8 Ways to Optimize Video Conferencing with Microsoft Teams
Long gone are the days when video conferencing was stilted and awkward. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t get better. Whether you’re experiencing technical issues, or you’re just trying to shift your company culture to a less face-to-face mode of communication, there may be areas in which you could use some help. Here are a few important ways you can improve upon video conferencing with Microsoft Teams.
1. Make Sure You Have the Right Data Plan
If you’re experiencing lag, buffering or other signal issues, you may need a dedicated connection for your data. With some offices (especially small or mid-sized offices), the data connections are tied to the phone lines. At high volume times, there may not be enough data available for a robust connection. And that’s if everyone is in an office.
If everyone’s working from home, you can experience a different problem: Your employees may not have enough data to participate. At that point, you may need to explore options for employee high-speed connections. Since employers with increasingly remote workforces will face lower office costs (food, paper, and so on), consider subsidizing employee connections or even offering private LTE networks.
2. Use Teams to Schedule Your Video Conferencing
You can schedule and launch conferences directly within Microsoft Teams. For many people, it’s a habit to go into Outlook to start scheduling meetings – but you don’t have to do that anymore. Try to get into the habit of managing all your conferencing needs through Teams; in the long run, it’ll be both easier and less confusing.
3. Encourage the Use of the “Raise Hand’ Feature
Do you experience constant interruptions during your conferences? The “raise hand” feature lets everyone get a turn speaking, so your video conferences don’t get derailed. Have everyone in your conference raise their digital hands when they have a response or a question, and set aside some time to address those questions later on.
4. Don’t Let an Email Become a Meeting
Sometimes the best way to optimize a video conference is, well, not to hold one at all. Video conferencing today is so simple and easy that many people can be tempted to dive in even when it’s really not necessary. Before you start loading up your next video conference, consider whether it might be best sent as a message. MS Teams has some robust messaging features, and sometimes things are easier to articulate in text.
5. Make Sure Everyone’s on the Right System
What are people using when they call into your video conferences? If they’re using a disparate assortment of phones, tablets, computers and other devices, then the video conference could be a little disruptive. If you’re seeing choppy video, it could be that an employee is using an old phone, or that the mobile data on their tablet is just too slow. Make sure all your employees are using the right physical devices if you want to really optimize your video conferencing. As a general rule of thumb, if phones are more than 3 years old, consider asking your employee to use a different device for optimal results.
6. Consider Recording
When you hold meetings, you can record them. That’s true for the audio, video and screen sharing. You can turn video meetings into tutorials if you’re discussing information that could be pertinent in the future. Recording meetings also means that people who couldn’t attend the meeting can review it later.
7. Blur the Background
You can blur your background or even replace it altogether in video conferencing. That’s not just important for an untidy office, it’s essential if you have confidential or personal information in the room. Encourage your employees to take a look around and determine whether they might want to blur or replace their background. Employees may not realize that they have notes or other confidential information around their desks, especially if they’ve just started setting up and getting used to their home offices.
8. Remember: Multitasking Usually Doesn’t Work
And that doesn’t just mean multitasking with your brain. If you’re multitasking with your computer, you’re more likely to experience lag issues and other problems with MS Teams. Before you start a conference call with Microsoft Teams, close any applications that you’re not going to need, and make sure that you stay on task. If you start opening other programs or launch a browser window, you’re likely to slow your entire computer down, including the Teams platform.
It can take a while for anyone to start to really leverage MS Teams – after all, it’s a complex program. You can learn more about Microsoft Teams hacks directly from Microsoft… or you can contact the professionals at Red River. At Red River, we can help you setup your Office 365 infrastructure, and get the most out of your Office 365 technology. Let us know how we can help you today.
