Cisco 8831 audio problem

[bradatbcass]

Hi, I'm having a strange problem with our Cisco 8831 conference phones. The audio quality is very poor on conference calls; if one person is speaking it seems fine but as soon as someone interrupts or starts talking overtop, the original speaker completely cuts out and the call quality gets very static-y and poor. It's like they are configured for half duplex only but that's not the case.

Network testing during a call doesn't show any packet loss or jitter. We are not using the wireless microphones and we experience the issue on phones that have never even had the microphones paired.

We have swapped network cables and plugged the phones directly into the switch stack and continue to have the problem. When we connect 7937 conference phones with the same cables to the same ports, we do not experience the problem.

The problem certainly seems to be the phones themselves and not the network but I can't believe this is expected behaviour. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Brad - Technical Analyst - BC Assessment Authority

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Brad,

I think this is likely a firmware bug as shown below;

(8831) Poor audio with two-way audio

CSCuv57425

https://tools.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCuv57425

Symptom:
Audio sounds "Garbled", "Muffled", and/or "Choppy" to caller with two-way audio while both sides are talking.

Conditions:
Using 8831, and both callers are talking at the same time.

Workaround:
None

Further Problem Description:
customer visible bugs for 8831

If you open a TAC case it looks like there is an ES available with a fix for this issue.

Cheers!

Rob

[bradatbcass]

Hi Rob, thanks for responding. First of all I'm an Oilers fan so can't agree with your avatar :)

We had opened a TAC case for this issue and did do a firmware upgrade...we're at the version you see in the attachment. Is that the latest version?

Thanks for your answer,

Brad

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Brad,

Your Oilers beat the crap out of my beloved Flames not too long ago....so I thought about withholding this answer....hahahahaha! Just kidding my friend!

The firmware referenced as the "fixed-in" version (10.3.1 ES1) for this bug would have to be set up for special download via TAC as an Engineering Special, so if it came from the regular CCO downloads I don't think it's the right one. The way it's shown on your link doesn't really tell me one way or the other. Maybe another TAC case is in order.

Cheers!

Rob

[hauchinango]

I too am having the same issue.  I found the bug referenced, contacted TAC for advice on the firmware to resolve.  I was told  by TAC that 10-3-1SR1 would address and fix this issue.

This past weekend, I upgraded all devices to this new firmware release and things seemed fine yesterday.  This morning though I did get another report so it appears that version may not have fixed the problem.

I am glad to hear others are experiencing this as well.

[hauchinango]

According the the Readme for my latest version:

 Resolved Caveats for Firmware Release 10.3(1)SR1

CSCuv57425

(8831) Poor audio with two-way audio

Perhaps I had an isolated incident after the upgrade so will test further.

[hauchinango]

Also, a bit confused as it shows affected and resolved in the SR1 version I am running.  See attachment.

[bradatbcass]

I noticed that as well; strange. I'm going to reopen my case and I'll report back if I learn anything

[hauchinango]

I recieved the ES version from TAC today.  I upgraded so will report back if the problem resurfaces.

[bradatbcass]

I've received and applied the "correct" firmware version (sip8831.10-3-1ES1-1) and there MAY have been a slight improvement, but overall the problem still exists. Call quality is consistently poor when more than one person attempts to speak at the same time.

[hauchinango]

Thats discouraging.  Since applying the ES1-1 I have not had any complaints and have participated on a handful of calls with satisfactory audio quality.

[ciscokid6969]

We have the same problem with firmware sip8831.10-3-1SR4-2-NA . Cisco has recommended downgrading the firmware to SR2, but you cannot downgrade as per cisco...

it certainly seems as if its the same problem. people cannot talk over eachother on the 8831 only.

[clarabridgeclarabridge]

I too am on sip8831.10-3-1SR4-2-NA and have had reports of choppy audio, almost as if we are on a half-duplex audio device. Have you done anything to resolve it?

Thanks!

[jritmanis]

A potential fix that worked at least for us is to downgrade to SR3 and then do a hard factory reset. This seem to solve the duplex issue. But still - when compared to the old 7937 conference station - it's worse.

[ciscokid6969]

Yes, we were able to overcome this and are now running sip8831.10-3-1SR3-5-NA with no issues of people talking over eachother at all.

Cisco has not gotten back to us yet with any sort of resolution. But this works for us. And you can go backwards to this version from sr4, unlike the other mentioned fix.