"All right, Mr. Demille, ready for my close-up." Video phone calls have been talked about for many years, from the time this famous line appeared in the movie Sunset Boulevard. Videoconferences are becoming widely used in law firms and other businesses; many lawyers, legal professionals, and HR departments are using them to provide the feel of a meeting room without the time and expense of traveling. Therefore, it is important for professionals to be prepared for the technical and visual components of their next video chat.

In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the rise of video use in calls and online meetings, the challenges and opportunities of video, and how lawyers can prepare for their video close-up. They consider several features that would improve videoconference services such as chat, screenshare, group messaging, and multi-platform compatibility and compare Zoom.us to Google hangouts and other platforms. In addition to examining personal visual components such as lighting, dress code, and in etiquette in each video conference lawyers also need to understand the ethical implications of recording witnesses or discussing strategy. In these instances they can be left with discoverable electronic data.

As their second topic, Kennedy and Mighell discuss the current state of portable computing and whether touch screens and combo laptops might be a better personal option when replacing older laptops. As always, stay tuned for Parting Shots, that one tip, website, or observation that can be used the second this podcast ends.

Special thanks to our sponsor, ServeNow.