Few things can derail a video call more than unrelenting tech issues. These not only interrupt the focus and flow of those presenting, but also draw away the attention of everyone else in attendance.
Let’s face it: video conferencing is way better when slow Internet and frozen video feeds don’t come into play. Fortunately, these inconveniences – and others similar to them – are avoidable.
If you want every single virtual meeting you host to remain as glitch-free as humanly possible, here are some strategies to keep in mind:
Seek a Spot with Strong Connectivity
Whether you are working remotely or from an office, determine which rooms offer you the best Internet connectivity. If you have to ask yourself, “Why is my WIFI so bad?” it is time to enter a video call from a better spot.
We know that most venues will have dead zones, or areas in which the Internet tends to unpredictably kick in and kick out. Your job as a regular video chat participant is to understand where these zones are and avoid them at all costs.
Stay Put
Once you find an excellent space to fulfill your video conferencing duties from, stay put. Why mess with a good thing?
Yes, it can be tempting to take advantage of an online meeting platform’s mobile app that lets you walk and talk at the same time. However, just because you can do this, it doesn’t mean you should. A real surefire way of finding a poor Internet connection and freezing your feed is by moving around and not knowing exactly how the WIFI connection will react.
Invest in Your Internet
Businesses and work-from-home types alike should always invest smartly in their Internet functionality – especially if frequent video calls are on the schedule.
This means selecting a trusted provider and committing to a plan that’ll exceed your needs, yet still fit your budget. When it comes to hardware, it’s always important to choose high-quality routers and modems, as well as trusted ethernet cables and WIFI boosters (when necessary). Larger companies may require more specialized equipment to fulfill their connectivity needs.
For complicated issues that arise, have an IT specialist on-call to show you how to fix a bad connection
Come Prepared, Yet Ready to Troubleshoot
Even if you’ve done your best to see that you won’t be impacted by a poor Internet connection, you are not totally out of the woods.
When getting ready to present during a virtual meeting, triple-check that all of your elements (i.e., slides, videos, infographics, website links, etc.) are in perfect working order. This will help you avoid the embarrassment of introducing a graphic to support your point, only for attendees to bear witness to a blank screen, or one that buffers endlessly.
Remember, not every video call technology failure is the result of an unreliable or slow Internet connection. Sometimes it can be due to a lack of preparedness.
Plug in, or Charge Your Device
It might be silly to bring this up, but please, see that the device you connect to your video call with is either plugged in or fully charged.
Work gets busy and doing business wirelessly can make certain tasks easier to complete. That said, this also drains laptop, smartphone, and tablet batteries mightily. Before hopping on to any video conferencing session, check that your device has more than enough juice to make it through.
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