November 26, 2020

The Ultimate ‘Budget’ Virtual Meeting Setup

Having a 4K camera would be awesome. But we can still look good in any virtual meeting with a built in webcam!

More and more people are upgrading their virtual meeting setups. You're looking at your budget for next quarter, it's already tight because of the global pandemic. You don't want to put any money toward your virtual meeting setup. You want to save for the rest of the business. This article is here to show you how you can still look and sound like a pro in a virtual meeting without breaking the bank. 

What you'll need:

  • Your Work Laptop with a built-in webcam. Skycomp uses the E14 Laptop from Lenovo. 
  • A pair of headphones with a built-in microphone - Skycomp suggests these ones: Sony Headphones
  • A Stack of books or something a laptop can fit on top of.

This is a basic list of what you would need. They key is to have a laptop or monitor with a built-in web camera. If your computer or workstation doesn't have this, you might have to invest in an external USB web camera.  Other than that, it’s a pretty easy list the gather together. We promise your video and audio will be a little bit better then what it was. 

The Internet Speed is My problem...

That is a tough one to figure out. Usually home internet speeds range from 25 MB download to 10 MB upload speeds. That is fine for one video call. But as soon as someone flips on Netflix or streams on the same network you run into problems. The best solution is to make sure nobody is streaming anything but the video call. If you must kick your family off Netflix for an hour or two that might be a good thing! Get them outside, and you get to enjoy a skipping-free and worry-free video conference call.

Below are Skycomp's Office internet speeds. Remember this is an IT company. If you want speeds to this level you may have to have a business level internet service plan.

Speed Test Screen Shot

These are just a few things you can do to elevate your online meeting. Since everyone is still meeting online and it looks like we will be for a long time. You really want to invest in your desk and home office setup. Now you don't have to invest money. But investing some time or even an afternoon into setting up your desk space into a ergonomic way will save you hassle and might get you a few compliments on the look of your office space. It also might get you a job if you are interviewing online and not meeting in person. It could help you connect with more of your employees if you’re a CEO and you show off a little of your home office. You could even start recording tutorial videos in it for your business and start performing well on social media and video streaming platforms. So many possibilities when you and your video quality is good.

I Have Budget to Buy One Upgrade... What should I buy?

Thinking about audio is key. Lots of people forget that half of watching a movie is what you are hearing. Ever mute a movie at home? It's unwatchable. All the sound effects, music and dialogue add everything to the story. So, if you were to invest in anything, a microphone should be the first choice. If someone can't hear you on a video conference call. It's almost pointless to host one. You might as well call them on the phone.

Samson Microphone Kit and Headphones 

The above audio kit is a great USB microphone by Samson - You can see all the details about the microphone here. 

Before this point many people didn't think video, conference calls were important to business. Now some businesses are only staying strong because they have the ability to use video conference to still connect with people. Instead of travelling to a conference to meet with people in similar fields we can just setup a video call. Onboarding a new client, we can meet with their team online. The options are truly endless. Since we can't travel, we have adapted to other ways of communication. For someone in video technology or in IT this is an easy adaptation. For others it hasn't come as easy. Regardless you can read online information on the best ways to go about adapting to the new virtual meeting filled world. You can even watch tons of videos teaching you how to use software and showing you all the differences between them. So many options it is hard to narrow down just one. You decide what is best for your business. 

Skycomp is a huge fan of Microsoft Teams. We have an entire video series on how to use it. Make sure to check out the full playlist and read through other articles on Teams on our learn page. 

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