Working from home has become quite mainstream in the wake of the national lockdown. This has no doubt made companies turn more and more to video conferencing as a means to conduct meetings. Of course, video conferences bring challenges of their own, and it’s up to each and every participant to make sure the quality of the call is as properly optimised on their side as possible. Fortunately, there are various steps you can take to achieve this.

Adjust sound quality

It’s important to be heard properly on a video call, so find a way to cancel out annoying background noise, be it from traffic outside or appliances running indoors. When preparing for your video call, set yourself up in an area of your home where noise is either low or non-apparent. If this doesn’t seem possible then put yourself on mute while the other participants in your call are talking so that the conversation isn’t muffled. Another way to solve noise issues during video conferences is to invest in a noise-cancelling headset. It’s one of the most convenient office accessories you can own, as you can use it wherever you are working.

• READ MORE: Strategies to reduce background noise while working from home

Adjust lighting

It’s nice to have the camera on during a video conference, as it adds a human connection to the experience. It’s also the more appropriate move if you’re talking to a client. You don’t want to appear as a disembodied voice. That being said, if turning on the camera doesn’t negatively affect the quality of your call, then you should adjust your lighting beforehand to make yourself presentable to the other participants in the call. Sit with your face to a window so that you can be clearly seen by everyone else on the call.

Optimise your bandwidth

Of course, internet connectivity plays a crucial role in making a video call work, and an important factor in determining the strength of your internet connection is bandwidth. Before joining your video call, check that you have no devices or applications running that might compromise your bandwidth. If your internet starts slowing down, then your video call could be affected by problems such as a pixelated screen or unclear audio. So, first confirm that no large programs are running on your laptop or any other device. Close everything and focus all your attention on your video call.

Do a pre-call check

You don’t want to join your video call and then find out your connection is faulty or the platform you’re using isn’t working properly. So, before an important conference, log on early to see if everything is performing as it should. You can actually make test calls with Zoom and with Microsoft Teams, a collaborative tool that comes courtesy on Office 365.

Plug in your charger

Your video conference could run longer than you expect and chew up a great deal of your battery’s power if your laptop isn’t plugged in. It will be disruptive if you have to move to where your charger is or leave the call temporarily and go searching for your charger. Rather set yourself up in an area where you can keep your charger plugged in throughout the call.

Video conferencing is an important means of keeping in touch with your colleagues and clients, so be certain that it’s properly optimised. Keep both your sound and image quality up to scratch and that nothing is interfering with your bandwidth. It’s also a good idea to test the video platform you’re using to be certain that it’s functioning properly, and to have your charger plugged in just in case the call goes on for a while. With these measures in place, your video conference is sure to run smoothly. Remote work does come with its challenges, but with the remote working solutions in place you’re bound to face them head-on.