A lot has happened since my last column was published in 2023. I worked part time for two different companies as an independent contractor, attended or hosted (and paid for) several trade shows and mini-tech events, and so much more, but I’m not going to get into at this time.

I joined A-V Services, Inc. in 2024 as the global account executive. In meeting and working with so many people over the past few years, I thought sharing some of my communication experiences would be valuable to those people and EE (everyone else).

My focus for this column is to provide examples of how to professionally and efficiently communicate using both legacy and new technology with your associates/co-workers, colleagues, vendors/partners, clients and EE (you get it). Some of this might seem obvious, but based on my experience, there are many people who could use a reminder (or multiple). I am going to break down communications into four types.

Phone Call (One-to-One) / Audio Conference Call (Three or More People)

Remember, if you talk while someone else on the other end of the audio connection is speaking, you are both wasting your time. You’re both just making noise. In the past, cell phones were like walkie-talkies (one click turns on the frequency); you should pretend they still are. My own thought process on when to call someone, is typically to quickly confirm information that I need immediately. I rarely set up an audio conference call as I usually add a person to a one-to-one phone call when I am unable to get on a video call on my laptop, which I prefer over using my phone.

Since I always have my phones with me (one for personal and one for business use), I spend a lot of time on the phone. In fact, when I am on a video call and either of my phones ring, I immediately mute my audio to answer the phone and let that person know that I will call them back ASAP, unless it is a very quick call. 

Of course, some people do not answer their phone but will respond via text. In fact, one of my children, years ago called me back laughing that I left her, what is known as a “voicemail.” I did not know what to say, except, “I had a lot to say.”  I will provide more information sending words on chat/text as they’re available across multiple platforms including, phones, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, etc. I’ll delve further into these types of technologies in Part Two of this column.

Emailing Meeting Invitations Using Microsoft / Google / Zoom Software Platforms

My first piece of advice for anyone joining virtual meetings: Please accept the calendar invite. For my meetings, I always try to provide at least a few days’ notice, along with an agenda and, typically, an attached document. I want to be prepared for the meeting, just like anyone would. A big step in helping anyone prepare for a meeting is letting them know whether or not you will be there. Try this: either accept the invitation as is, or click “Tentative” or “Decline,” then provide a better day/time based on your schedule. 

My suggestions, to be as efficient as possible, are the following:

• Make sure the meeting title and agenda are specific.
• Make sure the time is correct for all participants in all relevant time zones by adding each time zone by using (brackets).
• Include context about whether the meeting will be on-site, over video, or both. If the meeting is in person or hybrid, include the location information.
• Send direct invitations to the appropriate people and add optional attendees if necessary (whether you want them to join or just be aware of the meeting; if they click “Tentative,” the meeting will stay on their calendar even if they do not attend).
• Choose a videoconferencing platform (MS Teams, Zoom, Pexip, Webex, Google Meet, etc.) and include the links for your participants to join the video call directly in the calendar invite.
• Include pertinent information where applicable. Be clear about where to find documents or materials the participants should view prior to the meeting. This will keep everyone from wasting valuable time.

  MS Teams Calendar Invitation Example:

• Meeting Icon – Title/Topic/Agenda – Start Time [with all the appropriate listed time zone (s)] – “In Person” and/or “Over Video.”
• Direct Invitees
• Optional Invitees
• Day of the week – Date of the call – start and stop timeframe (will use the time zone that your computer is set up as, such as EST)
• Room or Location – it is typical to have associates who work in a hybrid environment (remote / in the company’s office), so I usually include an available conference room
• MS Teams (also can use – Zoom, Pexip, Webex, Google Meet, etc.) as the software platform. This information is critical to having a successful video call. I have been invited to many meetings by individuals who did not include this information when they included an onsite location.
• Verbiage Section – on the top of the right side of the invite, there is a section “My Templates” that I set up to emulate part of my email signature, which I include on the bottom of every invitation
• I added the following lines to the bottom of my signature: My working hours may not be your working hours. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside of your normal work schedule.

 Note: I have to thank a good friend of mine, Steve Soto , for suggesting that I add these two lines (above) to the bottom of my email as I work later hours than most people; in case they do not want to respond immediately, that is okay.

