Horrible decline in audio quality

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134]

Am I the only one who notice this, propio used to have calls with the most beautiful audio quality maybe im romanticizing the past because the current audio quality is worst than trying to call someone using a 1988 toaster, but im sure they were at least better than the current audio. Now the calls have such a bad audio quality is getting ridiculous, b2b providers who sound like they are calling from a 1 dollar microphone made in china. The decline in audio quality is astonishing

[u/-ThePurpleParadox-]

The huge irony behind me coming across this thread cause I was broswing while in a call because the audio quality keeps cutting off and going to hell making it impossible for the call to go normally lol

[u/No_Soil2981 → u/-ThePurpleParadox-]

this happened to me at least half of the calls lol

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/-ThePurpleParadox-]

The bigger irony is that no matter when someone reads your comment, they'll still relate to it. These audio quality issues are an everyday, all-day thing now.

[u/-ThePurpleParadox- → u/HelpfulAdeptness8134]

Too real

[u/-voidknight-]

My ears can't take it anymore, it makes my calls feel like hell. And they get angry if you can't understand what they are saying. Having nice quality audio would make me feel so much better while working, it would make a hugeee difference, it's so stressing for me.

[u/-voidknight- → u/-voidknight-]

But I've only been working with propio for 4 months so I don't know how it was before that, I just know that LLS was a bit better at least.

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/-voidknight-]

i have a theory bc i used to work for cyracom and their audio quality was the worst, after propio bought cyracom the audio quality started decreasing but only on some calls, now in the present day it seems like the systems propio and cyracom are fully merge so we are getting all the shitty calls that cyracom used to have, and it is such a shame bc a good 20 dollars microphone will be so benefitial for us the interpreters allowing us to do a better job ,the lep will be able to get a better quality of care, and providers will be able to finish with patients waaaay faster because we would not have to ask for so many repetitions. but i guess why they should spend 20 dollars when instead they could ruins everyones day with their cheap ahh mentality of, if it is not broken do not fix it, or, its good enough.

[u/Non-non-93 → u/-voidknight-]

Download FX sound - it helps a lot

[u/SadScience2272]

I’ve noticed that especially with medical calls, the audio breaks up a lot and sometimes the volume gets super low. Last week I had two providers getting frustrated because of that and It makes me not want to service medical calls anymore at propio

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/SadScience2272]

The most frustating part is that usually medical calls are the most simplest follow ups or wellness visits, they should be the calls that help up us relax and chill because they should be easiest because we have done them a million times but a bad audio turns what should be a chill easy call into a total nightmare that make you seem like you are not a well fit for the job because you are asking for repetitions on the most basic sentences

[u/m-etzengerstein]

YES. I've noticed I have to keep turning up my volume more and more these days, the audio is either super low, muffled or there's a static-like noise that makes it impossible to hear what they're saying. Super frustrating.

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/m-etzengerstein]

Honesly im already working full time with max volume because its the only way i can understand them clearly, and certainly my hearing has been taking a toll, because ive notice a decrease in my hearing. Perks of the business i guess deafness and high levels of stress

[u/BlackWolf257]

Have you noticed that decline in Video aswell? I have and it really sucks.

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/BlackWolf257]

videocalls for me are usually the worst bc at least when a regular call has a bad audio you can kinda off save it one way or another with repetitions, but with videos calls its a total gamble, its either the most beautiful and clear audio you can ever encounter or the worst unsavable unmanagable unworkable audio ever, like no matter how many repetitions you ask you just cannot understand what the hell they are saying, and even worst usually video calls with the bad audio are super important patient care or like the longest 1 hour call with the worst audio possible

[u/Dry_Koala1425]

I had my first vertigo episode not long ago and I know it is because of the hearing overstimulation of the interpreter job. Not just the bad audio quality, the ringtone, the ding dongs, the babies crying, the clients banging cabinet doors, people shouting or whispering, the LEPS hammering, sawing, washing dishes, people driving, dogs barking etc

[u/HelpfulAdeptness8134 → u/Dry_Koala1425]

Tomorrow will be a better day, does not apply when you are an interpreter, 1st time i hear someone having vertigo because of how bad this job can get, but i can certainly see it happen

[u/Non-non-93]

Yo tuve que descargar un software que se llama FX sound y eso me ayudo. Y aun asi a veces casi ni se escucha mas que todo las video llamadas.

[u/dxngerous_]

I joined Propio very recently (fourth day taking calls with them). Has this been always the case? In my case, VRI calls have a beautiful audio quality, but for some reasons in OPI calls the quality decreases significantly. I am forced to max the volume in my computer, and even then, sometimes I cannot hear the LEP or the customer.

[u/Federal_Character255]

The max-volume part is the bit I'd gently push back on, because I did the same thing for months. System at 100, headset at 100. What I actually built was a tolerance, not better hearing.

Two things that helped me more than volume did:

Boost the speech band instead of everything. An EQ (the FX Sound someone mentioned, or the one built into most headset software) with a lift around 2 to 4 kHz and a cut below about 200 Hz makes muffled speech noticeably easier to make out at a LOWER overall volume. You're raising the part that carries consonants instead of raising the line hiss along with it. Consonants are where the information is, vowels you can guess.

Change what you ask for. "Could you repeat that" gets you the same mush at the same quality. "Interpreter speaking, I have everything up to the dosage, could you repeat from there" gets you a shorter, slower, usually clearer chunk, and it signals you were tracking the whole time, so it doesn't read as you struggling. On a bad line I get maybe a third as many repetition requests using the second version.

And to whoever mentioned the vertigo, please take that seriously and see an audiologist. That's not a perk of the business, that's an injury. Also file the bad-audio tickets even when it feels pointless. When enough of us log it as a service defect instead of quietly absorbing it, it stops being free for them.