Optimizing your meeting experience

Real-time video conferencing, at times, can be quite demanding. This article describes what you can do by controlling your environment, network, and devices to get the best experience from CafeX during meetings. The article also includes some guidelines to handle common issues people have.

CafeX performs several tasks to optimize the meeting experience for all participants. 

You can also take steps to get your best performance during a meeting.

• Before a meeting
  • There are things you can do to optimize your meeting experience; like finding a good location, or using a suitable microphone for example.
  • See: Before a meeting BELOW
• As you join the meeting
  • Check your settings.
  • This is the best place to check that your hardware (camera, microphone, and speakers) are working correctly.
  • See: Check your devices
  • If they’re not working, it could be for a number of reasons. For common issues and resolutions, see: Troubleshooting your settings
• During a meeting 
  • There are things you can do to have a good experience, like muting your audio if you are not speaking for example—See: During a meeting.
  • CafeX also takes steps to optimize the experience, so you don’t have to do anything—See: CafeX optimizes your meeting experience BELOW.
  • If you are having audio or video issues during a meeting, you can quickly change your settings and try other devices—See: Troubleshooting during a meeting.
  • Sometimes problems occur during a meeting, like a firewall interfering for example—See: Common issues during a meeting
• Make a test call
  • Anyone can start a meeting on their own and press record, then they can play back their session to check how others see and hear them during meetings .See: Holding a practice meeting.

Improving your meeting experience

You can do the following things to have the best meeting experience for you and other meeting participants:

Before a meeting

Before the meeting starts, use the following to optimize your meeting experience:

• Check that your computer, tablet or mobile meets CafeX's minimum specifications
  • See: Requirements and prerequisites.
• For real-time video it is important that your network connection remains stable.
  • If you can, plug your computer into the network.
  • If you can, disconnect from any VPNs.
  • Wireless connections are perfect to use, as long as your connection is consistent and effective.
• Some laptop microphones pick up background noises or echo, and that can be distracting for other participants.
  • If possible, find a quite place where you can talk and hear other participants.
  • If possible, use a good quality headset and keep the microphone at the correct distance from your mouth.
• Use the correct type of microphone for your environment:
  • If you join a meeting alone, a microphone with single-direction or cardioid support is ideal.
  • If you join a meeting from a conference room, use a microphone with an omni-directional support, so that people’s voices are heard accurately.
• Check your lighting
  • Position yourself, or the lights, so that the brightest light source is in front of you. By doing this your face is illuminated and other participants can see you clearly.

Check your devices

When you access a meeting, the best time to find and resolve issues is Before you join, here CafeX gives you an opportunity to check your settings.

Initially, CafeX requires that your browser has permission to use your microphone and camera.

CafeX tries to pick the correct camera, microphone, and speaker; however, you know best.

Before you Join the meeting, take a moment to open your settings and check the following:

• Select your Camera—Your preview shows you what others see during the meeting.
• Select your Microphone—If you speak and CafeX can hear you, the indicator moves.
• Click TEST AUDIO to check your speakers are not too quiet or loud.

See also: Setting up voice and video.

Troubleshooting your settings

If CafeX does not ask you for permission, or cannot access your microphone and camera for any reason, you see one the following messages:

CafeX could not access your camera or microphone.	CafeX could not access your camera.
CafeX could not access your microphone.

If you Continue, the Settings panel has information you can use to resolve the issue:

Error message	Settings panel	Resolution
Device permission denied		CafeX requires permission from the browser to use your microphone and camera. Browsers vary how they manage permissions. To check your browser permissions, see: Setting your device permissions.
Unable to access device		CafeX shows this when there is a device and your browser cannot access it. This could be for several reasons. Check that another application is not preventing your browser from gaining access the camera or microphone. Check that your operating system privacy settings do not block access to your camera or microphone.
No device found		Your browser cannot find any suitable device to use. Check that your devices are connected and that your operating system has detected them. If you plug in a USB camera or USB microphone after you join the meeting, your browser may not detect the device. Rejoin the meeting to allow your browser to detect the new device.

During a meeting

During a meeting, use the following to optimize your meeting experience:

• Turn your camera on
  • During meetings, if you look straight at the camera other participants see that you are engaging with them, like you do when you speak to them in person.
  • If you do not use cameras frequently, this can be difficult to learn.
• Do not forget that your camera is on.
• If you are in a noisy room, or you are outside, mute your MICROPHONE if you have nothing to say.
• Be careful if you use a mute on your microphone, CafeX cannot determine if you have done this.
• If you need to move to another location, or have to step away from your meeting, click CAMERA to stop sending video.
• To change how the meeting participants and the current speaker are displayed, click LAYOUT.
• If you are on a mobile device, try not to move around too much, this can have an effect on your wireless connection transfer rates.

CafeX optimizes your meeting experience

CafeX optimizes your meeting experience in the following ways:

• If you do not have a sufficient network connection to CafeX, CafeX stops sending your video stream into the meeting.
  • The reduction of network bandwidth can improve the meeting.
  • To start sending video again, click CAMERA in the meeting.
• If CafeX does not detect audio from your microphone, a notification appears to let you know:
  
  
  
  
  • CafeX can attempt to search for another microphone, so that you can continue your meeting as quickly as possible.
• If your browser cannot establish a connection to CafeX, you can dial in using a phone.

Troubleshooting during a meeting

You can change your camera, microphone, and speakers during a meeting: click SETTINGS.

Common issues that occur during a meeting

Issue	Description and resolution	Error message
Firewall	CafeX displays this message if it cannot detect a media connection from your browser. Check your firewall settings have access to CafeX services.

Hold a practice meeting

To check that your meeting experience is the best it can be for other participants hold meeting on your own and record the session.

• During the meeting say a few words.
• For example:

Type out three lists of orders.
The harder he tried the less he got done.
The boss ran the show with a watchful eye.
The cup cracked and spilled its contents.
Paste can cleanse the most dirty brass.
The wharf could be seen at the farther shore.
Feel the heat of the weak dying flame.
The tiny girl took off her hat.

• Watch the recording and make adjustments as you require.
  See: Meeting recordings and transcripts