Need a tech recommendation for intraoffice video chat solution

November 9, 2023 8:09 AM

Looking for a tech recommendation for a pretty specific situation at work. I work for an older executive who is very used to face-to-face discussions for everything. It's wearing thin and I'd love to find a way to spend more time in my private office (and out of shouting range!) In order to sell this concept to him I want to offer a solution whereby he can "press a button" in his office and have an instant (or close) video connection to my office. I'm thinking some kind of tablet on each end(?)

Any solutions that come to mind (Facetime, Microsoft Teams, etc.) are all too many steps to initiate a call. This person is NOT tech savvy, and quite impatient. In order for this to work I would need a solution that is as close to pushing one button and opening an instant video/audio connection to my office as possible. The closest thing I can think of is a Ring video doorbell, but I think those only have video in one direction and I'd really prefer two-way video capability.

(Also, please assume I am aware of and managing the human/work relationship aspect of this problem...we've worked together for a long time and I am very prepared for this not working out but I'd like to try!)

Looking for any devices/apps/technology solutions you may think of. Thanks!

posted by brbmaroon to Technology (10 answers total)

If you both have iPhones (or iPads), Facetime is super easy to initiate.
posted by hydra77 at 8:16 AM on November 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

What about actually having an always-on call? YOU can set it up once each day, with each side muted / invisible. When he wants to talk to you he can hit the unmute / show video buttons and start talking - you'll hear it right away and can unmute / go live video on your side. I'd probably also teach him how to answer the call, that way if it disconnects you can re-initiate from your side

It's a two-button solution, unless there's a video conferencing platform that lets you unmute and go video on in one button. But that's still pretty close - and if you got dedicated tablets, he could even carry it around with him and have access to you wherever.

You're always within virtual shouting range but not ACTUAL shouting range. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but it's a solution.
posted by true at 8:20 AM on November 9, 2023

In order for this to work I would need a solution that is as close to pushing one button and opening an instant video/audio connection to my office as possible

Teams can do this by pushing two "buttons". Is two close enough to one?

I have my frequent contacts pinned to the top of my always-open Teams window. I click my boss (it opens my chat with my boss), I click on the video icon on the top of the chat window (it immediately calls my boss). We are talking on video as of the moment he accepts the call. It works quite well.

(If I never navigated away from the chat with my boss, then this would indeed only be one click.)
posted by phunniemee at 8:29 AM on November 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

I think that having a physical button that always does the same thing, regardless of the context or current state of your exec's computer, is going to be essential. If they have to spend any time navigating to an app, they won't do it.

Take a look at the Elgato Stream Deck. Combined with Bitfocus Companion it can trigger actions in a very wide range of software and hardware. With some tinkering you should be able to configure one button to do something like Launch Zoom -> Create a meeting with brbmaroon > turn on my camera and mic.

Use zoom or whatever software chat solution is handy for you. Right now my org is using Huddles in Slack and I like it. There is a learning curve for setup on your end, but it should be able to run in the background.

Good luck with this-- in most situations this is all definitely harder than walking down the hall, but having had a similar relationship with one of my bosses I appreciate your priority to NOT be in the same room with them.
posted by hovey at 9:03 AM on November 9, 2023

Slack video huddles are single-click starts
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 9:17 AM on November 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

agreed that teams video call seems like a great solution IF your office already uses teams.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 9:57 AM on November 9, 2023

I think the simplest apps to launch a video call are generally those on the calling end of the spectrum, instead of the videoconference end of the spectrum. For instance, with Whatsapp, at least on Android, you can add a widget that you press to open up a conversation with a particular contact and then you just have to hit the video call button to start a call, which would ring on the other end. Two clicks, but nothing complicated. If that's not simple enough, you can use a macro app to make it one click.

Facetime would also be a good solution, if you prefer iOS.
posted by ssg at 10:38 AM on November 9, 2023

There is (or was, when I was at my previous job in the mid '10s) a piece of commercial software we were investigating that would display a grid of the view of all of your coworkers' webcams, updated every minute or so, so you'd know if they were at their desk or not, and you could click on a coworker's image to initiate a call with them. I really wish I could remember the name of it.
posted by hanov3r at 11:27 AM on November 9, 2023

Can you open the Teams chat window for them in the morning - if they don't use it otherwise they don't need anything else visible or open.

And then they literally just have to click on the video button. Presumably they are old enough to remember phones on desks where you could program speed dial numbers. It will take them as long as pushing that one button took to talk to you.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:50 AM on November 9, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas everyone...I set up some one-button Facetime dials on an iPad home screen. Initial reaction was positive. We shall see! Thanks again.
posted by brbmaroon at 12:38 PM on November 9, 2023