How to set up audio/video communication?
Sometimes Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications may not play well with XP/VS Server out of the box. More specifically, you may find that the audio and microphone from your local PC is not routed through to Discord, Skype, or Zoom. The redirection for audio and video must be configured or enabled correctly. The client-side part is covered here.
Configuration check in the remote session
1. In the microphone privacy settings (Settings -> Privacy ->Microphone), enable the "Allow apps to use my microphone" option.
2. In camera privacy settings (Settings -> Privacy -> Camera), enable the "Allow apps to use my camera" option.
3. The input and output devices selected in the client operating system are available within the RDP session on XP/VS Server under Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items ->Device Manager as "Remote Audio":
Check enabled group policies
Sometimes local microphone and video access is disabled by default due to security reasons. In this case, you need to manually enable audio and video playback on your XP/VS Server instance via group policies.
To do this, open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) on the server and navigate to:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Device and Resource Redirection
Settings | Status |
Do not allow video redirection | Disabled |
Do not allow redirection for supported Plug & Play devices | Disabled |
Allow redirection of audio and video playback | Enabled |
Allow redirection of audio recording | Enabled |
Please note that updating group policies (when group policies become active) depends on several factors. Also, configured domain policies may overwrite your local computer group policies in case your machine is joined to a domain. For more details, see the Microsoft documentation:
Disable Audio Sandbox
Further, if you are using a modern browser, you might need to disable the Audio Sandbox as following:
Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/i-cant-play-audio-remote-desktop-connection
Chrome: https://cloud.google.com/docs/chrome-enterprise/policies/?policy=AudioSandboxEnabled
Edge: https://admx.help/?Category=EdgeChromium&Policy=Microsoft.Policies.Edge::AudioSandboxEnabled
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