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> makes the mute button easier to find It's odd this is still an issue. I'm not sure why the mute button is not featured more prominently on videochat apps. It

> makes the mute button easier to find It's odd this is still an issue. I'm not sure why the mute button is not featured more prominently on videochat apps. It's almost the primary feature during a call that makes things go smoothly. Also, there's always one guy who has to say every bloody time, "are you there, have you forgot to unmute?" if you fail to unmute and start talking <100ms after your name has been mentioned.

colanderman 6y ago
Hangouts is the worst in this regard. It hides in a bar off the bottom of the window that only stays visible if your mouse is in the exact correct position. It takes 5 seconds of chasing it to be able to catch it and click it. Why can't it just stay visible??
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 6y ago
  It's funny because for me, it's always on, and it's terrible because it shows "are you trying to talk" every time my kid screams (very often). The worst part of it, is that it covers the bottom of the screen, even during screensharing. What is the most important part of the screen when using a terminal?
RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 6y ago
Just use a headset with a physical mute button. I've been using this pair[0] for years. It works great. [0] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-headset-h800 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-headset-h800
- ThePadawan 6y ago
  I do this and it has downsides: * muting yourself is not clearly visible to the conference app (Your face doesn't get a mic with a strikethrough on the screen). Apps that warn you that your audio device is receiving audio but you are muted on the application level no longer work correctly. * some apps (Looking at you, Teams) will actually complain that you seem to have deactivated your audio device (of course you did - that's the whole point).
  - iofiiiiiiiii 6y ago
    This is only a problem with headsets that have poor drivers. Better devices like Jabra headsets integrate directly with Teams and will actually synchronize mute status between the headset and Teams!
    - ThePadawan 6y ago
      Cool! YMMV but 0 of my WFH colleagues own business-grade headsets though. Some have Airpods, and most use Gaming headsets (like I do) or Bose QuietComfort (which IIRC don't have dedicated mute buttons). Until we find a unified API around all those devices, a prescribed unified usage pattern IMO doesn't make sense yet.
      - WorldMaker 6y ago
        Eventually companies will realize they should spend or reimburse to upgrade "home office" equipment to "business-grade".
de_watcher 6y ago
Some videoconference solutions that are pushed on businesses aren't mature at all: in that Cisco thing when you mute someone it mutes them for everybody (not just for you), so it's hard to have a mixed conference because you either hear people in your physical room twice or remotes obviously don't hear them at all if you use the 'mute participant' button.
- orev 6y ago
  I can’t think of a situation where someone would need to be muted and it shouldn’t mute them for everyone. That is not a scenario that I think anyone would expect to work that way.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 6y ago
    If you have some people in the same room and some not, this is a very useful feature. As someone pointed out, all these things already happened in gaming.
jnathsf 6y ago
I appreciate apps that provide a universal keyboard shortcut like Zoom that works even if I’m focused on another app. Next best is Google Meet but it only works when you’re focused on the same tab. Worst is Teams, WebEx etc that don’t provide any keyboard shortcut My mute preference in videoconference tools: Universal keyboard shortcut > app focused keyboard shortcut > no keyboard shortcut
heroprotagonist 6y ago
I set up a mute pedal going to my microphone so there's no dependency on software or even clicking with my hands. I just toggle it with my foot. But then, it's a full audio setup with a shure sm7b, preprocessor and audio interface, instead of your typical conference call headset.
hakfoo 6y ago
We use Hangouts a lot at my employer, and it inevitably slides away the mute/video off/screenshare buttons if you move the mouse away, so when we do the polite "mute until your turn to speak" standups, it tends to 10 seconds of "you're muted" while we frantically fumble with the mouse and repeat our statements.
- chucksmash 6y ago
  This drove me crazy in Google Meet. Also had issues with trying to show the Meet bottom toolbar sometimes where it just refused to unhide itself. Mercifully, there's a keyboard shortcut for toggling mute state. Try out `⌘/Ctrl + d` next time.
alonmower 6y ago
With Zoom (as long as Zoom has focus) you can hold down spacebar to temporarily unmute yourself. It's been a real lifesaver
- ghthor 6y ago
  Back in my day we called that, push-to-talk. Everything old is new again.
  - cmehdy 6y ago
    Teamspeak guild, assemble!
    - de_watcher 6y ago
      Yea, gaming is miles ahead of everything in this area. It obviously doesn't focus on video too much, but audio and text are on point.
      - WorldMaker 6y ago
        I've heard of a few companies preferring Discord over Slack or Teams right now exactly because gaming figured out so much of this decades ago and Discord prioritizing it works well for those companies.

colanderman 6y ago

Hangouts is the worst in this regard. It hides in a bar off the bottom of the window that only stays visible if your mouse is in the exact correct position. It takes 5 seconds of chasing it to be able to catch it and click it. Why can't it just stay visible??

