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Revision as of 12:26, 11 September 2009

Good Practices in Videoconferencing

We quite often encounter difficulties, particularly audio, during our GlueX videoconference meetings that render our communications inefficient, annoying and sometimes bring them to a virtual halt. Here are a few tips that everyone should employ to minimize disruptions and delay.

• Be prompt. Meetings should start very near the time advertised, meaning that equipment and software should be up and running by the meeting time, including audio/video checks. This may take anywhere from 5-15 minutes, so please account for this. Also, if your videoconference rooms is used by others, advertise the start time of the meeting as +15 min from the time you get occupation of the room.

• Use proper equipment (see hardware section below)

• Keep your mic muted at all times unless speaking.

• Be judicious in interrupting to ask a question. Connections often have a lag and this causes confusion. Hold off on questions until the end of the presentation, unless crucial clarification is needed.

• Be concise and economical in your comments/questions; please avoid excessive banter.

• Be courteous and collegial.

Check out your hardware

• Polycom Site Selector Many GlueX groups have Polycom equipment and are unanimous on their excellent performance. These are superior devices and a good investment over time. Examples are the VSX 7000 and VSX 5000 models. There are newer models available as well.
• EVO recommended hardware For the more price conscious.

Software and clients

• EVO Collaboration Network The tool of choice for GlueX videoconferences (and of many nuclear and particle physics collaborations). We have posted detailed EVO instructions on our GlueX Communications wiki page. View the EVO TWiki for FAQ.
• Xmeeting A videoconferencing solution for Max OS X.

References

• Wikipedia Article