I have a Dell computer running Windows 10, which I often use for Skype and other teleconference collaboration. Sometimes, these are large calls and it's very important for participants to mute ourselves when not speaking, or else background noise can overwhelm the main speaker. In some cases, external events can produce embarrassing moments for someone who's unintentionally failed to mute.
My computer has a keyboard with a Fn button for mute (Fn+F4), and that F4 button has a small LED indicator light (like the one on Caps Lock) which theoretically indicates when the mic is muted.
Usually, if that light is on, I am on mute and applications should not be able to listen in on what's happening in my environment. Skype says "your mic is muted from your desktop" and things function as intended.
However, on a recent call, the mute light was on but everybody could still hear me speaking just fine, and activating/deactivating the mute function using the Fn key did not seem to correlate as it should to actually being on mute.
Is there an easy way to see with greater confidence whether or not my mic is on mute from a system perspective, for example via an icon in the system tray? There's one there showing me if my speakers are muted. (Or, is there a way to make that keyboard mute indicator light more reliable?) This is independent of any mute controls specifically within an application or browser window, and should visualize the system-wide mute control.
This question refers to microphones built into the computer; I have no peripheral mics or peripheral webcams/other microphone-containing devices plugged in.