Video Conference Call a.k.a Virtual Meeting Room (VMR)

 I have been in thousands of these types of meetings since 2008. Therefore, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I have attended meetings using just about every type of hardware codec and/or video camera available (i.e. 1Beyond, Barco, Biamp, Cisco, Huddly, Lifesize, Logitech, Neat, Polycom, Sennheiser, Tandberg, etc.) and software platform (BlueJeans, Google Meet, Jabbar, Microsoft Teams, Pexip, Skype, Vidyo, Webex, Zoom, etc.). I could be in a conference room by myself or with others, using my laptop in my office, home office, clients’ office, on the train, Starbucks, Panera Bread, in my car on the side of the road (you get it, I hope). (By the way — did you know that Yamaha not only makes motorcycles (my father had a yellow one when I was growing up), but also used to manufacture video codecs?)

Plus, during the early days of COVID, I hosted 32 VMR sessions from my home office, each with a speaker and a specific conversation topic. These calls averaged 25 to 30 participants. (You can read more about those here.)  From these calls, I learned that many people typically lose their focus in about 20 minutes. So, I made sure that everyone could be seen and heard (nothing muted). If no one contributed to the conversation, I would proactively ask someone a question. This experience led me to believe that if you are not going to engage with the host, primary speaker and the rest of the participants on the call (the actual reason for your meeting), you don’t need to join the video call.

Since video calls have become the normal process for having meetings, I always prefer to connect to a video call with my actual background (from my home office, the train, my car, etc.) and not artificial ones. I find the fake ones to be a time-consuming distraction, especially when someone suddenly disappears into the left or right side of their “background,” so you may think that person literally left the meeting. The purpose of your call is to quickly and efficiently find out the next steps toward reaching your goals and then get off the video call, unless you have nothing else to do that day or night.

I spoke to a software engineer at Microsoft last year when I attended a Lenovo/Microsoft event in New York City, and I was right about the reason that (in some situations) when you join a MS Teams call, your audio is automatically muted. Apparently, some executives mentioned to people at Microsoft that when they were on MS Teams calls and some associates joined late with background noise; the executive was not happy as it was very distracting while the executive was speaking. Why you would join a video call with loud noises in your background is still a mystery to me as there are various types of dual-ear headsets with microphones from many different manufacturers designed to ensure any sound in your area will not be heard on your video call.

LinkedIn and Other Business-Oriented Networks:

LinkedIn can be a very interesting and useful business and networking tool, as everyone has access to it by simply signing up with a password. Some of my best relationships have begun with a connection on LinkedIn. While I may have initially met them at a vendor event, trade show, in one of our offices during a presentation and/or while traveling, I’ve seen LinkedIn transform into more of a social network, as many people include personal topics of discussion. This is something we’re still trying to navigate. Since I have met many people during my career, I do like that I can keep track of most of them, whether I am directly connected to them or not. It depends on how they share information—with their direct connections, the groups they’re  members of, etc.

It’s like an equal-opportunity app, in that it does not matter where you live or work, which company you work for, what you do for a living, how much money you make or have acquired, your age, etc. Everyone has the same opportunity to share information by posting an idea or article, or letting anyone know that you are attending or have a booth at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas (see you there!). 

There are two types of LinkedIn, I will call the first one – Regular (free) and the second is known as Sales Navigator (premium, as you must pay for it, after a trial period). In the past, I always included a note with my connection request to remind that person where we met and what we discussed, just in case they do not remember. The process changed and now you are limited to (5) connections with notes per month. So, I recently signed up for Sales Navigator and will share my experience in a future rAVe [PUBS] column. So far, I have noticed that you can get a lot more information about a person and can include notes on every connection request. So, it’s much better and more efficient for my purposes.

To sum up my thought process: communication is the key to success. Make sure you are very clear, especially when sending questions or information via text, chat or email. I suggest you read your text, chat and/or email before sending it to the receiver (s) of your communication.  There have been many times when I have seen emails sent that had grammar and/or spelling errors, causing confusion. This contradicts the whole purpose of your communication to those individuals.