how to improve the quality of your video calls (3/3)

• Make sure you have a strong Internet connection: While all the above-mentioned tips will significantly improve the quality of your video calls, the most important thing is ensuring a high-speed Internet connection. Otherwise, all your efforts will go down the drain, especially if your connection is slow and/or unreliable. 

Test the speed of your Internet connection with an online speed test and see where you stand. If the speed is slow, there are a few things you can do. 

If you have an ethernet jack on your hand, hook it up with your PC or laptop, it’ll definitely get you a much stronger and stable connection than the one you usually get on WiFi. 

If going wireless is the only option you have, make sure no one else in the house is sucking up the precious bandwidth via video streaming or online gaming. You can even try moving your router to a better location in the house and/or even upgrading it to a more efficient one.

Another option might be to install a trusted VPN on your computer; I’ll spare you with the technical details, but there’s a good chance it may boost your Internet speed. And if none of these things work, your last resort would be to simply upgrade your Internet connection to a better plan with a higher upload speed if you can.

• Close everything that’s not needed: If you need multiple applications or browser tabs open for your meeting, then it’s fine to keep them active. However, if you’re delivering a presentation or hosting a webinar, then it’s best to let the video conferencing app or website get all the juice. Close anything and everything that you don’t need. The more important the call, the more critical this action step is. This will help the computer run smoothly and efficiently during your video call. In addition, make sure that all the notifications are turned off. You don’t want other people to hear the pings of any messages or incoming emails.