Challenges With Group Video Calls
Rachel Cossar
24 replies
What are you biggest challenges when connecting over video in a group (more than 4 people)?
Replies
Sean Song@seansong
HiDock H1
My biggest challenge in office is to setup the meeting, I need: a laptop, an adaptor, a power charger, a speakerphone and an HDMI cable (to TV screen). When I use Macbook Air, I don't have enough ports and every time I bring these gadgets with me cross doors. It is painful.
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Virtual Sapiens
@seansong Good point...smart offices where you can simply plug in and be meeting ready are ideal...but expensive and take time to set up.
As you mention, that's one nice thing about being in your home office where you can tailor everything to suit your preferences and not have to re-setup everyday...
Talking over one another accidentally.
Virtual Sapiens
@mdvanb Yep...spatial audio can help with that which I would imagine will become more of a baseline component to video conferencing. Another interesting idea would be to have embedded tech that picks up on your nonverbal cues that indicate willingness to speak (like raising a hand, unmuting, or even leaning in)
Maintaining attention or active listening
Virtual Sapiens
@max_osbon Makes sense...do you think it would be helpful to have a nudge/alert system that can help you stay present when you drift off?
Virtual Sapiens
@max_osbon Great to hear:) Our Virtual Sapiens Sidekick product provides this nudge system during calls! We are testing out a new product that could potentially help an entire group stay focused during a call...and suggest when perhaps a call has gone on too long!
Hey! You are on mute. :D
Virtual Sapiens
@shruti_vrm It helps:) And gets people to laugh. We have also considered building an audio alert for the user since they often miss the visual message, or the platform doesn't have it...maybe something we build into our Virtual Sapiens roadmap:)
Virtual Sapiens
@shruti_vrm FOR REAL!
I have a sign now:) hahah!
@rachelonpointe Hahah! I want that x)
Virtual Sapiens
Biggest challenge if I am the host is to keep everyone engaged with the topic that is being discussed. Most of the people tend to drift their attention away when they are not the hosts or active participants in the discussion which does not mean that they shouldn't be actively listening.
Virtual Sapiens
@desi_dimitrova Yes - great point.
There are techniques to keep people engaged as the host, there are also technologies that can be used to help the audience themselves stay present:) Our Sidekick can help with that and we are eager to try it out with more dynamic group calls!
Staying focused or genuinely participating
Virtual Sapiens
@adraina_a Thanks for sharing - totally. It's hard to feel like you are in a conversation when everything is so 2D.
Some of our research has shown that small nudges and reminders that are triggered by specific nonverbal cues can be helpful in staying present during calls. We are curious about whether there is a way to leverage tech to help speakers do a better job of welcoming and encouraging real participation.
Verticalls
I think maintaining people's attention is complicated. But what can sometimes be difficult is not getting off the basic topic with many interactions.
We tried to solve problems with the classic visio problems with our Verticalls product. It does not solve people's attention but at least it allows us to structure meetings and gain productivity
https://www.verticalls.ai
Virtual Sapiens
@enola_vedovotto Fascinating. I will check verticalls out. At Virtual Sapiens, our Sidekick actually helps with keeping people's attention focused on the present meeting. Our AI tech watches for classic behaviors around disengagement and sends gentle nudges (and if you want, audio alerts) to help users stay engaged.
Maybe there is room for some collaboration here:)
Verticalls
@rachelonpointe Yeah, sur let's talk about it ! Shall we meet on Linkedin?
Virtual Sapiens
@enola_vedovotto Yes ! Let's do it:)
The major challenge with group video call is focus. Sometimes in the whirlwind of communication, we miss the important things of discussion. Also, when there are too many people, there is a lot of disturbance as well which we cannot eliminate at any cost because apparently everyone is working from home these days.
@rachelonpointe I will surely try this if I need it.
Virtual Sapiens
@srishty_chaudhary I absolutely agree. I think it is very hard to manage a group call when you can only see a) what you screen shows (even if more people are on video) and b) there is so much behavioral information going on that it is impossible to catch all the small things.
At Virtual Sapiens (www.virtualsapiens.co) we are interested in helping solve this - using AI to help people manage these group video (and possibly hybrid) meetings more effectively!
Virtual Sapiens
@srishty_chaudhary Love to hear that:) If you do try it out, we have a free trial and would love to hear what you think!!