Hey Hal! How Do I Get Rid of All the Background Noise for Zoom/Google Duo/FaceTime/Google Meet/ GoToMeeting/Webex/JoinMe …and even regular audio calls?
Once again, Hal is a great resource for tons of answers to those plaguing questions that are all around us! Recently, we’ve had an influx of questions about keeping home office environments more quiet, ideas to help people who call into their office a few days a week via video conference keep background noise out…and questions from those in shared living spaces looking to mute all the background going on behind them.
Regardless of your situation, video calling is here to stay, but with that comes the burden of excited/screaming children, deafening lawn maintenance equipment, dogs with persistent and piercing barks, really loud neighbors and crying babies. No matter what your source of background noise, the need to have a video call (or even an audio call!) that works for everyone without interruption is paramount — and on the minds of many of our customers.
Once again, Hal is here to rescue you from the dilemma that has become more prolific than ever: noise pollution during your video/audio calls! Here’s what you can do, courtesy of the Hal App, to change the game and remedy that for good.
When we observed the consistency around this request, it was important to consider a few things surrounding providing a lasting solution: it has to suit multiple platforms (iOS, Windows, Mac, Chrome) and needs to be low cost and effective. That is a tall order when it comes to dampening or silencing background noise!
Beyond ideas like “installing soundproofing foam squares” (which will run you well over $50 to do it properly — and even then it just dampens sound, it doesn’t remove it) or trying to hang signs on a door to remind people that someone is busy (which a screaming infant, a noisy neighbor, or a lawn maintenance crew clearly cannot read), there needs to be another way. And now, there is…
It’s called krisp and it is truly amazing, since it works for audio and video calls! And as an added bonus, this little magic app also helps mute background noise coming from another caller’s phone to you OR noise that is in your own environment, so it’s a win/win on all fronts.
Once you install krisp, you’ll be prompted to use it as the default microphone setting and/or the default speaker setting on your Mac, your iPhone, your Windows PC, your Chromebook or your iPad (it is not yet released for Android devices, but it does work with Google Meet & Google Duo on other devices). When you have krisp as your default microphone, it works its own brand of tech wizardry in the background and the results are truly incredible. In fact, this video really brings to light just how powerful the app is at actually eliminating (not dampening) background noise.
When you see the demos of various people testing and using krisp (which are peppered all over YouTube) and the results are so consistent across so many devices, the next question is:
“OK, Hal…what’s the catch?”
The great news is there is no catch! The company is making this app free to consumers through the COVID-19 crisis and only has a charge for Pro level or Enterprise level users from there. Yup! Free and effective and easy to implement. That’s it.
And we here at Hal would be remiss if we didn’t remind you of the fact that this little gem works on audio only calls as well as video calls/video conferencing. So if you are not big on using FaceTime or Google Duo but you are excited about eliminating background noise in a loud environment while on a standard cell phone call, then krisp is for you too.
So the next time the dog is barking, the kids are screaming or that leaf blower is right outside your window buzzing at full blast, try installing krisp and make everyone’s next call a whole lot more distraction free.
Ideas like these are everywhere thanks to a dedicated team of Hals that curate information and solutions to all kinds of issues — and act as your Personal Assistant for situations just like the one described above. Try it out for free and see for yourself just how cool it is to have your own Personal Assistant. Once you open the app and make that first request, rest assured there will be someone who responds with…
“Hi, I’m Hal. How can I help you today?”
