera's download speed will delay the audio packets.
- Weak Wi-Fi or Cellular Signal: An unstable connection with high packet loss will cause the audio to sound garbled, choppy, or cut out entirely.
- Network Congestion: If the local network is busy with other high-bandwidth activities (like streaming video or large downloads), audio data can be delayed.
- Audio Feedback: An echo is usually caused by the microphone on your phone or computer picking up the audio coming from its own speaker, creating a feedback loop.
Step-by-Step Solutions to Improve Audio Performance
Follow these steps to diagnose and minimise audio delay and echo.
1. Test from a Stable Network Connection
The quality of the network you are using to speak from is just as important as the camera's network.
- Avoid Weak Cellular Data: If you are using a mobile phone, check your signal strength. A poor 4G/LTE connection is a very common cause of audio lag. For best results, connect your phone to a reliable Wi--Fi network before using the two-way talk feature.
- Use a Wired Connection: When using a computer to talk through the camera, connect it to your network using an Ethernet cable if possible. A wired connection is more stable and has lower latency than Wi-Fi.
2. Address Audio Echo and Feedback
An echo is almost always caused by the device you are using for playback, not the camera.
- Use Headphones: The most effective way to eliminate echo is to use headphones (wired or wireless). This prevents the microphone on your computer or phone from picking up the camera's return audio.
- Lower Your Speaker Volume: If you cannot use headphones, try turning down the speaker volume on your viewing device. This can reduce the amount of audio that gets fed back into the microphone.
3. Analyse the Camera's Network Environment
Ensuring the camera has a solid connection is critical.
- Check Bandwidth: The camera needs sufficient download bandwidth to receive your audio stream promptly. While audio itself is not data-intensive, it needs a stable connection. Check for other devices on the same network that might be consuming all the available bandwidth.
- Prioritise Traffic with QoS: For corporate networks, consider implementing Quality of Service (QoS) rules on your network switches and firewall. QoS can be configured to prioritise real-time audio and video traffic, ensuring it isn't delayed by less time-sensitive data.
4. Update and Reboot
Ensure all components are running the latest software and have been recently restarted.
- Update the Verkada Command App: Make sure you are using the latest version of the Command mobile app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Reboot Your Devices: A simple reboot can often resolve temporary glitches.
- Restart your mobile phone or computer.
- Reboot the Verkada camera (this can be done remotely from within the Command interface).
- Reboot your network router.
By understanding that two-way audio is dependent on network health, you can take targeted steps to significantly reduce latency and echo, leading to clear and effective communication through your Verkada cameras.