Pre-call tests

Updated

Run microphone, speaker, camera, and last-mile network checks before users join a Video Calling session.

In video calling implementations that demand high communication quality, pre-call detection helps identify and troubleshoot issues beforehand, ensuring seamless real-time interaction.

This page shows you how to use Video SDK to run pre-call tests to identify and troubleshoot communication quality issues in your app.

Understand the tech

Pre-call testing typically covers two aspects:

  • Equipment quality test

    To test whether the local microphone, speaker, and camera are working properly, you run an echo test. The basic process of conducting an echo test is as follows:

  • Network quality analysis

    The quality of the last mile network affects the smoothness and clarity of the audio and video that the user sends and receives. Last mile refers to the last leg of communication network between the edge server of the Agora SDRTN® and the end-user devices. Network quality analysis enables you to get feedback on the available bandwidth, packet loss rate, network jitter, and round-trip delay of the upstream and downstream last-mile networks. The following figure shows the basic process of running a last-mile probe test.

information

Best practice is to run the device test first and then perform a network test.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have implemented the SDK quickstart project and that your app has obtained permissions to use the relevant devices.

Implement pre-call testing

This section shows you how to implement pre-call testing in your project.

Equipment quality test

The SDK provides the startEchoTest [3/3] method to test the network connection and whether the audio and video devices are working properly. Refer to the following steps to implement the device quality test:

  1. Before joining a channel, call startEchoTest [3/3] with EchoTestConfiguration. Specify the channel name, whether to test audio or video, and the time interval for the echo.

  2. After starting the test, face the camera and speak into the microphone. The user's audio or video is played back after a short delay. If the playback is normal, it means that the user's devices and upstream and downstream network are working normally.

  3. To stop the test, call stopEchoTest, and then call joinChannel to join a channel.

    Note

    Using startEchoTest [3/3] to test an audio device and a video device at the same time may result in a brief audio-video desynchronization of the test results.

To implement running an echo test in your app, refer to the following code:

// Test audio device
private void testAudioDevice() {
    // Create an EchoTestConfiguration instance
    EchoTestConfiguration config = new EchoTestConfiguration();
    // Disable video device testing
    config.enableVideo = false;
    // Enable audio device testing
    config.enableAudio = true;
    // Set the interval for returning test results
    config.intervalInSeconds = MAX_COUNT_DOWN;
    // Identify each test by channel name
    config.channelId = "AudioEchoTest" + (new Random().nextInt(1000) + 10000);
    // Start the test
    engine.startEchoTest(config);
}

// Test video device
private void testVideoDevice() {
    // Create an EchoTestConfiguration instance
    EchoTestConfiguration config = new EchoTestConfiguration();
    // Enable video device testing
    config.enableVideo = true;
    // Specify the view for rendering the local user's video
    config.view = requireView().findViewById(R.id.surfaceView);
    // Disable audio device testing
    config.enableAudio = false;
    // Set the expected delay for video rendering
    config.intervalInSeconds = MAX_COUNT_DOWN;
    // Identify each test by channel name
    config.channelId = "VideoEchoTest" + (new Random().nextInt(1000) + 10000);
    // Start the test
    engine.startEchoTest(config);
}
// Test audio device
private fun testAudioDevice() {
    // Create an EchoTestConfiguration instance
    val config = EchoTestConfiguration().apply {
        // Disable video device testing
        enableVideo = false
        // Enable audio device testing
        enableAudio = true
        // Set the interval for returning test results
        intervalInSeconds = MAX_COUNT_DOWN
        // Identify each test by channel name
        channelId = "AudioEchoTest" + (Random().nextInt(1000) + 10000)
    }
    // Start the test
    engine.startEchoTest(config)
}

// Test video device
private fun testVideoDevice() {
    // Create an EchoTestConfiguration instance
    val config = EchoTestConfiguration().apply {
        // Enable video device testing
        enableVideo = true
        // Specify the view for rendering the local user's video
        view = requireView().findViewById(R.id.surfaceView)
        // Disable audio device testing
        enableAudio = false
        // Set the expected delay for video rendering
        intervalInSeconds = MAX_COUNT_DOWN
        // Identify each test by channel name
        channelId = "VideoEchoTest" + (Random().nextInt(1000) + 10000)
    }
    // Start the test
    engine.startEchoTest(config)
}

Network quality analysis

The SDK provides the startLastmileProbeTest method to probe the last-mile network quality before joining a channel. The method returns information about the network quality score and network statistics. Take the following steps to run a last-mile network quality probe test:

  1. Before joining a channel or switching user roles, call startLastmileProbeTest to start the network test. Set the probe configuration and the expected maximum bitrate in LastmileProbeConfig.

