If you experience audio choppiness during a GatherPlace meeting, you will first need to determine whether the issue exists on the host's end or one of the guest's end before corrective actions can be taken.
If all of the guests in the meeting hear the choppiness, dropouts, or missing words in the hosts voice then the problem is on the host's end.
If only one or two guests have poor audio, the problem is at the guest's end.
Once you determine who needs to correct their audio, have them consult the information below which lists the causes and solutions from most common to least common.
The major cause for the poor audio is the connection between the GP4 client and the Internet.
In the vast majority of these cases, the problem is caused by a wireless connection.
If you are using a wireless connection to the Internet, disconnect from the meeting and plug the computer into the router or modem using an Ethernet cable. Then re-join the meeting and see if that solves the problem.
Too Much local Traffic on the Network.
The sound will become choppy if there is not enough bandwidth for the data to get through in a timely manner.
If you are experiencing the problem make sure there are no computers in the house that are uploading/downloading files to/from the Internet and try shutting down all of the other computers in the house to see if that corrects the audio issue. Also make sure you are not streaming anything such as music or videos from streaming services like hulu.com, Netflix, iTunes, etc. and never have any torrents uploading or downloading while in a GatherPlace meeting.
A Program is Updating or a Virus Scan is Running.
Make sure that there are no automatic (or manual) program updates or active virus scans running. Either of these will consume enough CPU to cause the audio to be delayed, choppy, or repeated.
A Virus Scanner, Internet Security Software, Firewall, or Proxy Server is Delaying the Audio.
The CPU is Working at Maximum Capacity and Cannot Process all of the Voice Data.
The Jitter Buffer is Set Incorrectly in GP4.
The default setting for the jitter buffer is 300ms and increasing it slightly may correct the choppy audio. The larger the jitter buffer value, the more audio is buffered before playing it back in the meeting which increases the delay in hearing the audio so only increase to the point that clears up the poor audio. If adjusting the jitter buffer does not correct the choppy audio, be sure to set it back to the 300ms range.
Please see
this article on setting the Jitter Buffer in GP4.
