Start remote work with online video and Zoom.us

In October 2019, after many exchanges with the team, we decided to modify our internal organisation and become a “remote-first” company.

Why? Why switch from a classic work environment (presence at the office everyday) to full remote for some of us?

This is not new, remote work has been a growing trend for some years now.

Two reasons pushed us towards the remote life:

1. Better work/life balance

We wanted to offer our collaborators the best work conditions possible. Some of us were spending 1 to 2 hours a day commuting. Financial inconvenience, frustration, stress and long hours are now swept away thanks to the flexibility of remote life. The results? More productivity, better balance, less stress, retention of the talents.

2. Develop a worldwide company culture

We have adopted this change to develop our company culture internationally. api.video is particularly used by North America and Asia. Moreover, to grow our team and find specialists in their field, we are looking for the best talents wherever they are located.

How does it work practically?

We have a simple rule: we work from anywhere we want (with a very good Internet connection of course :)) but once a week (Mondays), we all meet at the office. This way we keep a human link and gather to plan the week ahead.

It requires a minimum of organisation before switching. We have tested many tools to find the ones that suit our needs.

So, which tools are we using to keep up good internal communication and follow all projects?

Equipment:

• iMac or Macbook Air according to preferences
• a comfy chair (Steelcase "Thinks” for us)

Software:

• Slack is used for all daily conversations and projects follow up. The status allows to differentiate who’s in the office and who’s working from home.
• G Suite allows to manage all the emails, agenda, documents, …
• Notion is used as a company memory. We write processes, key information, organisation, etc, useful information for any new collaborator.
• Aircall for the phone. Installed on all computers and after working on the phone workflow, any of us can pick up the phone.
• Zoom.us is used for video meetings

So many tools are now available to facilitate communication!

Since the beginning, we were convinced that video is the most efficient and human way to communicate.

With Coronavirus shaking the world, organisations and institutions are suddenly changing the way they do business and communicate. The increase of requests for live streaming and VOD to overcome the closing of institutions and potential restrictions shows the importance of video.

For the organisations that did not plan for remote work and now have to adapt to new emergency initiatives to continue their growth, I would advise starting with a video conference tool such as Gotomeeting, Skype or the most efficient according to me: Zoom.us

Zoom will allow you to quickly set up video calls in real time with all your collaborators anywhere in the world, even with a weak Internet connection.

The downside is that Zoom has not been designed to stream to a bigger audience. So if you want to share information to each collaborator it won’t be possible. That’s why we developed an api.video connector for Zoom to increase the communication in real time proposed by the tool.

3. How to use Zoom and api.video?

• Generate recorded version of each video conversation on Zoom.us, to see them or rewatch them
• Allow having a bigger audience if your message gets to the entire company, even worldwide
• Have your video conversation in an HTML5 player, allowing anyone to watch in his/her browser or mobile without installing any Zoom.us application or plugin.
• Get the analytics in real time of your viewers to make sure your message has been spread properly.

We made it very simple to be accessible to all. On the link below you will find all the instructions to test it out!

And a demo, our first ever Chemistry course :-)

zoom.us + api.video in action!

If there is something unclear, you can contact me directly and we can exchange cedric@api.video

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api.video can do much more and be integrated to your current environment (app, platform, CRM, CMS, …) but this easy connector will make you operational right away!

Of course not all businesses will be able to organise remote work. But many can start implementing better communication with simple tools.

I’ll be glad to have your feedback! What’s your experience with remote work? How do you deal with the COVID-19 situation?