Video conferencing provides face-to-face communication and makes it possible for people in different locations to work together. Collaboration can be enhanced by integrating tools like shared applications, shared whiteboards and data transfer. However, to achieve all this you should know how to conduct videoconference meets

The level of participation depends on the quality of the audio and the video. Minor faults in the video signal can be tolerated but small problems with the audio signal may make the conference a waste of time. Focusing on improving the audio quality will lead to better participation.

The speed of the connection also has a major impact on the quality of the video conference and 384 Kbps is in effect the speed for many conferences where there is a static meeting situation.

If a live event has to be captured, a faster speed will be needed. Participants will either connect to each site at the speed of the slowest site or each site will connect at the speed of its call.

There are different options for video conferencing that determine what participants will see on their screens. With the voice activated option, only the current speaker’s image is displayed at all locations. With the continuous presence option each location can see all the other locations.

There are different mechanisms to control what participants hear. With half duplex audio, participants can hear only one speaker at a time. The audio signal from the dominant speaker’s site can suppress the audio from all other sites. There must be some way to indicate when control of the speaker should be passed on. With full duplex audio every participant can hear every other participant at all times.

Different types of control are provided for video conferences. With full duplex audio people can speak at the same time and the lead speaker is determined by consensus, as is in a normal physical meeting.  With the chair control option, one site has control that can be passed to another site through a mechanism like electronic hand raising. The site that has chair control can be heard and seen by other participants until control of the chair is passed on.

A variation of this is the lecture-style option, which allows the designated lead site to allow or disallow access by any of the sites. The lead site can also decide about which sites can be viewed or heard.

It pays to keep time to set up a meeting and to test the equipment. If you are using a site for the first time, allow at least 24 hours for testing and debugging.

Video conferencing needs to meet the requirements of the people who will be using it. They should be comfortable with the technology and be equipped with suitable equipment like cameras, microphones and speakers. The positioning of the equipment and the ambient light should be optimized for superior picture and sound quality.

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