What Should I know About Planning A Multipoint Video Conference?

The location and times for each site in the conference should be set well in advance and confirmed by a central contact person. Each site should have its own facilitator and technical contacts that will not only organize the participants but ensure the equipment is functioning properly and the room has been configured appropriately. It is helpful if each site has a prominently positioned sign or banner identifying their location.

About a week before the actual event, conduct a test call and repeat this precaution about an hour before the conference itself starts. The central coordinator should distribute an agenda to all remote participants who should respect this proposed schedule. In the event that a technical malfunction does occur, have some kind of back-up plan for each location.

In the corporate setting there will most likely be one person in each office who is in charge of setting up and facilitating the video conference. With a permanent equipment installation and a facilitator who has worked with the set-up and with their colleagues at a distance on more than one occasion, your video conference will proceed even more smoothly.

How Do You Facilitate A Multipoint Video Conference?

To begin, request that all sites mute their microphones especially if the multipoint video conference is in voice-activated mode. As the facilitator, introduce yourself to the other participants and identify both your location and the remote locations. Also, be sure to state the purpose of the video conference.

Tell the participants in which mode the conference is being conducted and provide an overview of what special considerations that mode entails. Discuss how participants should use the microphone for interaction. Be very clear about the ground rules of the conference and the expected etiquette.

Go over the agenda before the conference begins and then keep the participants on track, focused, and moving through the material. Be sure that you end the video conference on time, saving perhaps ten to fifteen minutes at the end for wrap-ups. Be sure to thank all the participants and to indicate how each site should “hang up” or sign off.

In the corporate setting, the facilitator is acting rather like a traffic officer. You want to make sure that everyone who needs to talk gets that chance and that subsequent questions and feedback occur without overlapping or canceling one another out.

What Are The Benefits of Multipoint Video Conferencing?

Video conferencing is about making far-flung connections without the need to travel and conducting those interactions effectively. Multipoint communications spread that interaction over more than two participants further maximizing the potential for productivity. With continued improvement in equipment, multipoint video conferencing will become an increasingly influential communication application.