Ten tips for videoconferencing success
Debra Littlejohn Shinder
Published: 06 Nov 2007 16:48 GMT
Meetings: we all hate them. But, like death and taxes, they seem to be inevitable.
Whether your company is a multi-site corporation or a one-person consulting operation, travelling to and from meetings can eat up a large chunk of your budget. But, with today's technology, there's more than one way to conduct a meeting.
Telephone conferences have been taking the place of face-to-face meetings for a long time, but they leave a lot to be desired. With multiple people talking "blindly", it can be hard to discern who's saying what. Online chats solve that problem but add a new one. Without being able to hear a person's tone of voice, a lot of the meaning of their words may be lost.
Videoconferencing is the next best thing to being there. You're able to communicate through facial expressions, body language, and vocal tone, as you do in person. But getting the most out of a videoconference requires some preparation and planning. In this article, we'll discuss some best practices to help make your videoconferences more productive, whether you're running the show or attending your first videoconference.
1. Have the right hardware
Videoteleconferencing (VTC) systems are complex because they transmit both video and audio streams in real-time and, in most cases, these streams are compressed and decompressed for more efficient travel over the network. Each participant needs a video camera or webcam and microphone to input data, and a monitor (or projector) and speakers for output of incoming data (and, of course, a sound card for the microphone and speakers to plug into).
The easiest but most expensive way to ensure a high-quality videoconference is to use a dedicated VTC system, such as those made by Polycom, Tandberg, and other companies. The less expensive method is to use desktop or laptop PCs with the appropriate peripherals. The low cost of webcams and other necessary peripherals puts videoconferencing within almost everyone's budget.
Either way, good-quality equipment can make the difference between a productive conference and one in which you spend so much time adjusting the equipment and trying to get a good picture or sound that you miss the content of the conference.
Note that you'll get the best sound quality if you use a good headset. When you have a microphone and speakers set up, it's common to get feedback that's unpleasant to listen to and that can obscure the conversation. Microphones that are built into webcams are usually low quality, too, even on high-quality cameras. A headset almost always works best.
2. Have the right software
Dedicated systems will come with their own software but, if you're going down the poor-man's route with webcam-equipped PCs, you can choose from a variety of software programs. If you're meeting with one person, you can use free software, such as Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, or Skype, among many others.
For multi-person video meetings on a tight budget, you can use free or low-cost programs, such as iVisit, ineen, and SightSpeed Pro edition. Enterprise-level conferencing tools include WebEx and Windows Live Meeting software.
Many subscription-based web-conferencing services, such as HearMe and e-Boardroom, are available at a wide range of prices.
The most important factor in choosing software is to ensure that it will do what you need. Some conferencing software limits the number of conference participants, for example. If you need to be able to give PowerPoint presentations, transmit whiteboard diagrams, share applications or the desktop, distribute files to participants, and so on, be sure that the software you pick supports those options.
3. Check the equipment beforehand
Because a videoconference is a somewhat complex operation, plenty of things can go wrong. Just because your equipment worked last week or even earlier today doesn't guarantee that something hasn't changed in your settings or on your network. Just as a pilot goes through a pre-flight checklist prior to every take-off, you should test your equipment prior to every conference. It can be embarrassing and frustrating to have a dozen people waiting on you to troubleshoot a problem before you can join the conference.
4. Check the firewall
A common cause for failure of videoconferencing software is that the protocols it uses are being blocked by the firewall. If you don't have sole control over your company's firewalls, you could find yourself in this position at any time. For instance, if your conferencing software uses the H.323 protocols and the firewall is not H.323-aware, it will block the conferencing traffic. You'll need to open the appropriate ports on the firewall.
Professional conferencing products can work around this problem. For example, Tandberg's Expressway solution traverses firewalls without creating a security risk.
5. Deal with bandwidth problems
Videoconferencing puts big bandwidth demands on your internet connection. If you have a low bandwidth connection (or a high bandwidth connection that's being shared by many users), you may have trouble transmitting clear video and audio signals.
Many people don't realise that the more movement the camera has to record, the higher the data rate. If you're in a limited bandwidth situation…
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