Video calls have become a fundamental part of remote working and the sudden surge in usage across 2020 is likely to stay for good. Within a professional environment video calls are most commonly used as substitutes for face-to-face meetings or discussions. Participating in meetings over video presents a range of unique challenges and things to consider that don’t apply to in-person workplace interactions. We’ll run through all of these aspects in this lesson, starting off with the video calling options available to most businesses.
The options out there
Zoom
- The most popular tool in terms of usage.
Microsoft Teams
- Easiest option if you already have an Outlook account.
Google Meet
- Easiest option if you already have a Gmail account.
These are the three most common video calling platforms and it’s very likely that your company will use one of these options. If you are somewhat familiar with at least one it’s still very useful to be up to speed with all three! All video calling software has the same basic features and understanding how to properly use them is step one in this lesson. Here’s an overview of the standard functionality that Zoom, Google Meets, and Microsoft Teams all share:
- Mute button
- Turn video on/off button
- Screen sharing
- Internal chat
- Leave call/end meeting