Etiquette tips for open source web conferencing include introducing oneself, muting the microphone when not speaking, and looking into the camera. Administrators should be familiar with the program’s code and user community to optimize the program.
Open source web conferencing provides a way for users to participate in meetings, seminars, and other conference-style activities over the Internet, but there are some etiquette tips that users should follow. Users should announce each other the first few times they contribute to a discussion, until all participants know each other. If the user needs to speak to someone not associated with the web conference, the microphone must be muted. With an open source web conferencing program, the administrator should be familiar with the program’s code and familiar with the user community. When the user talks and uses a web cam, she should be looking into the camera and not the computer screen.
In open source web conferences, it’s not uncommon for attendees who don’t know each other to meet up. This means that it can be confusing to some users when someone starts talking, because they may not know who the speaker is. Proper etiquette dictates that each user should announce himself the first few times he speaks, so everyone knows who is speaking. If the conference is for a business meeting, users must also indicate their location.
It’s not uncommon for someone’s phone to ring or for someone not associated with the conference to try to talk to you during an open source web conference. This can lead to awkward and distracting conversations that may have nothing to do with the conference. To minimize distractions, the user should mute the microphone in such cases or avoid such cases by muting the ringer and letting people in the office know that he will be unavailable for a while.
Administrators, and regular users to a lesser extent, should have knowledge of the source code of the open source web conferencing program and its programming language. The source code can be examined and modified into an open source program, which allows users and administrators to optimize the web conferencing program for speed or power and will help fix malfunctions. Knowing the web conferencing user community can also help correct any problems.
Many users have a habit of looking at their computer screen when they join a web conference, especially if they are using a webcam. If users do this while talking, however, they appear to be looking in another direction and not paying attention. Users may want to look directly into the web cam instead, because this way it will appear that they are looking directly at other users.
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