The connection check tests the computer and network you will use on the day, step by step, from your InterScribe address to live audio, in about a minute. It gives you a report ID that support can open. No audio is recorded.
Run the check
Open the connection check on the computer and network you will use on the day, at the same time of day if you can. You don't need to sign in.
- STEP 1Say who you areUnder I’m checking as, choose The sound desk / agent computer, An interpreter or A listener.
- STEP 2Choose whether to test the microphone
Tick Also test sending audio to check that your voice reaches the audio server. Before your browser asks for the microphone, the check explains why and offers Allow microphone test or Skip. A skipped microphone test never changes the result.
- STEP 3Run the checkSelect Run the check. The page says which step it is on and why. Cancel stops it and turns the microphone off.
You can also open it from where you work. It then knows who you are and, when a session is open, which session the report belongs to:
- In the Operator Console: select Help and, under Sound breaking up?, select Run the connection check. It is also on the entry screen, under Check your network first:, and in Session health, under Connection details.
- In the Interpreter Booth: select Run the connection check under Check your network first: before you enter, or from Check your network in the booth's bar. On a phone, it is in the More sheet.
- In a browser agent: select Run the connection check under Check this network.
Each opens in a new tab, so the Console or the Booth keeps running. A check run while you are on air shares the connection your audio uses: run it before you go live.
What each step tests
The steps run in three groups, in this order.
This device and network
| Step | What it tests |
|---|---|
| Device and browser | Which browser and system this is, so the results say what they apply to. |
| Network | Wi-Fi, a cable or mobile data, when the browser says. Some browsers don't say. |
| Finding InterScribe (DNS) | That every InterScribe address can be found. It is the first thing every page and stream needs. |
| Website and sign-in | That InterScribe's pages and sign-in answer over HTTPS. |
Live audio (full connection test)
| Step | What it tests |
|---|---|
| Signal connection | The WebSocket that sets up live audio. |
| WebRTC | That the browser can open a live audio connection: the direct path audio normally takes. |
| Media relay (TURN) | The backup path, used when a network blocks the direct one. |
| Reconnect | The check drops the connection on purpose, to see that it comes back by itself. |
| Sending audio | A few seconds of microphone audio reach the server. Only when you chose to test the microphone. |
| Connection type | Which of the two audio paths works: UDP, the fastest, or TCP through the relay. Up to half a minute. |
| Server region | The closest server region, where your audio is handled. Only a note: nothing to fix either way. |
Steadiness (20 seconds)
| Step | What it tests |
|---|---|
| Delay and jitter | The round trip to InterScribe and how much it varies, for 20 seconds: how steady, not how fast. |
What the result means
The check ends with one of three results.
- This computer is ready for a live event. Every test passed. Run it again if you change the computer or the network before the day.
- It will work, with one thing to fix (or several). Live audio gets through, and the rows marked in amber say what to fix.
- Live audio can’t get through from here yet. The addresses, the website or the signal connection are blocked, or both the direct path and the relay are.
Each row that found a problem links to the page that explains it: Why, or Fix with IT when your IT team can fix it.
Select Details on any row to see what that step does, how long it took and, right after your own run, what the test reported line by line. A shared report shows the first two.
| What the check found | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| The browser can't open live audio connections | Use a current Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, and run the check again. |
| Mobile data | It can slow down or drop during an event. Use Wi-Fi or a cable on the day. |
| An address, the website or the signal is blocked | Your IT team needs to let InterScribe through. Select Email the allow-list to IT, or see the allow-list for IT. |
| The direct path is blocked | Audio goes through the relay. It works, with a little more delay. Your IT team can open the direct path. |
| The relay is blocked | Audio works over the direct path, but has nothing to fall back on if that path is blocked later. |
| UDP blocked, using TCP | Audio goes through the relay over TCP. It works, with a little more delay. Your IT team can open UDP. |
| Didn't recover after a forced drop | A short network blip could stop audio until the page is reloaded. See Fast is not the same as steady. |
| Microphone audio didn't reach the server | Check the microphone and run the check again. If it repeats, tell support. |
| Slow or uneven | Audio may lag or break up. A cable or a quieter network helps. |
The steadiness step is fine for live audio up to a 150 ms round trip, 30 ms of jitter and 2% of replies lost. Above any of those it warns; with more than 40% of replies lost, the line can't hold a live stream.
The report ID
A finished check is saved as a report with an ID such as CHK-7Q2M-K8PD. It holds the technical measurements only: no audio, no content and no IP address.
Reports are kept for 30 days, then deleted.
- Send to support tells support the report is waiting. Mention its ID when you write to them.
- Copy report link copies a link to the results. Anyone with the link sees the results, never who ran them.
- Email the allow-list to IT opens an email to your IT team with the addresses InterScribe needs.
When you open the check from the Console or the Booth signed in, with a session open, support sees the report next to that session's connection report.
Double-check with independent tools
Under Double-check with independent tools, the result offers tests that InterScribe doesn't run. They open in a new tab and are useful when your IT team wants a second opinion:
- Independent live-audio test tests the live-audio part again, on a partner's test page. Copy the server address and a temporary key from the result to use it.
- Cloudflare speed test measures upload, latency, jitter and packet loss.
- fast.com measures speed. Choose More info for upload and loaded latency.
The independent live-audio test is offered only here, on the check's result: it joins an empty test room with the check's short-lived test key and starts nothing in your sessions. Test your speed also sits beside Run the connection check in the Console and the Booth. A filtered network can block these other sites even when InterScribe gets through, so a failed independent test is a reason to look further, not proof that InterScribe is blocked.
If the problem stays, send a support report from the desktop agent's Help & Support tab with Include connection diagnostics ticked.