Tips for Excellent Video Meeting Quality

Tips for Excellent Video Meeting Quality

Video meetings have become an essential part of how we do business, from internal calls with colleagues to calls with customers, partners, and vendors.  Video meetings allow for a more personable experience by seeing the person you’re talking with, while also giving you the ability to share screens, ask questions, chat, and create polls.   

With a large percentage of the country still working from home on a regular basis, your video meetings now rely on your home internet and bandwidth.  Over the past few months, we’ve shared tips and tricks for ensuring your video meetings run as smoothly as possible, but we haven’t addressed one major issue:  your video and voice quality need to be excellent when communicating.  When talking to someone, especially your customers, you want to ensure that there’s no lag, no breaks, and no fuzziness in your video meetings. 

Here are our tips to make sure your audio and video are as high-quality as possible:

• Use a good quality headset with a microphone.  Test the audio connection options on your video platform, such as Cisco Webex, before you join the meeting. You may also need to change the default audio connections on your computer to your preferred headset or headphones, especially if you switch between multiple input/output options.
• Ensure that your home internet’s upload and download speeds are acceptable.  If using Webex Meetings, you can use the Health Feature at the top right-hand corner. And if needed, consider adding a second connection, especially if other household members are streaming or uploading large files while you’re on video calls.  If possible, ask household members to download movies or shows for offline viewing to save bandwidth during your work hours. (Or, like some of us, set up prioritization on your home network to make sure your activity takes priority.)
• Check your connection and wireless speeds.  The location of your wireless access point is key to better performance, the closer you are the better the speed.  Don’t forget the wired option too, if you have a docking station with a network interface, maybe running a wire is a better way to go.
• For the best video quality, make sure that you are in a well-lit area, with no strange shadows or lights causing issues.  You may need to add a lamp on your desk or close window blinds for an ideal environment. Before you join a Webex video meeting, you can see how your video will appear. Double-check your lighting (and also that your office area and appearance are both work-appropriate!).
• Invest in a good quality external webcam instead of relying on the built-in camera on your laptop. 
• If hosting or presenting to a group, schedule time 15 minutes before the meeting begins to test your video and audio quality.
• Close any open background applications and browser sessions before your meeting.
• Turn off your VPN connection if possible, as VPNs can limit the bandwidth available to Webex or other video meeting platforms.
• If bandwidth is a concern where you live, here are some additional tips.
  • You may be better off using the call back or dial in option with your cell phone or landline to avoid any issues with your home internet speed.  The call-in information is always available in the meeting calendar invite.
  • Turn off the video if you have to share content or send files to participants before your video meeting or share a link to the file rather than sharing your screen to save bandwidth.