Successfully managed to have my first Upwork interview through Upwork audio call

[prachi163]

After a couple of exchanges spread over the last week, a Potential Client (PC) asked whether we can have a call in a few minutes. I replied in the affirmative asking them to give me five minutes to connect my headset.

To my horror, PC sends a Google meet invite!

I respectfully tell him that unfortunately it's not allowed to which he gracefully agrees to have a call through Upwork. (A few more adverbs are exchanged).

They want me to tell them how to add other people to the room but eventually figure it out without any help.

Now to the moment of truth...

I start getting a call and two 'accept call' buttons start flashing. I click on them both in rapid succession in a bid to accept the call but all I get are pop-ups to give various permissions to Upwork. By the time I click 'Allow' for everything, I have missed the call.

I take a deep breath. PC calls again. Call received! I have already switched off the camera because I want to have an audio call and don't want everyone to see me in my Minions T. But the call connects and the webcam comes alive! I hurriedly switch it off again.

Honestly,  after this, it goes on quite smoothly. PC sharer their screen and it all goes well.

Though after the call ends, my webcam is curiously ON! again! I close the tab and it obediently switches off.

Result: PC is now C.

Lesson learned: A test feature is absolutely required!!

P.S: Accepted contract and shared email the very next moment upon client's request! 

[VladimirG]

Hi Prachi,

First of all, congrats on securing a new client!

Thanks for reporting the issue you reported during the call and we apologize for the angst it has caused you. I've shared your report with our team and we'll reach out to you shortly via a support ticket to get more details about the problem you experienced, in order to investigate further. 

[prachi163]

Thank you Vladimir.

Had another call today and the quality was horrible.

First I couldn't hear what the other person was saying, then the call dropped.

Also, can we do something about this:

1. Why does Upwork need me to click on 'Allow for camera and microphone' every time I have a call?  

2. Why is the video on by default? Also, even if I switch it off, I have to switch it off again when the call connects. Can we improve this?

3. Can we do something about the call drops? 

[gilbert-phyllis]

Prachi, thanks very much for taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us. Sadly, I'm hearing what I expected to hear: the voice call function is unreliable and when it does work, is fairly clunky, e.g. having to deal with camera permissions multiple times.

UW, please, we're begging you: bring this functionality up to par and prioritize it above any other initiative. 

When I engage with a prospective UW client, I am competing with other support they may find off the platform and other FLs on this platform. Now, I am at a competitive disadvantage against FLs who are willing to take the work off the platform to avoid communication hassles. Get this fixed!!! Now!!!

[prachi163]

---

Phyllis G wrote:

Prachi, thanks very much for taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us. Sadly, I'm hearing what I expected to hear: the voice call function is unreliable and when it does work, is fairly clunky, e.g. having to deal with camera permissions multiple times.

UW, please, we're begging you: bring this functionality up to par and prioritize it above any other initiative. 

When I engage with a prospective UW client, I am competing with other support they may find off the platform and other FLs on this platform. Now, I am at a competitive disadvantage against FLs who are willing to take the work off the platform to avoid communication hassles. Get this fixed!!! Now!!!

---

Phyllis, Thank you.

Frankly, I find it a little embarrassing. First, we have to tell the clients that, no, we can't talk on zoom or meet or whatever. Then we ask them to use Upwork and we are as clueless as they are. And then when there are missed calls and dropped calls, you are worried that the interview has already started on a not-so-good note!

Yes, we absolutely need to get this fixed ASAP!!

[astepanov83]

Allow for camera and mic - is a browser thing, not Upwork I guess. You can whitelist a website and you won't be asked every time. Google knows this better.

[prachi163]

Thank You, Aleksandr.

This makes sense... I'll try it. But I don't expect to have another interview anytime soon. Maybe someone who does can come back here and let everyone know if it works.

[VladimirG]

Hi Prachi, thank for reaching out to us with these questions.

1. These are the standard permission requests, unrelated to Upwork.

2. I'll check with our team is having the video on is by design and follow up with an update, thanks for the question.

3. Thanks for reporting the issue you've experienced. Our team performed an extensive investigation and found that the permission problem is the main cause of the reported audio issues. We have shared troubleshooting steps in this Help article and I'd strongly encourage you to use the link in the call window under Settings and contact Customer Support if you experience the same issue again. Support requests submitted through the call are managed as a priority and our Customer Support Team will be able to assist with troubleshooting the issue you're having. Also, the insight we receive in this way will allow our Technical Team to investigate the core issue which is affecting the call quality. We are working on expanding the call feature to include new options and improving the feature is one of our top priorities.

We do appreciate your report and our goal is for you to be able to use the call feature seamlessly. Please feel free to follow up in the Community with further updates and feel free to reach out to me directly if you'd like to share more information about the issue you reported or any other subject.