Converting your conference room to enable web conferencing is a great way to include people that might not be able to attend meetings otherwise. Online meetings reduce the time and cost of travel to attend meetings. Whether you are bringing employees to the virtual meeting from across town or around the world, you want them to complete the experience feeling their time was well-spent. [1]

Choosing the Conference Room

Depending on your business logistics, you may not have much choice in the conference room you are converting. However, if possible, it is best to choose a conference room with the least number of distractions. Decorations, paint color and wall finish are all important considerations for the video conference room. Reflective surfaces such as mirrors, glass top tables and gloss finish paint often fool the light meter in the camera and cause poor video quality. [2] If your choices are limited, try removing these distractions and repainting the walls so they do not cause problems during the web conference.

A Word About Windows

While windows that provide natural lighting are good in most office situations, in the web meeting room, they can cause big problems. Natural lighting is difficult to control. Windows into other interior spaces can cause distractions for those participating in other locations. If you do not have the option of an inside conference room without windows, consider adding blackout curtains or blinds to cover them. Design the conference room so you can aim your webcams away from the covered windows.

Choose Furnishings That Do Not Block the Image

For more effective web meeting space, you may need to replace your existing conference room furnishings with new office furniture. High-back chairs and tall tables are not conducive to video conferencing. The chair backs often block the view of the camera. Replace them with low-back chairs and standard-height tables to improve the quality of the meetings.

Wire the Conference Room for Sound

Add microphones so you can transmit the audio portion of the meeting. Some of the best virtual conference rooms use overhead microphones. Placing the mike overhead and off the conference table allows it to pick up voices of the presenter and participants in the room while eliminating stray noises such as the rustle of papers on the table.

Connect the Technology

Add a router to connect all the technology you use in the conference room. Because it eliminates most of the cords that are difficult to route in an existing room, a wireless router is a good choice when retrofitting an existing conference room. If you are outfitting two or more conference rooms in the building, you might prefer wired technology, which eliminates the interference that occurs when you set up two wireless systems in close proximity.

Video Viewing

Most businesses use their virtual conference rooms for presentations that they broadcast to remote locations and for viewing material from those locations. Including two wall-sized monitors in the room allows the remote presenter to show visuals such as charts and graphs on one while his image remains visible on the second. This two-monitor system allows maintaining eye contact with the recipients for a more effective overall meeting. Place these monitors so the presenter's eyes remain at about the same level as those of a person standing to speak in the conference room for greater effectiveness.

Effective conferences offer a good way to ensure all participants receive the same information. Establishing a virtual conference room for web meetings allows you to make better use of employee time. When you conduct business in two or more locations, the online meeting eliminates some of the cost and time required for employees traveling to the home office for conferences.

1. http://www.solutionzinc.com/blog/best-practices-for-video-conference-rooms

2. http://www.nefsis.com/best-video-conferencing-software/video-conference-room-design.html