Melbourne has been experiencing a spike in Covid-19 cases since mid-June, a different scenario from the rest of the country which has successfully contained the virus. This is why the city is undergoing a new 6-week lockdown in a bid to slow down the spread of infection. With many businesses and offices closed again, people are once again turning to the internet to continue working.

But it’s not just Melbourne. Many cities and countries are experiencing spikes due to reopening and easing of lockdown measures. With cases piling around the world, we may be making video calls for a lot longer which is why finding ways to look and sound better during Zoom and Skype calls is important.

Here are some tips.

Lighting

Let there be light! Natural if you can manage. Even if you’re just using your laptop camera, make sure that you have some lighting so that your face can be seen clearly by the other participants. You don’t need a thousand-dollar studio set up, you just need a couple of lights and make sure that they are positioned correctly.

Sitting with your back to the window or light source will leave you under exposed so you won’t look good. Sitting in front of a light isn’t also pleasant. Try to find a balance where you can sit in an angle for a Rembrandt-like effect. A directional lamp or an LED panel can make a big difference to your video quality.

Get A Better Webcam

Even the best lighting and lighting techniques can fail if your webcam sucks. Most webcams especially those embedded in laptops don’t have high quality cameras that can stream 720p. Low resolution cameras make videos look old and have poor autofocus.

Upgrading your camera to an external webcam is easy. Brands like Logitech Brio 4K support high-definition video calls and HDR. Another alternative is to buy or use your DSLR. Using a capture card, you can send the video signal from your DSLR to your computer and turn it into the most expensive webcam you own. Capture cards can cost around $100, so this setup isn’t cheap.

You can also use your smartphone. Most smartphone cameras have autofocus and can perform real-time white balance and color correction adjustments. Apps like EpocCam can turn your smartphone camera into a webcam easily and can work via WiFi or through direct USB connection.

Buy A Dedicated Mic

Since your upgrading your work-at-home setup you should also get a dedicated microphone in order to improve audio. A headphone with a mic or a separate microphone can do wonders in terms of audio fidelity and help get rid of background noise.

However, even the greatest microphone in the world can’t get rid of the sound of screaming kids in the background. This is where noise cancelling software comes in. Apps like Noise Blocker and NoiseGator can help you get rid of background noise, making it easier for viewers to understand you.

Better Is Better Than Perfect

Improving your home office set up does not mean to say that it has to be perfect. All you need to do is to make the quality better from the original one. You can make the improvements gradual or you can do it slowly. It all depends on the need and your budget.

We all have the urge to look better on camera, so make it a habit to dress up (at least on top) and to wear makeup or groom yourself to make sure that you’re always ready to answer a video call.

The post Easy Ways To Look And Sound Better During Video Calls appeared first on Creativ Digital.

As of this writing, there are over 3 million infections around the world with the United States, France and Spain being the hardest hit nations. Many companies are adopting remote or virtual alternatives in order to prevent company operations from stopping. Email and VPN use are not enough because companies need to hold meetings too.

Skype, Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans, and GoToMeeting are familiar names when it comes to virtual conference solution. But now we have Zoom. Almost overnight, many companies and businesses have adopted the platform as the go-to option to hold lessons, business meetings, and sensitive discussions.

In 2019 Zoom had 1.9 million users. However, in 2020 it now has over 2.2 million new monthly users, making it the new “go to” meeting app for many teams and businesses. However, this surge in popularity has also created security ramifications. Severe security issues have hackers hijacking meetings, lessons and other online activities leading many users to question Zoom’s safety and privacy policies.

Keeping unwanted attendees from hijacking meetings is preventable if you follow the following advice.

Password Protect Meetings

The safest way to prevent hijacking is to password protect meetings. Passwords can be used to protect individual meetings, user, group or account level for all sessions. To do this, sign up with Zoom and set up a password at the individual meeting level. Go to settings” tab and enable “Require a password when scheduling new meetings”.

Authenticate Users

Zoom has a feature where only the host needs to set up an account in order to use the app. Attendees don’t need to sign up because all they need was the ID meeting or the host’s name in order to participate.

Secure meetings by only allowing signed-in users to participate. 

Join Before Host

Do not allow attendees to join the meeting before you (the host) has arrived. You can enforce this by going to “account settings”.

Lockdown Meeting

Once everybody has “arrived” the meeting has begun, go to manage participants>more and then choose “lock” to prevent others from joining even if they know the meeting ID.

Turn Off Screen Sharing

Zoom has a participant screen sharing feature but nobody wants a porno sharing Zoom bomber to hijack meetings. Disable screen sharing by attendees by going to “Security” tab in active sessions. 

Use Randomly Generated ID

As much as possible, avoid using a personal ID for your meetings. opt for a randomly generated ID when creating a new event. Additionally, don’t share your personal ID publicly. This will prevent pranksters from disturbing your meetings.

Avoid File Sharing

Be careful with sharing files while on Zoom even if you know the attendees. Instead of using Zoom use other services like Drop Box and Google Drive for file sharing as they are a more trusted service.

Use A Waiting Room

Waiting rooms are useful since it is a feature that allows you to screen participants before they are allowed to enter the meeting. This is a good feature not only for meetings but also for interviews and online lessons.

Remove Nuisance Attendees

Just like normal face-to-face meetings that we used to have, only the people that attend the meetings are those that need to be there. In virtual meetings you can remove nuisance attendees by going to the more tab and then removing unwanted participants.

Check For Updates

Whenever security issues crop up, patches are deployed and functions are disabled. This is why Zoom needs to be updated regularly. Click on your profile in the top-right, and select “Check for updates” to ensure that you have the latest version of Zoom running.

Wrap-up

Zoom is easy to use and set up which is why many people like using the platform. While they have a lot of security issues that need patching up, following our advice can help make your meetings, lessons and social gathering safe from hackers and hijackers.

The post Is Zoom Safe? Tips To Ensure Your Meetings Are Safe & Secure appeared first on Creativ Digital.