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Keeping In Touch

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is an important way that teams of people at MLC continue to keep in contact with one another while working remotely. However, there are some things to keep in mind when attempting to keep in touch with each other in this way:

  • Do dot try and conduct a video conference using your remote desktop connection. This will not work the way you are hoping and may result in a slow, frozen, or otherwise inoperable connection. If you run into issues, you can restart the remote connection or even the entire Surface Pro to get back to where you want.
  • You can use the Surface Pro for video conferencing. You will need to make sure you are opening a browser that is local to the Surface Pro, either Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge more than likely. Either minimize or close your remote session and then find the browser that is locally installed on your Surface Pro. The Surface Pro you are using has both video cameras and microphones built into the device.

There are any number of video conferencing platforms you may be able to use with your team:

  • Google Meet
    • This is the preferred meeting option and is part of your MLC G Suite Account. Meet is also built into Google Calendar.
  • BigBlueButton
  • Google Hangouts
    • The video calls through Google Hangouts are also another option, but Google continues to move away from here.

Team Chat

Text-based communication has the benefit of being asynchronous so that team members are able to read and respond when it is convenient for them. Text-based communication is also very light on bandwidth usage and so is very effective no matter what type of connection to the internet you may have. Here are some options you have while working remotely:

  • MLC Chat
    • This is a hosted chat server here on campus using Rocket.Chat. Click on MLC Account and log in with your MLC Account username and password. If you need help, please contact Network Services.
  • Google Hangouts Chat
    • This is part of your MLC G Suite Account and integrates well with other G Suite applications.
  • Google Hangouts
    • Hangouts is still available but is being phased out by Google.

If you have any additional questions or needs, please reach out to Network Services.

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