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Set up Camera and Microphone

Before entering a meeting or alfaview room

Before you enter an alfaview room, the Quick Setup menu is displayed. This allows you to adjust the settings for your audio equipment and camera.

Set up your camera

If you see the message Camera is turned off instead of a video, please activate your camera.

  • Click on the camera icon above the preview video.
  • Then, click on the Camera on button.

Your camera is activated when the camera symbol is displayed in blue.

Quick setup with the camera list open
Select camera

Select a camera

  • Click on the drop-down menu with the camera icon and the name of the preselected camera.
  • The drop-down menu will open. Select the camera you want to use. The preview video on the left will now show the video of your selected camera.

Blur surroundings

The feature Blur surroundings allows you to blur your video background and protect your privacy.

  • Click on Camera effects in the menu on the right.
  • Choose to what extent your surroundings are blurred.
  • In the alfaview app, you can adjust the focus area within your video by moving the slider.
  • You can also select the option to mirror your own video for yourself. The participants in the alfaview room will see your video unmirrored. Click on the slide control to activate or deactivate this feature.
List of all available options for the Blur Surround function
Blur your surroundings

The settings are saved permanently and will be used again the next time you start alfaview.

You can decide who is allowed to see your video before you join an alfaview room. Click on the camera icon above the preview video and select one option.

Camera on
Everyone in the alfaview room can see you, and you can see everyone.

Camera to VIP only
Only VIPs can see your video, and you can see the videos of VIPs only.

Camera off
Other participants can’t see your video. You are also not able to see other participants’ videos.

alfaview follows the principle I see you, you see me. In practice, this means that you can only see the videos of the other participants if your own camera is running.

Set up your audio device

Quick setup with the communication devices tab open, showing the Echo Cancellation and Noise Cancellation features below
250Select your communication device

You can select your audio device from the menu to the right of the preview video. Click the communication device icon to open the drop-down list.

The drop-down list is divided into the tabs Communication devices, Microphone and Speaker. Here you can select your preferred devices.

If you connect a new audio device to your computer after starting alfaview, a message window will appear. In this window you can select the new device as the audio device.

Communication devices

  • In this tab, you can select the communication device to be used in the alfaview room.
  • You can also activate the Echo cancellation and Noise cancellation.

Microphone and Speaker

If you want to use a separate microphone and speaker instead of a communication device, select the devices in the Microphone and Speaker tabs. To test the functionality of your speakers, click Test Speaker.

If you are using a separate microphone, we recommend that you enable Noise cancellation and Echo cancellation. This will minimize background noise.

Echo cancellation

If you are using a separate microphone and loudspeaker instead of a headset, we recommend that you enable Echo cancellation. This setting prevents audio being picked up from your speaker and retransmitted by your microphone.

If you are using a headset, Echo cancellation is automatically disabled.

Noise cancellation

Noise cancellation filters out unwanted background noise from microphone transmissions, improving your audio quality.

Activate microphone before entering an alfaview room

The quick setup window with the camera and microphone on
Activate your microphone before entering an alfaview room

You can decide whether you want to enter the alfaview room with the microphone on or not.

  • To do this, click the microphone icon above the preview video.
  • If the button is blue, your microphone is on. The icon will also pulsate when you speak.

The settings are saved permanently and will be used again the next time you start alfaview.

In the alfaview app, the settings tab in the secondary menu is opened
Audio and camera settings in the secondary menu

In a meeting or alfaview room

You can still change the camera and audio settings if you have already joined an alfaview room.

  • Click on the Settings icon in the secondary menu.
  • Adjust your microphone, speaker and camera settings from the corresponding drop-down menus.
  • Activate or deactivate Echo cancellation and Noise cancellation by clicking the sliders next to the features.

We recommend the automatic Noise cancellation.

If you want to optimize your microphone yourself, you can use our Microphone optimization.

Microphone optimization

Microphone optimization allows you to manually adjust the noise reduction settings to suit your device.

  • Disable Noise cancellation.
  • You will now see the Microphone optimization feature which allows you to manually adjust the noise cancellation for your microphone.
  • We recommend that you use the Optimization wizard. To do this, click the button.
  • Read the text at normal volume.
  • Your microphone is now optimized.
Manual settings for the function microphone optimization
Echo cancellation, Noice cancellation and Microphone optimization

Alternatively, you can optimize your microphone yourself.

  • Speak into your microphone.
  • Now move the slider to adjust the microphone sensitivity. Make sure the indicator bar turns blue and moves beyond the slider to the right.
  • When you are not speaking, the indicator bar should be orange or invisible. This means that your voice is not being transmitted.

Last updated on June 26th, 2024, 10:03 am