How to Setup a Hands-Free Conference Station

The hands-free trend in mobile-telephone technology has transferred to office equipment. You can use a hands-free station to run presentation software, hand out materials to your staff and highlight points using hand gestures. The setup process for a hands-free conference station requires patience and flexibility in your presentation style.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Remote control
• Headset
• Ethernet cable

Utilize Your Hands During a Presentation With Hands-Free Conferencing

1. Connect your hands-free station to a phone jack and your computer to begin the setup process. Your station will usually come with an Ethernet cable as well as a phone adapter if it facilitates VoIP conferences.

2. Experiment with your hands-free station's voice-activation system after purchase to get used to this new technology. These systems shift from one microphone to another as the speaker moves around the central station unit. After you set up the system, test out your next presentation as you walk around the conference room.

3. Set up the volume on your station's speaker before each meeting. You should ask one of your contractors or long-time clients to help you test out the speakers by running through meeting notes. It is important to keep speaker levels consistent from meeting to meeting, capitalizing on a conference room's acoustics.

4. Perform a sound check on each microphone in your hands-free station before a meeting. You can say a sample sentence or hold small talk with each participant to determine echoing, distortion and other audio effects influencing sound clarity.

5. Keep a remote control in your conference room during meetings in case the volume-modulation system fails. Some hands-free systems allow you to activate individual microphones in the station if there is a defect in the central unit.

6. Set up remote units that connect to your hands-free station throughout a large conference room or series of meeting rooms. You can capitalize on a hands-free station's full potential by lining up remote units that overlap in terms of their audio pickups.

7. Use a headset on your conference station if you are the only person in a meeting room. Headsets allow users to keep their hands free for demonstrations in the same way that they help drivers use their cellphones without getting into accidents.

Tips & Warnings

• Build your comfort level with your hands-free conference station by testing out each accessory after purchase. You should check out microphones, video options and the speaker-phone with your office staff to make these functions feel natural during a meeting. You can also determine technical issues and defective parts with a dry run.