World Wide Web Hosting relies heavily on video conferencing for meetings. Whether you’re a candidate attending an interview or a current team member attending a meeting, it is necessary to have a working video conferencing setup in order to be successful. This is a short guide on how to avoid some common problems and faux pas that we frequently see with new (and veteran) video conference attendees.

The Technology

For all meetings we use Google Hangouts. Since we pay for Google Apps and all have accounts for our work email this is what makes the most sense for us. Your setup must be compatible with Google Hangouts. Checkout the minimum requirements suggested by Google here: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1216376. Pay particular attention the bandwidth section; Interweb connection speed plays a large part in successful video conferencing.

For OS X, we find (surprisingly) that Safari is the best browser for Hangouts. Many of our employees have encountered crashing and overheating issues when using Chrome.

For Linux, Chrome works just fine.

If you’re using Windows, please reformat your computer and install Linux. :)

For whatever browser you are using, make sure to install any required plugins for Google Hangouts.

Video

Video is not optional. Use a decent webcam. The one built-in to a laptop is usually fine. If you are using Linux, make sure you have the proper drivers and kernel modules built. If you don’t have one built into your workstation, most phones/tablets can be setup to use Hangouts:

This should not be your permanent setup. Hangouts on mobile platforms is limited and doesn’t easily support many things we use like Hangouts apps and chat.

In a pinch, you can also use your phone/tablet as a webcam. Doing a web search for “use [your-device-here] as webcam” should return some results and applications you can use to turn your device into a functioning webcam for use with your workstation.

Please make sure your lighting is suitable for a video call. The only thing worse than no video is talking to a mysterious silhouette. To prevent this, you generally want your main source of light in front of you, not behind you. Check out the following examples:

Good lighting Poor lighting

Make sure you frame yourself correctly. In general, you want your head horizontally centered and towards the top of the frame. Ideally, your camera would be level with your head or a little bit higher, but this isn’t always possible. Try to keep a distance between you and the camera so that the resulting image simulates the distance at which you’d normally talk face-to-face with another human being. The “good lighting” example above is also framed nicely.

Please look presentable. This doesn’t mean you need a suit and tie or collared shirt – we are a casual company and have no qualms with a t-shirt, hoodie, or baseball cap. However, if you look like you’ve just rolled out of bed, it can be distracting and unprofessional.

Audio

Sending and receiving audio is not optional. You must use a headset to prevent echoing. You don’t need to spend a fortune; most $10-$20 headsets with a built-in mic will be just fine for voice conferencing. A pair of iPhone headphones that come with the phone are a good example of a simple headset that you can use which don’t make you look like an airline pilot. Make sure that you have your headset setup and properly calibrated, both in your operating system and in Google Hangouts.

Occasionally, Google Hangouts will decide that it wants to output or receive audio through alternate devices; be sure to check your settings in Google Hangout when you first join to make sure the correct devices are selected.

Please choose a quiet place to conference. It’s very distracting for both you and the others on the conference if your significant other is watching TV, or a child or pet is trying to participate in the conference.

Etiquette

You should be prepared to clearly and concisely give your input at any point during the conversation. Treat each video conference as if you were sitting with the attendees at a coffee shop. If you wouldn’t do something there, don’t do it during the call.

It is expected that you are fully engaged in the conversation and that you are not distracted by outside factors. If you don’t feel like you should be in the meeting, discuss that with the organizer ahead of time instead of looking distracted or bored throughout the conference. Having side conversations, or answering emails and doing other work is frowned upon. If you choose to use the microphone mute feature, make sure you are diligently managing it so that we can hear you when you intend to speak. If a question is asked of the group, don’t sit on mute and wait for everyone else to speak up; that’s a guaranteed way to have a completely silent room.

Be on-time or early to the meeting. If technical difficulties or tardiness delay a meeting including 10 people for just 5 minutes, you’ve wasted nearly an hour of man-hours.

Testing

No matter how confident you are in your setup, make sure to test it regularly, especially before big meetings. One way to test yourself is outlined by Google here: https://support.google.com/chat/answer/162174. Feel free to ping a colleague or friend to hop on a Hangout to verify that everything is working properly.

In addition to making sure everything actually works, do a quality test. Open a program that allows you to record your voice (e.g. Quicktime, Audacity, sox), record yourself saying a few sentences in a normal speaking voice and play it back. Does it sound okay? Is there a lot of background noise? Is the volume appropriate?

You can do the same for video by starting a Hangout and looking at your own video feed either through the settings, or by clicking on your thumbnail. Can you see your face and features clearly? Is your camera positioned properly?

Profit!

If you’ve followed the suggestions in this guide, you should be set-up and well prepared for a video conference on Google Hangouts.

Remember to test your setup before meetings, especially if you don’t frequently attend video conferences. Help prevent lost time; be prepared, be on-time!