Teamspeak servers now offer you the option to change the codec of individual channels. “Why would I want to change the codec and what is it exactly?” you migh ask. Well, there are many reasons, but here’s some information that might help you decide for yourself whether this is something that youw ould need to do. The following codec run-down comes direct from Teamspeak’s Official FAQ:

“Quality: (best quality comes first)

Modem
Speex 9.3 is still quite good quality. Limit your download to 10 KBit. Note that if you want to game its way to high a setting, go as low as you can bare (Speex 5.2, or even Speex 3.4, limit your download to 6 respectivly 4).”

Given this information, I am sure that you may have already thought of one or two reasons for adjusting your codec. The next step, if you decide that you do need to alter the codec of a given channel, is to make the change. Only administrators of a server will be able to make such a change.

1. Right click on the channel that you wish to change the codec for.

2. Select “Edit channel” from the menu that appears.

3. Choose the desired codec from the drop-down menu.

4. Click “apply”.

…and you are done! You don’t need to restart the server or anything so it makes rather easy to test the differences between various codecs.

One important thing to remember when setting the channel codec is that the computers of some of your players may not process the codec that you prefer the same way that your computer does. Be sure to ask your players to let you know if they have any issues anytime that you change the codec so that you can adjust it accordingly.

That’s pretty much all you need to know on the subject. Don’t worry about messing up your server since you can always set the codec back. Go ahead, get out there, and give a few different codecs a whirl on your Teamspeak server!

Tags: Teamspeak Server, Teamspeak Servers

Ventrilo Servers are great, but the users on them can sometimes pose a problem. Luckily Ventrilo has several features that help keep such issues to a minimum.

Case in point, have you ever had someone login to your Ventrilo Server and have their microphone volume up so high that it? Well, this is something that you can remedy without having to be an admin on the Ventrilo server. You can actually raise or lower the volume of anyone in the server as you see fit! How do you do this, you ask? Well, Let me show you.

1. Right-click on a person’s name within your Ventrilo client then goto “Miscellaneous” and click on “Special Effect”

2. A new window will pop up with a list of special effect on the right. Highlight “Volume” on the right.

3. Click the “Add” button in the middle of the window.

4. A menu will pop up asking you to adjust the volume to your desired level. Simply drag the slider to the setting you wish then click “Ok”

5. Click “Ok” again to close out of the special effects window and your changes have been applied.

This setting will only affect how you here the people which you have modified. Other people in Ventrilo will still hear them normally. Like wise you can go back into the special effects menu and go into the properties of the “Volume” effect and adjust their volume again at anytime or remove it entirely.

This little tactic comes in handy for people who won’t reduce their microphone volume or are just having too much trouble figuring out how to change it on their home computer. I can vouch from personal experience that this has saved me from a lot of stress on many occasion. I hope it is just as useful for you!

Tags: ventrilo, Ventrilo Server, Ventrilo Servers

When creating a clan, guild, or other group of individuals that require the use of a voice server for communication, a major question that you need to ask yourself is what type of voice server should I pick? Currently your primary choices will be between a Ventrilo Server or a Teamspeak Server (though individuals who like to stay on the latest edge of gaming software may also opt for Mumble Servers if you don’t mind dealing with newer software that still has a few kink to be worked out).

In this article we will set Mumble aside for now as it won’t be a real contender until they release they release the v2.0 of their software (which should be coming soon!). Instead we will be dealing with the two most popular choices: Ventrilo and Teamspeak.

So what are the main differences between Teamspeak Server Hosting and Ventrilo Server Hosting you ask? Well, without getting into specifics, I’ll lay out their major points below:

Teamspeak Hosting:
- Voice quality is not the greatest, but it is pretty good and often alot better than the voice service that is built-in to many games, such as Counter-Strike: Source or World of Warcraft.

- Easy to use for both it’s clients and it’s administrators.

- Easy to configure for it’s administrators. Administrative options are very basic for Teamspeak with minimal computer experience to operate and configure.

Ventrilo Hosting:
- Voice quality is very clean and clear.

- Moderately simple to use for it’s clients, but administrating a Ventrilo server requires quite a bit more fiddling and a moderate amount of computer experience to use.

- Configuring a Ventrilo Server is a bit more difficult than Teamspeak, but the voice quality is often worth it to many individuals. Luckily it has a good learning curve, so once you take the time to play with all of Ventrilo’s various administrative features, it’s pretty easy from there on out.

Aside from these major points, both Teamspeak Servers and Ventrilo Servers are relatively the same. Both require very little computer power to run and don’t require a fast internet speed to operate properly. Both are also fairly small and easy to install.

