4 ms·

I've been working remote for decades and my observation is that whats standing inbetween great communication in remote teams are often trival, easily fixable th

I've been working remote for decades and my observation is that whats standing inbetween great communication in remote teams are often trival, easily fixable things like poor software and hardware. When it comes to hardware, people use whatever headset and camera they have, connected to wifi served by the a cheap SOHO router. More or less the stuff you use to call your parents over skype once a week.

splittingTimes 8y ago
Just curious: In your opinion, what are proper tools / setup in hard- and software terms that makes remote collaboration as efficient as on-site interaction?
- Moru 8y ago
  That depends on what you work with. My productivity as programmer got higher but my ability to help with hardware issues went down a lot. Helping over phone or chat to replace a PSU is tricky.
- kilroy123 8y ago
  I've worked remote for the past 4 years so I think I can weigh in on this. If there are meetings in person you really need to have a good conference call phone, preferably with an external mic. Like this: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/images/i/000/016/072/original/shutterstock_525765133.jpg?1528117471 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/images/i/000/016/072/origi... For things like screen sharing, the conference room must have a very solid connection as screen sharing typically uses a lot of bandwidth. For the remote employee, you need: * Solid headset. I've tried using a USB one but it had interference at terrible times. Once I was on a call presenting to the client when interference started making odd noises. Now I use a USB headset with noise canceling mic. * Good fast reliable internet! * Solid voice-over-ip phone if you need to talk on the "phone" a lot. I use DialPad which are the makers of UberConfrence. The quality is _way_ better than using Google Voice, skype, etc.
  - seanp2k2 8y ago
    If you want what they use in places like the Senate and other Big Boy meetings, get a Shure MX418D/C and a real external audio interface with phantom power. I use mine for gaming, and while it's totally overkill, it's a purpose-made professional quality desktop voice mic. They're tanks and will last 20 years. You can buy replacement parts for them. They're also on eBay for ~$120 if you keep an eye out. Pair that mic with something like a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (~$110), Zoom UAC-2 ($250), Universal Audio Arrow ($500, has built-in DSP accelerator [offload]), or something crazy overkill like a RME ADI-2 Pro ($2000), Antelope Zen Studio+ ($2500), or an Avid HDX system (~$5k with Pro Tools) with external Neve preamp (~$3500) and a Neumann U87 Ai ($3600) mic. That's if you're trying to record the next Grammy Award-winning track and have an unlimited budget to get world-class audio. For reference, something like a $400 Shure SM7B is what you'd hear on most broadcast radio stations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI has a comparison of the $3600 Neumann U87 vs the $230 Rode NT1-A for comparison. You won't be able to hear the difference over a conference call.
    - porker 8y ago
      If only the mic was my problem and not the network! On cable here (Virgin, UK) and impossible to get VoIP to work well (lack of delay, crisp audio etc). Have tried half a dozen service providers and a range of codecs (including Opus). When my mobile phone has less latency and better sound, I know my VoIP is screwed.
    - vonseel 8y ago
      RME user here with plenty of nice microphones and preamps to choose from. It’s been years since I went through the trouble of setting one up for a conference call. These days I just use my Sony Bluetooth headphones. IIRC, the difficulty with most (not DAW or professional audio) software on Mac and any external audio interface, is that it doesn’t actually allow selecting which input to use, only the device. So while I might select “RME Fireface 802” in Chrome as the input device, I can’t select Input 1, 9, or 12 as the input channel to use for microphone. This used to be possible with apps like Soundflower, though, I’m not sure what the best solution is nowadays. UA DSP for conference calls, now wouldn’t that be something. Ha-ha.
- zero4ll 8y ago
  Full commerical network hardware. Netgate makes the pfsense firewall and they make hardware for remote workers. You can traffic shape and have a VPN to your company and ensure that voice and your workstation have the bandwidth they need and your home gets the rest. A good firewall at your home can make all the difference and once that doesnt have yearly subscriptions is a good route to go.
  - seanp2k2 8y ago
    I used to be a big pfsense fan, but Ubiquiti's UniFi is my jam now. If you get their gateway, PoE switches, and a couple of APs, it's by far the best SoHo system I've ever used. Enterprise features that are easy enough for non-network admin technical users to figure out, auto firmware updates, rock-solid reliability, all for around the cost of a high-end "gaming router" that will crash weekly.
    - vonseel 8y ago
      Unifi WiFi + edgerouter lite isn’t bad either, software isn’t as cohesive but the ERL is solid and hasn’t been an issue for me at all over 4 years on gigabit internet. WiFi is rock solid after initial setup in a VM (does not need to be running controller continuously).
mhdhn 8y ago
Have you noticed how incredibly resistant people are to doing a thing about it? Just getting anyone to put on a headset is like pulling teeth.
- pishpash 8y ago
  Maybe if companies paid for it it wouldn't be a problem, you know, like equipment at an office.
- kybernetikos 8y ago
  One source of resistance I've seen is that people don't like being forced to add cameras pointing at them to their set up.
eitland 8y ago
> ... whats standing inbetween great communication in remote teams are often trival, easily fixable things like poor software and hardware. Ironically for a big chunk of the time I've been working as an engineer, people have been falling back to consumer software instead of using broken entreprise videoconferencing. > When it comes to hardware, people use whatever headset and camera they have, connected to wifi served by the a cheap SOHO router. I mostly haven't noticed any huge problems here, but maybe I've just been lucky. Now that I think of it my home WiFi has been getting worse over the years, and getting new top rated gear didn't help. (I have seen some thread here lately about advanced troubleshooting of wireless networks and I consider getting the spectrum analyzed somehow.)
- walkingolof 8y ago
  I may have formulated this a bit poorly, by exemplifying my experience, what I meant was that people that work remote and uses voice, video, chat, should spend more time making sure their setup works really well, with good audio and video quality.
  - sonofaragorn 8y ago
    Any resources you could share along these lines? I'm definitely interested in improving my setup.

splittingTimes 8y ago

Just curious: In your opinion, what are proper tools / setup in hard- and software terms that makes remote collaboration as efficient as on-site interaction?

