As a small- or medium-sized business (SMB) owner you should always be focused on ways to improve your company’s flexibility, scalability, and profitability. And nothing has made that clearer than the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with its far-reaching disruptions to business continuity and processes.
The pandemic has forced many businesses to re-examine the traditional workplace and make adjustments to keep productivity and safety high. As more businesses make the switch to hybrid or remote work environments has fostered a new reliance on technology.
And the technology that is coming to the forefront is collaborative and communication-enhancing tech tools such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications, cloud-based networks, and video conferencing technologies.
In fact, the global market for video conferencing tech is one of the few areas that saw explosive growth during the pandemic and is projected to continue to increase in the coming years. Built on a strong infrastructure, video conferencing meets the communication and collaboration needs of all employees, whether they are working from home or from a centralized location. While it might be tempting to go low-budget and struggle along with free software and a in-computer camera, there are several variables that make this a less-than-perfect solution.
To help you sort through what is necessary — and what isn’t — let’s take a quick tour at exactly what it takes to create the best video conferencing setup for small businesses.
Whether your employees need to attend a virtual conference, stream a training segment, or just collaborate with colleagues or clients on a project, you want to have the right technology to help your business get professional results.
There are three basic parts to a video conference — the video, the audio, and your surroundings. Here is how to make the most of each:
When you’re speaking or collaborating, you want to ensure your audience can see you — and any materials you are sharing — clearly since visual communication is the feature that sets video conferencing apart from just another phone call.
Good: You can use the webcam that is built into your desktop or laptop, just be sure that you have good lighting that is directed at your face rather than backlighting your silhouette. Also ensure that your background is neat and free of any distracting artwork.
Better: Invest in an external webcam or a dedicated camera that uses an HDMI-to-USB interface. This will give you a higher quality of video capture and can help deal with low-light situations such as those that may exist in a remote work environment.
Best: Get an interactive whiteboard that can seamlessly dovetail with common business applications to allow you to share screens, edit, annotate, and review while providing ultra-high-definition images and an easy-to-use touchscreen interface.
For best results and to reduce the possibility of miscommunication crisp, clear audio is essential.
Good: You can use the microphone that is integrated in your desktop or laptop. Ensure you are broadcasting from a quiet environment and speak at a normal level.
Better: Upgrade to a wired or wireless lavalier microphone. The wired versions come with USB connectors, but if you don’t want to be hampered by cables, wireless is your better bet.
Best: Consider a shotgun microphone that has broadcast quality, or if you’ve decided upon an interactive whiteboard simply use the built-in stereo audio that comes with most systems.
Whatever system you use, get your meetings off to a good start by creating a professional environment. Remove clutter, distracting art and images, and make sure to dress neatly. Eliminate interruptions by posting your video schedule in advance and make sure ambient noise is kept to a minimum.
At Virginia Business Systems (VBS) we strive to keep abreast of the best technologies that provide the greatest return on investment for our business clients.
To help you manage your communication and collaboration tasks, we have curated a wide variety of leading-edge video conferencing tools that can help your business remain productive, regardless of where employees are located.
Not only do we provide hard- and software, but we offer streamlined tools such as innovative interactive whiteboards to bring meetings, lectures, and training to live in high-definition audio and video, along with all the support you need to choose, deploy, and maintain your system.
Help your business stay productive and flexible, even in a crisis. Contact VBS today and let our team of video experts bring you a video conferencing solution that is custom-tailored to your needs and budget.