Videoconferencing Gone Bad

Megan Crabb

Etiquette

• Rudeness

• Not muting

• Talking out of turn

• Chewing gum or eating during a videoconference

• Multi-tasking loudly

Mute Button

• Press to mute your microphone

• Quite possibly the most important button on the remote

• Will keep noise makers at your site from capturing the conference

Clothing

• Solid color shirts• “Busy” outfits blur

when on camera• Simpler patterns aid

the video compression

Lighting

• Soft white light• Light from in front• Standard overhead lights

don’t cut it• Think of TV studio

lighting• Camera can not focus in

low light

Backdrop

• No Hard Lines or complicated patterns• Can use a dry erase board• Solid color is ideal

– Avoid red backgrounds

• Give audience one thing to focus on

Bad Backdrop

Good Backdrop

Audio Setup

• Separate Microphones and Speakers• Test levels ahead of time

– Polycom’s “Generate Tone”

– Polycom’s “Audio Meter”

• May need to add echo canceling hardware

Large Conference Rooms

• Position the camera to see speaker and audience– May want to add additional cameras

• Good lighting• Designate locations for Q&A• Avoid panning the camera as much as possible

– Polycom Presets

Firewalls

• H.323 and firewalls do not get along

• Certain ports are blocked

• Some products (Polycom) have built-in firewall solution

• Know networking staff

• Ask for IP addresses not behind the firewall

User Error

• Not testing– Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong, it

will– Testing will help to address networking issues– Testing will give end users additional

experience

User Error

• Untrained users– Crash course vital for users to gain experience – Simple things like muting and the remote

control can and should be taught

User Error

• Moving the unit just prior to a videoconference– Thesis Defense, December, 2001– Original testing went fine– Far site moved their unit just moments before

the defense was to begin– Thesis defender had to sweat it out while new

problems were corrected

Networking

• Not enough bandwidth– Regional campus had four videoconferences

going on at the same time on a T1 line– T1 are 1.544 Mbs– Average videoconference is 384 or 512 kbs

• 384 x 4 = 1.536 Mbs

– Too much going on at once• Napster/iMesh eat bandwidth