Plan and Prepare for the Remote Future

With anything, it’s important to have a plan. The COVID health crisis has brought forth a lot of last-minute grasps on how to set up remote businesses from success in a very short amount of time. Because of this, there was not much time to train employees or student’s on not only expectations of online work environments but how to use the tools in order to be successful. Teachers were thrown into online Zoom lectures, companies were forced to send employees home and the way so many of us have grown accustomed to working changed in a matter of weeks. At this point, after the dust has settled­– some of us have gone back to work and others may be permanently working from home but now it’s time to make a plan for how to best communicate remotely and what tools will be the most important.

The Expectation of your Viewers


We were all forced to adapt quickly, and there was a lot of leeway given for poor presentations, equally poor internet connections, unprofessional backdrops, and the list goes on. But like with anything, the longer you do something and the more you see other people taking steps to improve, the higher expectations will become. Students will hear of their friend’s teachers doing XYZ, companies will come up with better ways to meet with employees who are remote and live shows will figure out how to make their set-up look like the studio. If you cannot adapt and grow to meet the expectations of your customers, others will begin to overshadow you and you’ll be playing catch up which is never a good place to be.

Meeting those Expectations


The tools at your fingertips are truly endless when it comes to having a professional broadcast. And you may be thinking but I’m a teacher, I don’t have a broadcast but the truth is, you do. You are now on a stage and this goes along with anyone else live streaming. So, you need to think of yourself as a broadcaster.

Where to Start – Connection

Nothing is more frustrating than when you’re talking with someone online and the internet connection is spotty and you only catch every other word in the conversation. It’s frustrating for both sides and is not at all efficient. Sometimes your internet connection is out of your control. If you live in a remote area sometimes there’s not much you can do. However, if you’re in an urban area but feel like speeds aren’t quite fast enough, it is probably worth calling up your local Geek Squad and seeing if you can upgrade your router or even put in wifi extenders. There are plenty of options, most of them not very expensive, that can greatly improve your internet speeds.

Camera

When working remotely it’s amazing how much more engaged in a conversation or lecture you can be when you can see the person on the other end. You get to pick up on body language and generally, this means improved communication. If you’re accustomed to an HD TV, going back to standard definition is like torture for your eyeballs, the same is true when you have a poor quality camera. There are many cameras out there for all budgets (link to camera post) and they make any online meeting a whole lot more enjoyable. It’s also good to note that having a good internet connection also impacts your camera so make sure both are good to go.

Hardware

Here we are talking about your computer, is it 10 years old and not able to support the bandwidth of your camera and remote work software? If so, now is the perfect time to upgrade. If your computer can’t support what you’re running, there’s really no getting around it. If you are one of the many companies, teachers, or employees in it for the long haul it may be worth looking into a hardware unit that is built specifically for live streaming. If this sounds like you, it would be worthwhile to check out Wirecast Gear (link to page) it’s an all-in-one solution built specifically to run Wirecast and has everything you need to set-up and awesome looking broadcast.

Software

This is where your options are truly endless. Depending on
what you are looking for there is a software out there for you. We’re biased,
but Wirecast is truly the top of the line product when it comes to live
streaming. We’ve built it so it will work for any segment, from education to
sports to government and will keep you looking professional whatever your
setting. To learn more about Wirecast, visit our page here.

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