This information should help you pick the right brand voice service for you and your fellow members’ needs if you are having trouble making a decision. Also, it never hurts to ask your members if they have a preference of voice software. With all of this mind, if you still find yourself having trouble making a decision, then that’s when it’s time to flip a coin, as at that point either decision you make is going to be a good one.

There are two methods of doing this. One is to simply have the user kicked from the server so they are no longer using up one of your server slots and the other is to have them moved to a specific channel so that they are out of the way and everyone else knows that they are AFK. To setup AFK management on your server follow these simle steps below:

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TeamSpeak is a kind of Voice Over IP program. It allows you to hook a microphone up to your computer and talk to other people, almost as if you were on the phone with them. TeamSpeak also allows for you to be talking to multiple people at once, in a kind of conference call setting. TeamSpeak is free to download and use, but if you want to run your own TeamSpeak server you’ll generally have to pay for it, though there are some options for a free TeamSpeak server.

You won’t be able to do much with TeamSpeak unless you have a server you want to connect to. So, assuming that’s your goal, the first thing you’ll need to do is open up the ‘Connection’ drop down menu and then select ‘Connect’. A new menu will pop up and you’ll have to right click where it says ‘Servers’, then select ‘Add Server’. This will bring up a new menu that allows you to add a TeamSpeak server to your server list.

When adding a new server the first thing you should do is type in a name for the server, something that will help you identify it. Where it says ‘Server Address’ is where you will have to input the host name or IP of the TeamSpeak server you are trying to connect to. This is something you will have to get from the owner of the TeamSpeak server, or from someone else who connects to the server. Where it says ‘Nickname’ you should type in what you want to be identified as when you are in the TeamSpeak server. This can be anything from your actual name, to your online moniker of choice.

If you have never joined a server before you may have to connect as Anonymous and then register with the server once you have entered it. The TeamSpeak server owner, or an admin, will have to allow you to register. If you already are registered with a server that requires it, then type in your ‘Login name’ and your ‘Password’ before saving this server to your server list. Once you’re done putting in all of the information TeamSpeak will store it for you indefinitely, so you can easily connect to all your servers.

By default TeamSpeak will be running in voice activation mode. This means that once you are in a server TeamSpeak will automatically transmit anything you say to the rest of the server. To turn this option off, and have TeamSpeak only transmit sound when you push a hotkey, go to ‘Sound Settings’ under the ‘Settings’ drop down menu. Select ‘Push to Talk’ and then hit ‘Set’. Now, the next key you press will be bound as your hotkey and people will only be able to hear you when you are holding down that hotkey.

TeamSpeak is a very useful program and can be used for anything, from work to online games. The intricacies of the program can seem a little daunting at first but by following these steps you’ll know everything that you need to in order to connect to a TeamSpeak server and start talking.

Tags: Teamspeak Screenshots, Teamspeak Server, Teamspeak Servers, Teamspeak setup

Ventrilo is one of the most popular pieces of Voice over IP (VoIP) software out there. Ventrilo allows you to talk through a microphone, hooked up to your computer, to anyone anywhere in the world.

And best of all, its completely free to use, but you do have to pay if you wish to own your own Ventrilo server. The sound quality when using Ventrilo is very good and you can be talking to more than one person at once, a sort of digital conference call. If its your first time using Ventrilo you will have a little bit of setup to do after installing before you can hop onto a Ventrilo server. Once you have Ventrilo open

it should look like the image on the left. The first thing you should do is click the small arrow to the right of where it says “User Name”.

A small box will appear and now you should hit “New”, this will allow you to type in a name that you would like to be identified as when you are in a Ventrilo server. Simply type in the name and then hit “Ok” to return back to the main Ventrilo program.

Next you will need to add a server to your server list. This can be your own server, a friends, something for work, any server that you know of and would like to join. First, hit the small arrow to the right of “Server” and then when the box pops up select “New”. This will allow you to type in a name for the Ventrilo server. After naming it you will need to put in the servers Hostname or IP and its Port Number. This is information that the owner of the server has and will have to give to you. Not all Ventrilo servers are password protected, but if one is you will have to type the password in on this screen. Once you have all that information inputted hit “Ok”, and now you are ready to go! Make sure your user name is selected, and then select the server you just added. Now all you have to do is hit “Connect” and you should join the server.
You will also want to check out the “Setup” menu to learn the various commands. One of the important things you will want to look at in the Setup menu and under the “Voice” tab is where it says “Use Push To Talk Hotkey (PTT Mode)”.

