The world of Video Calling -For Work or Keeping in Touch with Family
Video calling went from being an underused niche to a huge sensation during the Covid-19 Pandemic. But do you really know how best to use it to stay in touch or build your career?
While it has rather common place to video call via our smartphones webcams were a small niche, so much so that companies didn’t put much quality into webcam products - they were basic and low quality - even apple until very recently only put the most basic webcam into its laptops.
Since covid that has changed and many companies have now invested heavily into webcams that have fantastic quality with even Apple finally deciding to put some investment into them.
So why are they a good investment for your company:
Huge savings on travel costs; With prices rising it is on a whole much cheaper to host a virtual meeting than pay the high costs of travel to send a team member for something that can be done online in a few clicks. Not to mention the time saved travelling to and from destinations, with no need to put up with delays, cancellations, road closures etc.
Keeping in touch with family: While it is always lovely to see and be around family and nothing will ever replace being there, you can keep in touch in a cheap way via zoom Skype or portal. Any chance at saving money should be taken in a time where costs of living are rising. Yet we are fortunate to live in a time where we have technology like this to be able to keep in touch with each other.
Positioning - Avoiding the glares and making yourself seen
Don’t put yourself in front of a window, as there will be too much glare on the camera but do place yourself near the window if possible to have some natural light illuminate your face.
Camera & Sound
Zoom, Teams Skype FaceTime, Mega
If you are an Apple user then the choice is rather simple if you have people on iPhones and Macs. The easiest option is to FaceTime. For those who are reaching people on other devices the best 2 options are Teams or Mega. There is also services like portal and even people using their Wii U’s.
It is worthwhile to invest in a good camera if your computer does not have a built in webcam. This post will be updated to keep track of the best web cams available so please see below:
