The Importance of Room Acoustics for Video Conferencing

Posted by Tom Brown on 27/11/2025

At AV Xpert, we have spent years helping our clients create reliable, high-performing video conferencing systems for their workspaces. As audio-visual technology continues to evolve, businesses understandably place a great deal of importance on choosing the right microphones, cameras, displays, and more, for their setup. However, one crucial factor that can often be overlooked, despite its enormous impact on performance, is the acoustics of the room itself. No matter how advanced or expensive your equipment may be, it cannot function to its full potential if the acoustic environment is working against it.

Why Room Acoustics Matter

When businesses experience poor sound quality in their video calls, it can be easy to assume that something is wrong with the audio-visual hardware. However, this is rarely the case, and more often than not, the real issues lie with the acoustics within the room itself.

Many meeting rooms feature reflective materials such as glass walls or tiled floors, which can cause sound to reflect and bounce around the room, creating unwanted echoes and excessive reverberation. This can cause sound to become unclear or distorted.

In some cases, poor acoustics can cause high-end video conferencing systems to perform no better than budget setups, simply because the echo in the room is preventing the equipment from being able to hear the participants clearly.

Whilst high-end products such as the Logitech Rally Bar, and even the Sennheiser Team Connect 2 ceiling microphones do have very advanced AI processing capabilities that can combat poor room acoustics to an extent, even these systems are unable to compete in the most severe cases (which can be present more often than one might think). The good news, however, is that room acoustics can be easily addressed and rectified.

People often recognise the issues but not the cause. Voices may sound hollow, conversations may feel difficult to follow or remote participants may struggle to understand what is being said. Participants in the room may also find themselves repeating information or speaking louder than usual in order to be heard. As video conferencing becomes more common, having good room acoustics becomes increasingly important.

How to Improve Room Acoustics

Improving the acoustics in your workspace doesn’t have to mean large renovation work. In many cases, relatively small adjustments can significantly improve sound quality. Incorporating sound-absorbing elements such as soft furnishings, carpeted floors, and soft ceiling tiles can dramatically help reduce echo and create a better acoustic environment.

When these additions aren’t possible, acoustic treatments such as sound dampening panels mounted to the wall or ceiling, can be used to enhance sound quality within the room. Panels are even available as printed artwork, so can be used to add character to a room, as well as just being functional.

At AV Xpert, we have years of experience installing high-quality video conferencing systems, and with every project we offer a free consultation and site visit. During this assessment, we carefully evaluate the acoustics of your space and recommend tailored acoustic treatments where necessary, to ensure the best possible audio performance.

What AV Xpert Look for During a Site Visit

As part of our site visits, we test how sound behaves within the room and identify any potential problem areas that could impact sound quality, in particular looking at the time it takes for an echo to decay by a set amount. Our analysis allows us to identify whether the room will support clear communication or whether adjustments will likely be needed to help the technology perform as intended. If acoustic treatment is required, we provide clear, honest recommendations based on the unique characteristics of the space.

Final Thoughts

Room acoustics are a critical component of any effective workspace. Before investing in video conferencing technology, it’s essential to ensure the room itself can support the equipment and provide the sound quality that you would expect.

At AV Xpert, we help you get the most out of your video conferencing systems by addressing room acoustics and making sure they do not reduce sound quality in a video conferencing setup.

Contact us today for more information if you’re looking to upgrade your video conferencing systems or address room acoustics.