Working from home is a relatively new thing to many people. I’ve been working from home almost as long as I’ve owned my Houston IT support company, Digital Crisis. I went 100% remote in 2015, and I honestly don’t have any plans of getting rid of my home office. Video calls are here to stay!

The guide will help you pick out the hardware based on your budget. Options with what you likely already have, all the way to the fanciest equipment you can get for those Zoom/Microsoft Teams calls.

In addition to the hardware tips I give in the guide, below are some great tips for making those video calls just a little better:

1. As I said before, EYE CONTACT, I kind of “cheat” and use a gooseneck to put my camera in FRONT of the monitor. Then, when I’m talking to someone, I drag the window, so the camera is on their forehead, so it looks like I’m looking AT them and not through them. If you have dual monitors, you may want to turn off the one you’re not going to be looking at-This is where I failed miserably, and now this is a standard habit. This is the one I bought from Amazon.
   
2. LIGHTING LIGHTING LIGHTING. You’ll notice I already mentioned this in the guide, but it cannot be stressed enough how important it is. If you are using a greenscreen, it’s imperative to use well-balanced lighting. The point of the greenscreen is to make it look real, right?
   
3. Be Real. Try to avoid using any virtual backgrounds. I went through the trouble and painted my home office with my logo. However, I know not everyone can do this. But if you CAN do it, it does make an excellent conversation piece on its own. I know I just mentioned using a greenscreen. However, if you use a virtual background, the second best thing is to use a green screen. When I started, I had one of these pop-up green screens, which I no longer use.
   
4. If you decide not to use a virtual background, ensure your background is clean and free of clutter. It’s okay if it looks busy but not messy. Take the time to look at your camera view and see what’s viewable or not. You don’t want anything embarrassing on camera or something you don’t want to be brought up in a conversation. On the other hand, if you have awards or something you want to humble brag about, definitely put it in view! If you look closely at my video calls, some have a skeleton and a blue owl in the background.
   
5. A good mic goes a long way. Many years ago, a friend of mine’s dad worked for KHOU, and I asked him, “What’s the number one thing people overlook when it comes to making a video?” Without missing a beat, Tom said, “Audio.” It’s still true to this day, everyone focuses so much on the visual presentation, but they neglect how they sound. Most people can tolerate a bad video connection, but people will get frustrated quickly with poor audio. Look through the guide for some tips on picking out the best microphone.

If I had to choose in order of priority of my video calls' setup, I’d go with Audio > Lights > Camera > Background.

Nonetheless, if you have questions about your video setup or other tools, feel free to contact me (a video call, perhaps?), and I’ll be happy to critique your setup!