From d1c5f68f8afc1d3a2ec0c1f558e7443c3959abf2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: hiltonp Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2024 16:57:27 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add blog post --- blog/_posts/2024-12-24-meeting-audio.md | 96 ++++++++++++------------- 1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 51 deletions(-) diff --git a/blog/_posts/2024-12-24-meeting-audio.md b/blog/_posts/2024-12-24-meeting-audio.md index 51fe01a..d0eeef5 100644 --- a/blog/_posts/2024-12-24-meeting-audio.md +++ b/blog/_posts/2024-12-24-meeting-audio.md @@ -3,85 +3,79 @@ title: Upgrade online meeting audio description: the easiest way to improve meetings when working remote layout: hh tags: remote productivity +image: call-centre.jpg --- - +![A woman wearing a headset at a desk in an office](call-centre.jpg) -When I first worked remote, -I had the worst part of the experience in meetings with a group of people in a meeting room. -Table-top microphones made it difficult to understand people talking, -and half the time, the presenter failed to connect it leaving me with a laptop microphone that couldn’t hear anyone else. +[alanclarkdesign](https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanclarkdesign/2486109368/){:.photocredit} +[CC BY-ND 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0//){:.license} -## Online meetings +When I first worked remote, I hated the hybrid meetings. +The meeting room’s table-top microphone barely worked, +and half of the people couldn’t tell (or didn’t care) that they’d failed to connect it. +Unsurprisingly, laptop microphones don’t work for a room full of people. -Most people already find it too hard to run meetings effectively, and barely try. -Better meetings, especially online, require effort, discipline or both. -By comparison, better audio upgrades the online meeting experience more easily than anything else. -After all, what you can hear defines the meeting experience more than what you can see. +## Online meetings -Listing to people speaking requires more concentration when you have low-quality audio, -much like how listening to a someone speaking a foreign language makes you tired more quickly, -or even your own native language but with an accent. +Following a discussion takes more effort when you have low-quality audio, +much like listening to speech with a strong accent (or not in your native language). Online meetings in tech typically feature both, for most attendees. +Most people don’t make the effort to use effective meeting techniques. +By comparison, improving online meeting audio has a big impact for little effort. +After all, what you can hear defines the meeting experience more than what you can see. + ## Hybrid meetings -Hybrid meetings make audio problems worse, -because you have to combine remote attendees with whole-room audio. -When some participants share a speaker and microphone in a meeting room, -preventing these problems requires expensive equipment. -The rest of this article focuses on fully-remote meetings, in which all participants connect individually. +Hybrid meetings exacerbate audio problems, +by combining remote attendees with participants who share a speaker and microphone. +Fixing this requires expensive equipment. +This article focuses on fully-remote meetings, in which all participants connect individually. ## Wear headphones -First, wear headphones to prevent your microphone picking up other meeting attendees’ audio, -when you unmute yourself. -Online meeting software can filter out meeting audio from a nearby speaker, +Wear headphones so your microphone doesn’t pick up meeting audio. +Online meeting software filters out meeting audio from your microphone, but at a cost to how clear you sound. -Even then, it sometimes fails, causing echo or audio feedback that disrupts the meeting. +And it sometimes fails, causing echo or audio feedback that disrupts the meeting. -## Start with a cheap headset +## Use a headset -While working remote for the first time, I once had an online meeting with a customer in another country, -with clearer and louder audio than any of my colleagues. -I emailed him after the meeting, to ask what equipment he had, +In my first remote job, I had an online meeting with a customer who had clearer audio than any of my colleagues. +After the meeting, I asked what equipment he used, and he replied that he _only had a cheap headset_ – a [Sennheiser PC-8](https://www.eposaudio.com/en/nl/products/pc-8-usb-voice-over-ip-headset-1000432) -(now branded as _Epos_). +(now _Epos_). I immediately ordered my own. You drastically improve your audio by positioning your microphone a few centimetres from your mouth. -Headsets like the PC-8 use a microphone boom (arm) to position the microphone just in front of the corner of your mouth. -And for less than €30, you don’t have any _good_ reasons for not making sure everyone on your team has audio at least this good. +Headsets use a microphone boom (arm) to position the microphone near the corner of your mouth. +And for less than €30, everyone on your team should have audio at least this good. ## Avoid wireless -When I switched to my cheap PC-8 headset, I discovered unexpected benefits: +When I got my own headset, I discovered unexpected benefits: -1. its cheap lightweight plastic construction make it comfortable, and not too hot in summer -2. the wired USB connection meant that I never had Bluetooth connection issues or interference -3. the headset didn’t have batteries to run out at inconvenient times. +1. its lightweight construction make it comfortable in long meetings, and not too hot in summer +2. the wired USB connection meant that I never had Bluetooth issues +3. the headset didn’t use batteries that could run out. -I enjoy Bluetooth’s convenience away from my desk, -but reliable always-connected audio at my desk felt like a revelation. -I never had to worry about joining a meeting, and having to wait for an audio connection, -or batteries running out. +I enjoy Bluetooth’s convenience on the move, but always-connected audio at my desk felt like a revelation. +I never worried about connection issues or dead batteries when joining a meeting. For regular online meetings at your desk, use wired headphones and microphone. -Bluetooth audio quality drops when you switch from the profile for listing to music, -to the profile that supports two-way audio with a microphone. -Bluetooth headphones with a built-in microphone suffer twice: -they position the microphone too far from your mouth, and their low-bandwidth audio lacks clarity -(and gets worse with occasional interference). +Bluetooth audio quality drops when you switch from the profile for listing to music, to using a microphone, +and occasional interference makes it worse. +Bluetooth headphones also degrade audio by positioning microphone too far from your mouth. -## Value empathy and inclusion +## Express empathy and inclusion -When you have a bad microphone in online meetings, -you give other people a bad experience, especially when not talking in their native language. -Upgrading your audio in meetings shows empathy for your colleagues, -because it improves their meeting experience, not yours. +Using a bad microphone in online meetings degrades other people’s experience. +Upgrading your audio in meetings shows empathy for your colleagues, and makes your team more effective. +You should all do it. -If your employer doesn’t give everyone a basic headset, -you have opportunity to start bottom-up, in your own team. -And if you have a generous office equipment budget and care about each other you can go further, -like the fully-remote team with the love language of _excellent audio_.🎙️ +If your employer doesn’t give everyone a basic headset, start bottom-up, in your own team. +And if you have a home office budget and care about each other you can go further, +like the fully-remote team with two love languages: +[reaction emoji](reaction-emoji) and _excellent audio_. 🎙️