Just in case you were not aware, video conferencing has been growing for the past decade. Yes, we’ve all been using FaceTime, WhatsApp, and many other apps on our phones to make casual one-on-one connections and group connections but 2020 has changed everything.

This year many of us have found ourselves having to dive deeper into video conferencing. Remote workers have been conferencing with other employees. Parents and students have been conferencing with classmates and teachers. Sales teams have been presenting to clients remotely. Even job interviews have been conducted via video conferencing.

We’ve all been patient when dealing with inexperienced “Zoomers”. We’ve all struggled with our audio or video at one point or another. It’s a big learning curve for many people that found themselves thrusted into this situation.

It’s no secret that video conferencing is here to stay. More and more people are working remotely and video has become a new way of doing business.

Expectations

Along with increased usage comes expectations.

Video conferencing etiquette will be expected. Yes, everyone knows when you are watching TV or looking at another website while on a conference call. Eating and drinking are frowned upon. Avoid having family members walking around the house making cameos in your background. Get good lighting. Also, mute yourself.

Beside etiquette expectations, increased video conferencing brings expected video and audio quality.

If video conferencing is a new norm in business or education then it is expected that you have a quality setup. Grainy and fuzzy video and crackling microphones and horrible echoey audio are not professional.

If video conferencing is the new norm then it’s time to invest in a professional setup.

We understand that you may have a few questions before investing in video conferencing so we’re going to focus on the most common questions and mistakes.

1. IS THE VIDEO CONFERENCING SOLUTION EASY TO USE, EASY TO OPERATE?

Ease of use should be a top consideration when you purchase video conferencing solutions . If technology is difficult to use or figure out, people will avoid it whenever possible . On the other hand, you increase adoption by providing solutions that allow users to start meetings anywhere with minimal steps and integrate with familiar video software applications .

MAKE SURE YOU CAN…

• Begin collaborating on video with little or no training

• Join, start, or end a video meeting very easily

• Add plug-and-play headsets and webcams for personal collaboration

2. DOES THE SOLUTION DELIVER A CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE?

Providing a consistent video conferencing experience in every room ensures that anyone in the company can enter any space and quickly start or join a video meeting . Replicating that experience for personal workstations and remote workers encourages collaboration as employees move between personal and shared meeting spaces.

MAKE SURE YOU CAN…

• Provide a consistent meeting experience in every meeting space

• Take advantage of built-in integrations for Google ®Meet, Microsoft ®Teams, and Zoom Rooms

• Extend the familiar meeting experience to people who work remotely

3. IS THE SOLUTION EASY TO DEPLOY AND MAINTAIN IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS?

In addition to being simple to use for meeting participants, your video conferencing solution should also be easy for you to maintain. This requirement is especially important when you need to deploy technology across numerous offices and locations, quickly and with minimal effort .

MAKE SURE YOU CAN…

• Use multiple mounting options to install video conferencing solutions wherever you want

• Keep rooms organized with carefully designed cable management

• Provision and manage conference rooms, devices, and software from anywhere

4. IS THE SOLUTION FLEXIBLE, OFFERING I.T. AND END USERS CHOICE?

Choice is a highly desirable quality these days . Ideally your video conferencing hardware should work fluidly with the common software applications, like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom Rooms . For greater flexibility, it should offer integration options with multiple compute partners so you can continue to use your preferred PC vendor .

MAKE SURE…

• The devices are agnostic with respect to video conferencing software and compute hardware

• The manufacturer partners with the leading software providers to ensure our hardware is certified and integrated

5. IS THE SOLUTION SCALABLE ACROSS YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Given the importance of a consistent experience, a video conference solution must be easily scalable so it can be deployed to dozens, hundreds, or, for global organizations, perhaps thousands of rooms . It must be available and supported everywhere . It should be priced for wide deployment . And, to simplify IT effort and time, the solution should include the ability to manage it remotely .

MAKE SURE…

• Deploy video conferencing in every meeting space with products that are “made for scale”

• Gain visibility into conference rooms and resolve problems before they impact a meeting

• Take advantage of a global network of partners for support and product availability

Give us a call today to discuss what we are using in our own office. We’ve tested it and we are confident about installing it in our clients’ homes and offices.