It has been months since the pandemic started and everyone has been mostly holed up at home, even for work. How have you been holding up? Can you claim that you have fully adjusted to this modern workplace that everybody has been subjected to without much of a choice? Truth be told, everyone welcomed the idea at first of working from home because of particular benefits such as getting to spend more time with the family and savings in time and money because there’s less commute and there’s no need to spend on clothes and food. And while it is true that most of us have already adjusted to the “new normal” of working from home, there are still a few kinks and persistent issues that continue to haunt even the most adjusted of us.
Yes, working from home has presented us with new challenges, but do not worry as there are fixes to them. While it is true that asking for help is more convenient when we were still reporting to the office as there are always those trusty IT specialists who can assist us in just one call, email, or Intranet message, but there’s no IT problem that only one person has suffered from uniquely. In other words, take comfort in the fact that you will never be alone in suffering from a work-from-home technical problem. With a little help from Internet searching, there is surely a solution to whatever challenge you are facing. Let us look into some of these work from home problems and read some fixes for them.
Wonky webcam fixes
If there is one skill most of working from home may have mastered (or have become quite experienced with), that would be holding or participating in online meetings. With face to face meetings in the office mostly out of the question, people have become more accustomed to using programs and applications such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to keep everyone in the office updated. But then, just when we thought that most of us have reached expert levels when it comes to online meetings, our devices and equipment suddenly fail us. If your colleagues often complain that they cannot see you during online meetings, you may want to double-check your webcam’s health.
In Windows, head to Settings > Privacy > Camera and make sure camera access is turned on for the apps you want. (You’ll need to scroll all the way to the bottom to see what desktop apps are allowed.)
(Via: https://sea.pcmag.com/videoconferencing/38295/how-to-fix-video-chat-picture-or-sound-problems)
No second monitor?
People working in graphic design, programming, and data management, among other fields, often work more efficiently with more than one monitor. There is nothing that can help you work faster than seeing more than one file on your screen without having to open and minimize multiple windows. But then, instead of just wishing you had more than one monitor with you or having to bring home your monitor at work, you may want to make your TV your second monitor. Not only will it make your work faster, but you can also resist temptation because you will be using your TV to work instead of luring you into a Netflix marathon.
PCs and TVs might use the same HDMI cable, but they send slightly different data over it. To get the best-looking image on your TV, you need to tell it that the signal is coming from a PC by picking the correct picture mode.
(Via: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/turn-tv-into-external-monitor/)
Zoombombing
If having wonky video and audio are not enough to spoil your video conferencing game, there is also the concern about Zoombombing. Lately, there have been increased incidences of trolls hijacking Zoom video conferences, showing racist, homophobic, and lewd images and sound clips. Surely, you do not want this happening to your professional online meetings, so you would best be stricter with your privacy when using these video conference programs.
While there are no guarantees against determined trolls, there are a few ways to hedge your bets and improve your overall privacy levels when using Zoom. Here’s where you can start.
(Via: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-prevent-zoombombing-in-your-video-chats-in-4-easy-steps/)
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