If you have this function de-selected people will be able to hear you whenever you speak into your microphone. “Sensitivity” refers to how faint of a sound it will pick up and “Silence Time” refers to how long you must be silent before your microphone stops transmitting. If you check the box your voice will only transmit when you push a hotkey, instead of whenever you make a noise. Check the box and then click on the text box to the right of where it says “Hotkey”, then push a button on your keyboard or mouse. That button is now your hotkey and whenever you hold it down your voice will transmit to the Ventrilo server.
Ventrilo can seem like a confusing bit of software at first, but hopefully now you arre well on your way to becoming an advanced user.

Tags: Ventrilo Client, Ventrilo Connectin Editor, Ventrilo Push to Talk, Ventrilo Server

How to make the most of your gaming sound experience

You have seen it before on the streets of the city where you live. Someone is driving a beat-up car, but they have low-profile tires and shiny chrome rims that are worth more than the car itself.

There are also the people who buy the best sporting equipment and the most expensive associated clothing, but when they shoot, swing or throw they look ridiculous. These two scenarios have one thing in common – no matter how much you dress something up, if the internal aspects are not sound, the results are going to be disappointing.

The same thing goes for online gaming. Whether you are using the latest Ventrilo or Teamspeak servers, if your computer’s sound capabilities are not up to date, you are going to get an inferior audio quality. Ventrilo and Teamspeak servers will help you maximize the sound for your online gaming, but you can also do some things to help.

Here is a look at ways to get the best sound quality from your computer for online gaming:

• Be careful when upgrading to newer audio/video players – We all want the latest tools and gadgets on our computer, but be careful before you immediately upgrade your Windows Media Player or QuickTime. Sometimes upgrading to the latest version of one of these programs can change the codecs on your computer. Audio codecs transfer the sound into a data packet as part of your VoIP application. Upgrading to a newer QuickTime or similar program can alter your computer’s codecs. If you have upgraded your QuickTime or other application, make sure your codecs are intact by clicking on the “Preferences” tab, then “Advanced.” If your codecs have been disabled, you can enable them this way so your Ventrilo or Teamspeak server will be able to deliver the best gaming experience possible.

• Look into a new sound card – Many people just accept the audio quality of their computer because “that’s the way it came and I have to live with it.” Without having to buy a new computer, you can improve the audio quality of your online gaming. Before upgrading your sound card, you need to know what kind of card your computer has, and whether it is a part of the motherboard or if it is inserted into an adapter slot. You can find out the sound card info on your computer by clicking on “Start,” “Control Panel,” “Sounds,” Speech,” and then “Audio Devices.” From there, you can click on “Hardware.” That will show you the type of sound card you have. A new sound card will have to be installed by removing the case, plugging in the card and then downloading the associated software. Although it may sound difficult, you will be amazed at the improved audio quality for your online gaming.

Tags: Improving Teamspeak Sound Quality, Improving Ventrilo Sound Quality

Ventrilo VoIP servers were the first on the scene in the gaming market when they came out in 2002. TeamSpeak servers arrived almost a year later, but have quickly gained prominence in the market. Ventrilo servers are much like TeamSpeak servers in that they provide users the ability to talk while they are playing online games.

Many users claim that there is virtually no difference between Ventrilo and TeamSpeak servers. Others, meanwhile, say the two do have their differences.

Here is a look at Ventrilo servers and what they have to offer online gamers:

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Tags: Ventrilo Server Hosting, Ventrilo Servers, Ventrilo Sound Quality, Ventrilo V Teamspeak, Ventrilo Versions

You’re in an online gaming battle and the point of attack is about to hit. Just as you are typing some words of strategy to your teammates, you get blasted!

Eliminating the challenge of typing information while trying to maneuver through an online game is the reason behind the development of TeamSpeak servers. TeamSpeak is becoming the standard for online gaming communication, but there are other VoIP options that are on the market.

How do you know which type of server is the best fit for your gaming needs? What separates TeamSpeak servers from others that are available?

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Tags: Teamspeak downloads, Teamspeak Prices, Teamspeak Server Hosting, Teamspeak Servers, Teamspeak v. Ventrilo

You can not set your own codec as user. Instead, the client automaticly conforms to the codec that is set for the channel you are in. So, if the channel is set to CELP 5.1, you will send and recieve CELP 5.1 encoded data.

So if you want a different codec, you need to edit the channel options.

Read more articles about Teamspeak Servers

Tags: Change Teamspeak codec as a user, Teamspeak CELP 5.1, Teamspeak codecs, Teamspeak voice codecs