Being able to meet with clients and business associates from time to time is important for any company to keep a good profile and strengthen existing relationships. However, in a world where almost nobody has time to be present in person at meetings, businesses have no choice but to rely more on virtual conferencing. For many years this meant conferencing over the phone using a dedicated extension.
Although this type of meeting is still quite popular – especially in VoIP solutions – more and more companies are opting for video meetings to bring back the intimacy that face-to-face meetings provide. But where we know and are accustomed to proper behavior during traditional conferences, attending a video meeting requires a slightly different etiquette…
Proper Preparations
Similar to meetings in person, the preparation for a video conference conducted over the internet requires thorough attention. In that regard, the most important rule is to ensure that the attendees are treated fairly from start to finish – and that starts at the beginning, when arranging the date of the meeting. To achieve this, it’s best to schedule the date of the conference based on the results of a poll created with multiple choices. This can easily be done by turning to online solutions like Calendly or Doodle. In addition to enabling a fair decision, these apps also integrate with the most popular virtual calendars, giving you the perfect opportunity to mark the day of the meeting in each person’s calendar right away.
Only when the date is fixed should the message containing the date, the communication channel, and additional elements like the agenda be sent out to all participants. However, this is something that can easily be achieved with a cloud phone system, provided that it has a built-in invitation tool or is capable of generating invitation messages within popular email apps.
Testing the Equipment
There is nothing worse than being in a meeting where the participants can’t see or hear each other due to technical failure. As such, make sure that the video feed is uninterrupted and that the microphones and speakers work properly. Thankfully, this is something that can be quickly conducted between colleagues before the call, although the best option is to set up a dummy meeting with people outside of the company to see how well the system performs when the actual conference commences.
Since a stable feed plays a crucial rule in conducting a successful video conference, it’s also important to check whether the camera is working well. There’s more to it than that though, since you need to make sure that the camera is properly positioned and is focused either at your eye level or to properly allow for everyone involved with the call to be seen if a single feed will take place in a meeting room.
One thing to note, though, is that if you feel like testing the equipment again before the meeting starts, then do so. That way any unforeseen issues can be spotted in time and you can take the necessary countermeasures.
Dressing for the Part
All business meetings conducted through video calls should be treated just as if you were sitting in an actual office with all the participants around you. Simply put, choose attire that you would normally wear when meeting with clients and business associates in person. This is particularly true for introductory meetings, where making a good first impression is crucial in establishing a fruitful relationship.
Cancelling out Noises
Though video meetings share many similarities with in-person conferences, there is one major difference that nobody can escape from – microphones can easily pick up all sorts of noise. Thankfully, there are solutions to this problem. Nowadays even the simplest of desk phones come with a mute button with which the microphone can be easily deactivated when it isn’t your turn to speak. These phones often have earphone jacks, allowing you to use earphones to block out noise, although many VoIP solutions are also equipped with built-in noise cancellation features.
Sharing Documents
The beauty of cloud phone systems that can handle video conferences is that during the call participants can share documents, presentations, and websites with one another. But to ensure that the conference goes as smoothly as possible, it’s smarter to prepare everything in advance by gathering the necessary files and having the relevant webpage links ready before the event commences.
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