Aircall allows users to choose the audio bitrate of their calls, which can help when experiencing network or call quality issues. For more information about Network Diagnostic settings, please see Aircall Workspace: Network Diagnostics

Technical background

By default, the bitrate of an Aircall voice call is set to 32 kbps using the Opus audio codec. This is the highest quality bitrate available for Opus in the Aircall platform. Aircall now provides the ability to change this setting.

The majority of Aircall voice calls connect to a landline or mobile number. These calls are transcoded at Aircall media centers into G.711 codec at 64 kbps for transport to traditional phones. Since G.711 is lossless, the voice quality is equivalent to a much lower bitrate in Opus.

Because of this, the Audio Bitrate setting allows users to reduce their bitrate to one of the following levels:

  • High: 32 kbps

  • Medium: 24 kbps

  • Low: 16 kbps

Note: Although 16 kbps is labeled "Low", it is still sufficient to transport better quality audio than G.711.

Accessing the Audio Bitrate feature

Aircall Workspace desktop or web app

To access the Audio Bitrate controls in Aircall Workspace desktop or web app:

  • Click on Settings

  • Select Network diagnostics

  • Go to the Audio bitrate adaptation section

  • Choose the Audio rate

Image showing Audio rate option in Network diagnostics

Aircall Workspace phone app

To access this setting in the Aircall Workspace phone app:

  1. Click your profile image or initials in the upper left corner of the Aircall Workspace app to open User Settings.

  2. Go to Preferences.

  3. Select the Quality section.

  4. Click Audio Bitrate.

image showing the Quality section under preferences
Image showing the Audio bitrate option under Quality section

How to best use this feature

If a user is having issues with their calls, they should try changing their Audio Bitrate to a lower setting (for example, from High to Medium). By reducing the Audio Bitrate, users struggling with bandwidth issues may see improvements with calls, as a lower bitrate means less bandwidth is needed for calls.

Because of how the majority of Aircall voice calls are transcoded, while the bitrate and quality setting are reduced, the actual audio quality will not be decreased, and call performance may be increased.

Important: Aircall to Aircall voice calls may still benefit from using a higher bitrate.