question

hue-tang2249 avatar image
hue-tang2249 asked simon-c answered

ringcentral with plantronics savi 7xx headset

i use a plantronics savi 7xx headset with my ringcentral account. this headset allows me to simultaneously connect both my desk phone and the softphone on my computer. i can pickup and initiate calls on either the desk phone or the softphone, routing audio through the headset. but there is a problem that i cannot figure out. outgoing calls initiated on the softphone makes me sound robotic. incoming calls sound fine, according to the person on the other end of the line. it's only when i make an outgoing call with the softphone that i sound robotic to the other person. does anyone have the same experience? and if yes, have you figured out a solution?

thanks.

hardware
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big-papa-j7341 avatar image
big-papa-j7341 answered
Yep, exact same issue, and have been working to try and find a solution with no luck as of yet. Possibly thinking it may be a compatibility problem with softphone and Windows 10, but haven't confirmed that yet. Are you using Windows 10?

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danielb3368 avatar image
danielb3368 answered aaron-hartzler8219 commented
Hello Hue,

In the past we've experienced something similar, but not quite the same. Occasionally we'll get that digitized/robotic sound and when we do, all we have to do place the call on hold for a second and pick it back up and that usually resolves the issue. 

Additionally, all of us just installed the Plantronics Hub software and updated the firmware on our headsets. We have not had the issue since - whether that's a coincidence or not, I'm not sure.

Hope that helps,

Daniel
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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Hi Daniel, I'll add my comments here on this. We too have found that sometimes the hold trick does resolve the issue.
It is really only a "band-aid" though and not a true solution.
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hue-tang2249 avatar image
hue-tang2249 answered
hi. i'm using windows 10. but i have not installed the plantronics hub software. i'll try the suggestion of putting the call on hold for a second and then resuming. i'll also install the plantronics hub software to see. i'll report back. thanks.
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big-papa-j7341 avatar image
big-papa-j7341 answered
In my case, I have installed the Hub software and updated firmware on headsets. Have also played with numerous variations on narrowband/wideband, HD on off, and lowered the range. None of these seemed to help. One test I did was actually record a poor quality voice call using the built in Windows 10 voice recorder. I then made just a voice recording without a call through the soft phone. Simply opened a headset channel to the PC and recorded some voice. This was crystal clear. I did several tests like this and couldn't get a single bad recording. Yet using the soft phone I was getting intermittent quality issues. I have also spent a lot of time working on Port triggering and QoS with our in house router/firewall and nothing seems to improve the quality issues there either. Lastly I had a Windows 7 laptop in the office that I installed the software on and hooked to the network. I couldn't get any bad call quality issues through that either, after several calls. This is why I'm pointing finger at a compatibility issue with Windows 10. My current Win 10 O/S build is Version 1703 (15063.674)

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hue-tang2249 avatar image
hue-tang2249 answered
the firmware update did not improve the situation. putting the call on hold and resuming did not help either. but i did find out that it's only happening on ringcentral to ringcentral calls, however. when i call a cell number, for instance, i do not sound robotic. and this happens even with inter-office calls where the phones are on the same network.

more info to add.
best call quality is from a plantronics savi headset to another savi headset. this is crystal clear.
next in quality is plantronics to a cell phone.
worst is from plantronics to a generic usb headset or to a ringcentral desk phone.

i don't know if the problem is with windows 10, the plantronics headset or ringcentral, or a combination of any of these three.
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luke2909 avatar image
luke2909 answered
Hi Hue. Have you attempted an outbound call from the softphone to another RingCentral user without the headset?

If the issue is the same without the headset then it would mean there is an issue either with software on the PC or settings on the local network. If you do not get reports of distortion without the headset you may have to adjust the audio settings for the headset in the Plantronics hub software, or Plantronics support may have some suggestions to resolve the issue.

Let us know if this helps or you make any progress.
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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image
aaron-hartzler8219 answered big-papa-j7341 commented
We have had this issue for months beginning with all versions after 8.3.6. They changed something in the software and how it integrates with the plantronics wireless headsets. We troubleshooted this for months. It was supposedly fixed in 9.3.3, however we have continued to experience the issue on 9.3.3 and 9.3.5. We are testing the newly released 9.4.1 with a couple of users and so far no occurrence (only 2 days of testing). However, I am not convinced yet that this is fixed.
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big-papa-j7341 avatar image big-papa-j7341 commented ·
Thanks for update Aaron. I also did same test with disabling Plantronics integration a few weeks back and then enabling it again. If you do this while on a call, it actually clears the poor quality up. However, it does come back again right away on a new call.
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big-papa-j7341 avatar image big-papa-j7341 commented ·
Please keep us updated on this, it has been a fight for us as well and would appreciate any further feedback on how it works out with new version.

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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Quite honestly, our experience has pushed us to use more wired headsets. Many users now prefer them because of the huge quality difference. However, the root issue is poorly written software, because the savi works fine with any other software program or physical desk phone.

Also, we did discover in our experience that if you toggle the "Plantronics headset" setting to off, the robot voice went away. However, that defeats the purpose of using the wireless headset because you lost the ability to answer/end a call with the button on the headset. This even further points to the softphone as the root cause of the issue.

Additionally I mentioned version 8.3.6. We downgraded most of our users to this version and they have no issues with the robot voice. Yet another data point to confirm that the software is at fault. However, as time has gone on, we see this version becoming more unstable and are being forced to upgrade some users.

