Audio output switches randomly

Sound

 Reset PRAM:  Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

 Reset  SMC:   How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support   Choose the appropriate method.

 For more info:

 If you can’t hear sound from your Mac speakers

 https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/if-you-cant-hear-sound-from-your-speakers-mchlp1439/ma

 Change the sound output settings on Mac

 https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-the-sound-output-settings-mchlp2256/10.15/mac/10.15

 If steps posted above don’t  help, contact Apple Support:

 https://support.apple.com/contact

 https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar

The sound also appears to be locked. I need the sound for my work. Please fix this bug as it happens to be happening to many other people too.

I received the same guidance from Apple support over the phone. However, this only works for a short period of time. The issue will resurface within the same day or next day. Sound output is cutting off in the middle of video/tele conferences while working from home. This is a major show stopper and I have had to resort to calling into conferences from my phone to avoid cut-off.

Observations: Apple Music will glitch the audio every couple of minutes but the speakers will recover and start playing music again with no intervention. However, during Zoom/WebEx/Google Meet meetings, the speaker audio will cut-out and won't return. I have to hang-up and call back. Big productivity killer.

Apple, please address this bug.

My setup: 2019 Macbook Air, Catalina 10.15.4, Apple USB-C to HDMI dongle connected to HDMI monitor (no speakers). Attempting to use Macbook built-in speakers for all audio.