Amidst COVID-19, many businesses have been forced to conduct business remotely. This has brought an assortment of challenges ranging from file sharing to accessing work equipment, but it seems one of the hardest things to conquer is remote conferencing and the bag of bricks it continues to drop on all our toes. The good news is this:

The problems are fixable and I’m here to help!

Video conferencing is not a new concept, but it is a new practice for many organizations. Most of the big issues of video conferencing come down to a lack of experience from the people participating in the conference. With this in mind, we are going to raise some of the big issues with conferences and how to correct them. 

For the first part in our series, we will be discussing how to improve your audio quality in a remote conference. Poor audio quality is maybe the biggest issue with remote conferencing. It is oftentimes more important to hear someone than it is to see them. We routinely deal with audio bad enough that you can’t even hear who’s talking, let alone the ideas they’re trying to share. Luckily, the solutions to this are quite simple:

1. Try using a pair of headphones when conferencing. Your computer microphone can pick up the sound of your speakers which creates a lot of unnecessary noise in the chat. 
2. Consider investing in a microphone. A lot of new headphones come with a microphone built in which can drastically improve your sound. If you’d like to get more serious about remote conferencing or you have multiple people in the room with you, consider a simple USB microphone. 
3. Mute yourself when you aren’t talking. Even if you aren’t talking, you are generating noise such as your computer fan, your breathing, the dog in the background, or even kids running around. By muting yourself, you effectively eliminate all this unwanted noise. 
4. Make sure your surroundings are quiet. While this isn’t possible for all of us, try moving into a room free of distractions. Small things like a washing machine, an open window, or the TV in the background can make it hard to hear you. 

In many cases, these tips will vastly improve your audio which will in turn improve your remote conferencing. If video is an important part of your conferences, then make sure you read part two of our remote conferencing series where we discuss some tips to fix your video feed.