Fire-Dragon-DoL 6y ago
It's funny because for me, it's always on, and it's terrible because it shows "are you trying to talk" every time my kid screams (very often). The worst part of it, is that it covers the bottom of the screen, even during screensharing. What is the most important part of the screen when using a terminal?

RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 6y ago

Just use a headset with a physical mute button. I've been using this pair[0] for years. It works great. [0] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-headset-h800 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-headset-h800

ThePadawan 6y ago
I do this and it has downsides: * muting yourself is not clearly visible to the conference app (Your face doesn't get a mic with a strikethrough on the screen). Apps that warn you that your audio device is receiving audio but you are muted on the application level no longer work correctly. * some apps (Looking at you, Teams) will actually complain that you seem to have deactivated your audio device (of course you did - that's the whole point).
- iofiiiiiiiii 6y ago
  This is only a problem with headsets that have poor drivers. Better devices like Jabra headsets integrate directly with Teams and will actually synchronize mute status between the headset and Teams!
  - ThePadawan 6y ago
    Cool! YMMV but 0 of my WFH colleagues own business-grade headsets though. Some have Airpods, and most use Gaming headsets (like I do) or Bose QuietComfort (which IIRC don't have dedicated mute buttons). Until we find a unified API around all those devices, a prescribed unified usage pattern IMO doesn't make sense yet.
    - WorldMaker 6y ago
      Eventually companies will realize they should spend or reimburse to upgrade "home office" equipment to "business-grade".

de_watcher 6y ago

Some videoconference solutions that are pushed on businesses aren't mature at all: in that Cisco thing when you mute someone it mutes them for everybody (not just for you), so it's hard to have a mixed conference because you either hear people in your physical room twice or remotes obviously don't hear them at all if you use the 'mute participant' button.

orev 6y ago
I can’t think of a situation where someone would need to be muted and it shouldn’t mute them for everyone. That is not a scenario that I think anyone would expect to work that way.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 6y ago
  If you have some people in the same room and some not, this is a very useful feature. As someone pointed out, all these things already happened in gaming.

jnathsf 6y ago

I appreciate apps that provide a universal keyboard shortcut like Zoom that works even if I’m focused on another app. Next best is Google Meet but it only works when you’re focused on the same tab. Worst is Teams, WebEx etc that don’t provide any keyboard shortcut My mute preference in videoconference tools: Universal keyboard shortcut > app focused keyboard shortcut > no keyboard shortcut

heroprotagonist 6y ago

I set up a mute pedal going to my microphone so there's no dependency on software or even clicking with my hands. I just toggle it with my foot. But then, it's a full audio setup with a shure sm7b, preprocessor and audio interface, instead of your typical conference call headset.

hakfoo 6y ago

We use Hangouts a lot at my employer, and it inevitably slides away the mute/video off/screenshare buttons if you move the mouse away, so when we do the polite "mute until your turn to speak" standups, it tends to 10 seconds of "you're muted" while we frantically fumble with the mouse and repeat our statements.

chucksmash 6y ago
This drove me crazy in Google Meet. Also had issues with trying to show the Meet bottom toolbar sometimes where it just refused to unhide itself. Mercifully, there's a keyboard shortcut for toggling mute state. Try out `⌘/Ctrl + d` next time.

alonmower 6y ago

With Zoom (as long as Zoom has focus) you can hold down spacebar to temporarily unmute yourself. It's been a real lifesaver

ghthor 6y ago
Back in my day we called that, push-to-talk. Everything old is new again.
- cmehdy 6y ago
  Teamspeak guild, assemble!
  - de_watcher 6y ago
    Yea, gaming is miles ahead of everything in this area. It obviously doesn't focus on video too much, but audio and text are on point.
    - WorldMaker 6y ago
      I've heard of a few companies preferring Discord over Slack or Teams right now exactly because gaming figured out so much of this decades ago and Discord prioritizing it works well for those companies.