  2. After you start the test, the SDK triggers the following callbacks:

    • onLastmileQuality: This callback is triggered two seconds after startLastmileProbeTest is called. It provides feedback on the upstream and downstream network quality through a subjective quality score.

    • onLastmileProbeResult: This callback is triggered 30 seconds after startLastmileProbeTest is called. It returns objective real-time network statistics, including packetLossRate, network jitter, and availableBandwidth.

  3. Call stopLastmileProbeTest to stop last-mile network testing.

To implement network quality testing in your app, refer to the following code:

// Configure a LastmileProbeConfig instance
LastmileProbeConfig config = new LastmileProbeConfig(){};
// Probe uplink network quality
config.probeUplink = true;
// Probe downlink network quality
config.probeDownlink = true;
// User's expected maximum sending bitrate (bps). Range: [100000,5000000]
config.expectedUplinkBitrate = 100000;
// User's expected maximum receiving bitrate (bps). Range: [100000,5000000]
config.expectedDownlinkBitrate = 100000;
// Start the network quality probe
engine.startLastmileProbeTest(config);

// Register callbacks
public void onLastmileQuality(int quality) {
    statisticsInfo.setLastMileQuality(quality);
    updateLastMileResult();
}
public void onLastmileProbeResult(LastmileProbeResult lastmileProbeResult) {
    statisticsInfo.setLastMileProbeResult(lastmileProbeResult);
    updateLastMileResult();
}

// Stop the network quality probe
engine.stopLastmileProbeTest();
// Configure a LastmileProbeConfig instance
val config = LastmileProbeConfig().apply {
    // Probe uplink network quality
    probeUplink = true
    // Probe downlink network quality
    probeDownlink = true
    // User's expected maximum sending bitrate (bps). Range: [100000, 5000000]
    expectedUplinkBitrate = 500000 // Adjust as needed
    // User's expected maximum receiving bitrate (bps). Range: [100000, 5000000]
    expectedDownlinkBitrate = 500000 // Adjust as needed
}

// Start the network quality probe
engine.startLastmileProbeTest(config)

// Register callbacks
fun onLastmileQuality(quality: Int) {
    // Ensure statisticsInfo is initialized and updated
    statisticsInfo.lastMileQuality = quality
    updateLastMileResult() // Implement this function to handle the quality update
}

fun onLastmileProbeResult(lastmileProbeResult: LastmileProbeResult) {
    // Ensure statisticsInfo is initialized and updated
    statisticsInfo.lastMileProbeResult = lastmileProbeResult
    updateLastMileResult() // Implement this function to handle the probe result update
}

// Stop the network quality probe when done
engine.stopLastmileProbeTest()

Reference

This section contains content that completes the information on this page, or points you to documentation that explains other aspects to this product.

Troubleshooting device and network issues

If you encounter problems while running pre-call tests, first ensure that you have implemented the API calls properly. To troubleshoot device and network issues, refer to the following table:

ProblemSolution
Can't hear sound when testing audio devices.- Check that the recording device and the playback device are working properly, and are not occupied by other programs.
Cannot see the screen when testing video devices.- Check that the video device is working properly and not occupied by other programs.
Poor uplink network quality detected (packet loss > 5%; network jitter > 100ms)- Check that the local network is working properly.
Poor downlink network quality detected (packet loss > 5%; network jitter > 100ms)
  • Check that the local network is working properly.
  • Ensure that the total bandwidth of the local subscription does not exceed the available downstream bandwidth by:
    • Reducing the number of subscribed audio and video streams on the receiving end or reducing the bitrate of published audio and video streams on the sending end.
    • Enabling dual-stream mode on the sending side and requesting to receive small streams on the receiving side to reduce bandwidth consumption.
    • Enabling the video stream fallback function or the multiple streams by priority fallback function at the receiving end.

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