Now that most of us have gone the way of virtual meetings on a daily basis, are you suffering from VC fatigue? Were you relieved, at the end of every virtual meeting, when you do not have to strain to hear your remote participants or continuously maintaining a posture to make sure your face is positioned properly to that tiny camera on yr laptop? Many of us are fine for short 30-45mins virtual meetings; so we underestimate the energy level required for long meetings or continuous back to back meetings. Read on for good practices which will help reduce VC fatigue and make your daily virtual collaborations more productive and enjoyable.
Increase Your Screen Real Estate
It is so easy to join a VC call via your mobile phone or laptop but these devices are fine if the virtual meetings are short i.e 30-45mins and do not require participants to view detail oriented content like excel files, fine detail imagery etc. The level of fatigue rises quickly if you are caught staring into that phone screen or laptop screen for prolonged periods. Take care of your eyes and invest in a proper monitor that will give you that screen real estate for that better view. Your eyes will thank you for the upgrade in screen size.
Perfect Video for ALL
Invest in a proper camera that's at least Full HD or a 4K camera if you are customer facing to give a good lasting impression. Nobody wants to look at fuzzy face images, which not only diminishes their impression of you, but also increases fatigue for your meeting participants.
Quality webcams are affordable and typically cost less than SGD200. A fine upgrade will be the Logitech C930e which delivers Full HD quality and is built for video collaboration with H.264 video compression technology. If you have that bit more budget, the Logitech BRIO 4K webcam will be your best choice for capturing video details in 4K glory and makes you look good even in low light condition.
For the huddle rooms or the home office, you can consider Logitech ConferenceCam Connect that is ultra portable and gives you more flexibility in setting yourself up without being tied to a fix position i.e. right in front of your laptop.
Or consider the Logitech Meetup below. Prop it up under your TV display like how you would place a soundbar and you are good to join any virtual meetings in comfort knowing that the MeetUp comes with a 4K Ultra HD Camera with 5X HD zoom capability.
Can You Hear Me?
The importance of good audio quality during a VC meeting is something that you should always be conscious of. Do invest in a external audio speaker/mic to hear remote participants with ease and make sure you have a good microphone to deliver your message loud and clear.
External USB speaker microphone are affordable and plug & play. Models that you can consider are Logitech 710e for hands free calls and enterprise audio or the Jabra Speak 710 which is a premium model with more advance features like HD Voice and ability to pair 2 units via bluetooth for wider coverage and more immersive sound.
For privacy during a call, you can consider a wireless headset like Logitech Zone Wireless. It comes with active noise cancellation to block out background noises, especially useful when working from home.
No more fumbling of your earphones and that sweaty feel on your ears after a long VC session. Stop relying on your laptop audio as the inbuilt audio capability will never be as good as an external speaker microphone.
Above are simple and affordable quick fixes which will reduce VC fatigue instantly and enhance your well being when you participate in virtual meetings.
Averett Pte Ltd is a Video Conference specialist and an authorised Logitech partner. We only recommend quality products that we have tested and used extensively ourselves. Reach out to us on getting the right product and solution for virtual collaboration.