Moru 8y ago
That depends on what you work with. My productivity as programmer got higher but my ability to help with hardware issues went down a lot. Helping over phone or chat to replace a PSU is tricky.
kilroy123 8y ago
I've worked remote for the past 4 years so I think I can weigh in on this. If there are meetings in person you really need to have a good conference call phone, preferably with an external mic. Like this: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/images/i/000/016/072/original/shutterstock_525765133.jpg?1528117471 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/images/i/000/016/072/origi... For things like screen sharing, the conference room must have a very solid connection as screen sharing typically uses a lot of bandwidth. For the remote employee, you need: * Solid headset. I've tried using a USB one but it had interference at terrible times. Once I was on a call presenting to the client when interference started making odd noises. Now I use a USB headset with noise canceling mic. * Good fast reliable internet! * Solid voice-over-ip phone if you need to talk on the "phone" a lot. I use DialPad which are the makers of UberConfrence. The quality is _way_ better than using Google Voice, skype, etc.
- seanp2k2 8y ago
  If you want what they use in places like the Senate and other Big Boy meetings, get a Shure MX418D/C and a real external audio interface with phantom power. I use mine for gaming, and while it's totally overkill, it's a purpose-made professional quality desktop voice mic. They're tanks and will last 20 years. You can buy replacement parts for them. They're also on eBay for ~$120 if you keep an eye out. Pair that mic with something like a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (~$110), Zoom UAC-2 ($250), Universal Audio Arrow ($500, has built-in DSP accelerator [offload]), or something crazy overkill like a RME ADI-2 Pro ($2000), Antelope Zen Studio+ ($2500), or an Avid HDX system (~$5k with Pro Tools) with external Neve preamp (~$3500) and a Neumann U87 Ai ($3600) mic. That's if you're trying to record the next Grammy Award-winning track and have an unlimited budget to get world-class audio. For reference, something like a $400 Shure SM7B is what you'd hear on most broadcast radio stations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI has a comparison of the $3600 Neumann U87 vs the $230 Rode NT1-A for comparison. You won't be able to hear the difference over a conference call.
  - porker 8y ago
    If only the mic was my problem and not the network! On cable here (Virgin, UK) and impossible to get VoIP to work well (lack of delay, crisp audio etc). Have tried half a dozen service providers and a range of codecs (including Opus). When my mobile phone has less latency and better sound, I know my VoIP is screwed.
  - vonseel 8y ago
    RME user here with plenty of nice microphones and preamps to choose from. It’s been years since I went through the trouble of setting one up for a conference call. These days I just use my Sony Bluetooth headphones. IIRC, the difficulty with most (not DAW or professional audio) software on Mac and any external audio interface, is that it doesn’t actually allow selecting which input to use, only the device. So while I might select “RME Fireface 802” in Chrome as the input device, I can’t select Input 1, 9, or 12 as the input channel to use for microphone. This used to be possible with apps like Soundflower, though, I’m not sure what the best solution is nowadays. UA DSP for conference calls, now wouldn’t that be something. Ha-ha.
zero4ll 8y ago
Full commerical network hardware. Netgate makes the pfsense firewall and they make hardware for remote workers. You can traffic shape and have a VPN to your company and ensure that voice and your workstation have the bandwidth they need and your home gets the rest. A good firewall at your home can make all the difference and once that doesnt have yearly subscriptions is a good route to go.
- seanp2k2 8y ago
  I used to be a big pfsense fan, but Ubiquiti's UniFi is my jam now. If you get their gateway, PoE switches, and a couple of APs, it's by far the best SoHo system I've ever used. Enterprise features that are easy enough for non-network admin technical users to figure out, auto firmware updates, rock-solid reliability, all for around the cost of a high-end "gaming router" that will crash weekly.
  - vonseel 8y ago
    Unifi WiFi + edgerouter lite isn’t bad either, software isn’t as cohesive but the ERL is solid and hasn’t been an issue for me at all over 4 years on gigabit internet. WiFi is rock solid after initial setup in a VM (does not need to be running controller continuously).

mhdhn 8y ago

Have you noticed how incredibly resistant people are to doing a thing about it? Just getting anyone to put on a headset is like pulling teeth.

pishpash 8y ago
Maybe if companies paid for it it wouldn't be a problem, you know, like equipment at an office.
kybernetikos 8y ago
One source of resistance I've seen is that people don't like being forced to add cameras pointing at them to their set up.

eitland 8y ago

> ... whats standing inbetween great communication in remote teams are often trival, easily fixable things like poor software and hardware. Ironically for a big chunk of the time I've been working as an engineer, people have been falling back to consumer software instead of using broken entreprise videoconferencing. > When it comes to hardware, people use whatever headset and camera they have, connected to wifi served by the a cheap SOHO router. I mostly haven't noticed any huge problems here, but maybe I've just been lucky. Now that I think of it my home WiFi has been getting worse over the years, and getting new top rated gear didn't help. (I have seen some thread here lately about advanced troubleshooting of wireless networks and I consider getting the spectrum analyzed somehow.)

walkingolof 8y ago
I may have formulated this a bit poorly, by exemplifying my experience, what I meant was that people that work remote and uses voice, video, chat, should spend more time making sure their setup works really well, with good audio and video quality.
- sonofaragorn 8y ago
  Any resources you could share along these lines? I'm definitely interested in improving my setup.