In January 2020, at the precipice of a global pandemic, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would be turning his Facebook team into a virtual one. Google Ireland’s leader, Nick Leeder, said, amid the sudden lockdown, the Google team had to learn how to work from home before anyone else did.
With that, Zoom, the current leading video conferencing company, experienced a sudden surge of 300 million daily online meetings from its modest 10 million before. That was when Microsoft stepped things up with Teams and Facebook with Rooms.
At this point, setting up a high-quality video conferencing room or conference room system is not only important, but it also became critical to some businesses, especially ones that are managing a hybrid workforce.
This established the need to set up an optimal performance conference room for times when you have to get everyone together, if not in one place, on the same page. Setting it up, however, if you’re new to it, can be a pain.
AceTeam Networks is an IT solutions company in Malaysia and service provider who has perfected the art of video conferencing room setups, we can help ensure seamless meetings and conferences. Here, we’ll outline the most common challenges here and, at the end of it, we offer you some free tips about optimizing the video conferencing experience.
Inconsistency and Complicated Setup
While many people are now more accustomed to setting up their own Zoom Rooms and Skype calls, a larger-scale conference may require something more consistent and less complicated.
By setting up a conference room for video conferencing, everyone can have a meeting any time they want without having to go through the process of setting things up every…single…time.
The best type of video conference room design is always simple. It is easy to control the room, be it to start, stop, adjust volume, or control cameras. The best video conferencing room designs are devoid of computers, keywords, mice, and remote controls.
Simplifying the Complicated
Setting up a video conferencing room does not come easy for everyone. The IT department can only deal with so much, so with the designated video conferencing room set up and ready to roll, it will save corporations large sums of money and chunks of hours.
The first thing to do if you’re trying to decide on the best setting for a video conferencing room is to start talking to people. Compare specs, designs, costs, and the need for maintenance.
Things to take into consideration are the video, microphone and audio quality, configuration, camera, the size of the conference room, display, cabling/wireless setting, hardware and software.
We’re talking about a plug-and-play online video conferencing system that works no matter the size of the room, the app you’re using, and the environment of the conference room.
Benefits of Setting Up a Conducive Conference Room for Virtual Meetings
The great thing about technology is that it makes our lives easier. Much, much easier. The downside to this is this: multiple devices are working together to make your conference call or meeting a success. And sometimes, they can be fickle.
That is why you need a unifying system, a manager of sorts, to get everything to work together.
With automation, the interface and setup become easier to control. What with touchscreen control panels, wireless network, wall-mounted displays and AV tech. You don’t need to train your employees about how to set up, use, or control their online video conference calls when there’s an implemented room automation system.
They’re all a swipe and tap of the finger away.
Items Needed to Set Up Your Video Conference Room
You only need a couple of things to get a professional video conferencing room set up and it starts with a good connected TV (a good size screen) for multiple displays. Having a 4K display that can handle dual display and space for digital presentation is a good starting point.
You’ll also need a good quality video conferencing system, and full video processing codec with a high definition camera that can send, and receive encrypted video during the live video conference. The webcam on your laptop or computer can only do so much with its limited processing power.
The final item you’ll need is a conference phone with an easy-to-use interface that controls the camera and can be used to quickly launch the video conference calls. They often come featuring the echo and noise cancellation to provide participants with crystal clear audio.
6 Tips to Setting Up Your Video Conferencing Room
1 – Simple Setup
Since the video conferences held in meeting, conference, and huddle rooms are going to be attended by more people than your average Zoom or Skype calls, it should be designed with simplicity in mind. Part of the appeal of modern-day video conferencing is they’re easy to start, stop, adjust, record, and control, thanks to intuitive interfaces. It makes the entire experience better when you remove devices like extra laptops, computers, tablets, mice, keywords, and remote controls.
Plug-and-Play is best.
2 – You CAN Get Creative with the Design of the Conference Rooms
Forget about preconceived ideas of what a ‘normal’ conference room should look like. The common picture you conjure up of a ‘conventional video conference room’ is not always the answer. If your team feels better having a video conference room while lounging around on sofas, hanging around on bar stools, or lying around on bean bags…so be it.
Having one with a formal setting and another with a more personal one is ideal. This gives your workers options. The important things to remember are (1) comfort; (2) simplicity; (3) productivity.
3 – Check the Lighting
Yes, you may not be filming the next Bond film, but having the light source coming in from the right angle is important. People you’re video conferencing with will not be seeing just silhouettes of a group of people. The purpose of having the online video conference function is so that all participants can communicate both auditory AND visually.
While the best source of light is natural (near a window), artificial light should be placed in front of the camera for the best lighting.
4 – Creating a Natural Distance
The general rule of thumb when engaging with someone else over an online video conference call is that you want the other person to see you clearly, but not every pore on your face. They want to see who the people are on the other end, as with a group, so be sure to place the camera in a way that can capture the entire room.
Position yourself so that you can be seen from the shoulders to the head, or from the waist to the head. Anything closer may be overwhelming; anything further might make your face too hard to see. To learn how to position yourself better for 1-on-1 Zoom calls, this video will shed some light on it.
Another good tip about holding an online video conference call is to set the camera at eye level and look at the camera when you’re talking to the person on the other end, to create a semblance of face-to-face conversation.
5 – Set Up Your Environment
This is sounding more and more like a Photography 101 class, but it is very relevant! You need to keep the space around (and behind you) clutter-free. Remove piles of books, art decors, small objects on the table, etc. This video conferencing room setup helps create a more professional setting for the online video conference call.
6 – Going in Prepared
Professionally, this might be the most important tip of all. If you’re in the office and there’s a designated video conference room (which you should have by now), go in early to check everything to make sure they’re in working order. Call your friend, family, or a colleague in the room with you just to see how things look on the other end.
With an all-in-one video conference system, it’s even easier to check or to just suddenly hop on an emergency video conference call. You don’t even have to think about setting things up. Just go to the video conference room, set up the meeting, turn on the camera and other equipment, grab the headphones, and you’re ready to go!
This early check-in will take merely a couple of minutes if you’re familiar with it. Without an all-in-one system, you might have to spend some time setting up a laptop or computer, finding the right lighting and corner of the office/home, ushering your family members or co-workers out of the space, and checking the microphones and camera.
Conclusion
Poly has some of the most complete ranges of online video conference room systems available in the market today. Reviewers have raving reviews about them. Take, for instance, the Poly Studio X30 and Poly Studio X50.
Both online video conference room systems are radically modern and simple, eliminating the need for computers and all other equipment. A video bar is all you need to enjoy a full boardroom-quality audio and share content easily over either wired or wireless internet. For smaller Huddle Rooms, the Poly Premium USB Video Bar still gives you the naturally-professional online video conferencing experience you’re looking for.
So, if you are looking for a reliable, professional online video conference system for your conference room, get in touch with AceTeam Networks right now. As one of the leading system integrators in the country, we’ll help you get the right online video conference room system all set up in no time.
Wait no more and email or call us right now!