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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Confirmed that 9.4.1 does NOT resolve the "robot voice" issue. Users who are testing have been experiencing the issue throughout the day today.
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ryan-meyer1 avatar image
ryan-meyer1 answered

We recently rolled out RingCentral to our office of 200 users. I really like there service, but I too have the Robotic voice with my Savi 745 headset using the RC Desktop client. The issue does not occur on every call, but it does seem to happen to the same numbers (to both internal RC and external non-RC phones). It appears to be specific to my PC. When I moved my Savi headset to another laptop it did not have the issue. Both computers are running the latest 9.3.5 RC Desktop software on the same Windows 10 OS version. 
On the computer with the problem, I have found that unplugging and reconnecting the USB port during an active call fixes the Robotic voice issue 100% of the time. However, once that call ends I may need to redo that on the next active call. For callers I know I've spoken to with the issue, I have unplugged the USB and reconnected the USB, after initiating the call but before they have answered, so that active call will be clear. 
The Robotic issue never occurs when using the Savi 745 DECT to my VVX411 desk phone. I'm still looking for a permanent solution. I have borrowed a Savi 745 from one coworker that does not have the issue and using his Savi with my PC we had the issue. Moving my Savi to his PC, we did not have the issue. The computers are different models. Hopefully this gives RC support more information to find a solution.
UPDATE: I tried using the hold mentioned above, that did not work for me. I tried turning the 'Plantronics headset' off/on in RC Desktop Settings > Sound, and that worked for the active call, just like the USB method I mentioned above. The Plantronics headset off/on is faster if you already have the settings page opened.

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tyler-d3781 avatar image
tyler-d3781 answered sherri-rodriguez10861 commented
After some troubleshooting with a client we found that the 9.4.3 version of the RingCentral  for Windows Application (available on the Downloads page) is not exhibiting this robotic voice issue. 

After updating, If you are still experiencing issues, please open a new support case:  https://support.ringcentral.com/s/contact-support?language=en_US
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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Hi Tyler, unfortunately this is not resolved in that version or any version newer up to the current 10.1.2.
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image sherri-rodriguez10861 commented ·
Tyler, Are you suggesting we go backwards to an earlier version of the softphone?  I am inclined to agree with Aaron that the issue would not be resolved with that version and we have the most up to date version with 10.1.2. 

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saadetswift16514 avatar image saadetswift16514 commented ·
I would not suggest going back. When this thread first began, there was an older version out and then the 9.4.3 was the newest (at the time)
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image sherri-rodriguez10861 commented ·
I see that now, thanks.  So, we are back to just reporting that the issue is not resolved and we are still looking for a solution.
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image
sherri-rodriguez10861 answered sherri-rodriguez10861 commented
We are having this issue with users on Savi 720 headsets using the desktop app version 10.1.2.31099  Same headset is not having issues when using RC through Polycom VVX 411.  Although the support has pointed to our network as being the issue, after reading this thread I believe this is a software issue that the integration with the Plantronics Savi headset.  Or just an overall software issue in general.  It does not seem to matter if it is Windows 10 or 7 pro as we have issues on both and the two machines experiencing the most frequent robotic calls have brand new machines and brand new headsets.  Glad I found this thread to investigate further.  I just wanted to point out that it is not solved. 
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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Thanks for reporting, Sherri! We continue to experience the issue multiple times a day for various users as well.
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image sherri-rodriguez10861 commented ·
We have a case open for multiple Quality of Service issues.  I have not been satisfied with the support answers which is why I went searching again for my own answers and found this thread.  I will continue to work with the support team, but we are at a high level of frustration right now with this and I want to see who else in the community might have better solutions.  We also have an outside IT support team we are paying to check and double check all possible network and equipment and have been told we have it all set up the way it should be so I am back to assuming it is an incapability or issue with the RC software or problems with specific RC servers that the softphones are going to when they ring out.   
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image sherri-rodriguez10861 commented ·
Plantronic firmware is current.  Firewall and all QoS settings along with fiber connection were verified yesterday by our outside IT person to be correct. Same computers and headsets behave the same way on different networks.  We have three locations experiencing the same problems.  Again, I think we have narrowed it down to either a problem with particular RC servers that have a high ping rate when the softphone is connecting to them or the RC softphone software is not working well with the Plantronics headset.  We are following both avenues to try to find the solution because the percentage of bad robotic calls our softphone users are experiencing is not going to work.
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aaron-hartzler8219 avatar image aaron-hartzler8219 commented ·
Hi Saadet, We have had numerous cases opened and closed due to being unable to get them resolved. We have even had RC engineers on-site: Michael Cox, James Drabbant. We have also had multiple calls with other engineers as well as our account managers: Tino Martinez, Zach Hardy, Morgan Means, Dave Peter.

A lot has been tried over the course of about 10 months and this issue still exists.
We have spent too much of our own time troubleshooting and gathering data. Frankly, we have just gotten tired of the same run-around and waste of time that opening yet another support case brings.

Alas, we have simply been "dealing" with the issue. Our users here have a very poor impression of RingCentral and anytime the name is mentioned it is with much distaste and dissatisfaction.
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sherri-rodriguez10861 avatar image sherri-rodriguez10861 commented ·
We have been working on this since January/February time frame and have work with many of the same people and teams.  I will continue to update here as we attempt options.  It becomes more difficult as users give up and "deal" with it because they stop reporting it thinking nothing is going to be done to fix it.  We've also spoken with several other offices who are "dealing" with the issue or have gone back to their old VOIP provider.  One way or another we will get to a resolution because suffering in silence won't be the right option for us. Appreciate the input Aaron. Thank you.
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