[Nottingham] unable to set microphone volume

[godfrey at gnnix.co.uk]

Hi folks,

In these days of isolation amd remote meetings on the internet, I find 
the mic on my system is very low volume.
Some may say thanks, but I want to join in zoom and skype sessions. 
Yeah, I know of security worries but those are the access programs being 
used.
I have been through sound settings, pavucontrol and other configuration 
progs, but mic volume control remains unable to be selected/altered.

I am using ASUS laptop and Ubuntu 18.04

Any suggestions as to how I might get it fixed?

Godfrey