Going Live

As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic pushes more businesses to close their office doors and employees to work remotely, employees are flocking to videoconferencing tools to collaborate with their teammates, keeping formerly in-person meetings flowing.

COVID-19 has proven to be a "disruptive force" in that it has made nearly every business rethink how they handle interactions between their employees, supply chains, and with their end customers, said Darrin Nelson, senior vice president of digital, data and security business development for Sirius Computer Solutions, a San Antonio-based channel partner.

"It's unexpectedly made almost every enterprise support a remote workforce by helping employees do their jobs and collaborate," he said. "Many businesses went from having about 80 percent of their meetings face-to-face, including travel, but in order to be able to survive, they now have to figure out how to virtualize almost all of their engagements in order to keep their lights on."

Short of having a face-to-face meeting, a video meeting is the best way to bring a team together and create the feeling of being in the same room, despite being miles apart. Here are five videoconferencing tips, tricks and etiquette for a successful video meeting during this unprecedented time.

And check out CRN's list of free videoconferencing tools for working remotely.