Telehealth Troubleshooting FAQ

This article describes a few steps you can take if you're experiencing issues with your Telehealth sessions.

• Granting permission to access your camera and microphone
• I'm seeing a red error at the top of my Telehealth session
• The other participant cannot hear me
• The other participant cannot see me
• The video and audio are out of sync
• Known issues
• I'm still having issues

Browser Compatibility

Most Telehealth issues originate from using older or unsupported browsers. Ensure you are using the latest version of Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. 

If you are using Video Chat/Telehealth in a mobile browser on your phone or tablet, ensure your OS version is iOS 11+ for iPhone/iPad or Android OS 7+ for Android phones/tablets.

If you are using any other browser, e.g Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, or Brave you will likely have issues connecting to your session.

Ensure you have granted permission for Practice Better to use your camera and microphone

Without access to your camera and microphone, you will not be able to participate in your Telehealth session. You will see the following error if your camera and microphone are not available:

As a first step, please click the links below to see if your webcam and microphone are accessible:

• Test My Webcam
• Test My Microphone

For further troubleshooting, please follow the steps below:

If you cannot see yourself in the session, Practice Better does not have access to your camera.

Firefox and Safari typically ask you to enable permissions for each session. If you've accidentally clicked Don't Allow or dismissed the popup without allowing access, you can simply close and re-open the Telehealth session.

Click Allow when you see the following popup:

Accepting permissions on Apple Safari:

Google Chrome will prompt you the first time you join a session. Click Allow to enable access to your camera and microphone:

If you click Block or close this popup without allowing access, you may need to manually enable permissions. You can do this by clicking on the video icon in the top-right corner of your screen:

Click "Always allow..." to enable the permissions, then click Done to save the settings. Reload the page to access your Telehealth session:

I've accepted permissions but I'm still seeing the red error message

Another application on your computer may be using your camera

If your computer's camera is in use by another application (e.g. Zoom or your PC's camera app), we will not be able to access your camera to conduct your session. Close any other programs which may be using your camera, then try rejoining your session.

Your browser may have trouble connecting to your computer's camera

In some cases, you may need to restart your computer if your browser is having trouble connecting to your camera.

I cannot hear the other participant

Other than permissions issues, there are a couple of reasons why you may not be hearing the other participant:

1) Your audio output device is not set up correctly. This may happen if you have multiple output devices on your computer (e.g. headphones, speakers, monitor speakers) and audio is going through the wrong channel.

You can test and adjust your audio output devices by clicking on the Settings icon in the top-right corner of your Telehealth session:

Click Test speakers to see if the speaker you selected is working correctly. If it is, you will hear a doorbell sound.

2) The other participant's audio input device is not set up correctly. This may happen if the participant has multiple input devices (e.g. both a webcam microphone and a headset microphone) and they are speaking through the wrong input device.

You can adjust your audio input by clicking on the Settings icon in the top-right corner of your Telehealth session.

For example, if you want to adjust your Microphone, click on the Microphone drop-down menu and select another audio input device from the options provided. Click Update to save your changes:

Once you have selected the correct microphone, the green bar underneath your microphone settings will respond if it detects your voice.

You can also click the 3 dots underneath the microphone icon to adjust your microphone settings. If your microphone detects your voice, this will also be reflected in the microphone icon:

The other participant cannot see me

Other than permission issues, if you have multiple cameras set up with your device (Ex/built-in front/rear camera or an external webcam) a participant may not be able to see you if you have not selected the correct one.

You can also click the 3 dots underneath your camera icon and ensure that you have selected the correct camera:

The video and audio are out of sync

Your video chat participant may experience a lag between your video and audio if you have too many open tabs/windows/apps on your computer or phone. Close any open tabs/apps then rejoin your video chat session.

If you are in a low-bandwidth environment or are experiencing poor connection, then you can reduce your video resolution for a smoother call.

To change your resolution, click the 3 dots underneath the camera icon and select the desired resolution:

If you or your participant’s connection is unstable, the following status will be displayed:

Known Issues

• When hosting a video session from Firefox your client may have trouble hearing you if using another browser. Workaround: Exit the session by closing the tab/window then re-join the session.
• On some versions of Safari, you may experience intermittent issues hearing the other participant after connecting to your session. Workaround: Exit the session and try re-joining using Google Chrome or Firefox for Mac
• Mirroring is not supported when viewing participants in Picture-in-Picture mode

I'm still having issues

If none of the solutions provided solve your issue, you can also try closing your browser (not just the video chat popup, but all open tabs and windows) then reopening your Portal and starting your video chat session again.

Restarting your computer may also be helpful if you're having issues enabling your webcam or microphone during the session.