{"id":1937,"date":"2018-01-08T16:05:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T16:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/?p=1937"},"modified":"2018-01-08T16:22:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T16:22:04","slug":"virtualbackground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/?p=1937","title":{"rendered":"Using a virtual background with Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams #Skype4B , #MicrosoftTeams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the past days I have been thinking about a solution to have a \u201cneutral\u201d background to use during Skype for Business video conferences.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s like having a lifebelt in our boat, probably we will never use it, but in case our real background is not a good fit for a conference (like a busy Starbucks or an airport gate) we could love to have a \u201cPlan B\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1938 gr-progress alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_14-53-50.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_14-53-50.jpg 512w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_14-53-50-204x300.jpg 204w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 135px) 100vw, 135px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Some people in companies that have had a remote \/ smart working mindset for a long time, use a solution that is collapsible and portable webcam background. If we like travelling with a background like the one you see in the picture, that\u2019s an acceptable fix.<\/p>\n<p>For me, the next logical step is a software solution. Low cost and complexity are welcomed if possible. After a short search on the Internet, I have seen ChromaCam\u00a0 https:\/\/www.chromacam.me\/\u00a0 .<\/p>\n<p>Some caveats:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the software runs only as a PC app (so, no support for mobile apps) and does not support Lync 2013 and the apps that rely on Lync 2013<\/li>\n<li>There is no clear statement about Microsoft Teams but at the moment support for Skype for Business and Teams are fairly similar) <a href=\"http:\/\/support.chromacam.me\/customer\/en\/portal\/articles\/2759516-chromacam-with-skype-skype-for-business\">http:\/\/support.chromacam.me\/customer\/en\/portal\/articles\/2759516-chromacam-with-skype-skype-for-business<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using the software is quite easy. After the installation you have an additional webcam ChromaCam and when you enable it the ChromaCam app opens<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-55-35.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1939 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-55-35.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"629\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-55-35.jpg 629w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-55-35-300x45.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A large\u00a0part of the settings is about selecting the background we want to use.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-56-09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1940 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-56-09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"311\" height=\"322\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The free version has a set of standard backgrounds while the full version (which is not too costly) includes the capability to use your own image as a virtual background<\/p>\n<p>The quality of the background replacement is acceptable, we have to play a bit with the distance from the camera and (in some cases) moving a bit to clear the edges of our image (like hairs, shoulders and so on)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15.jpg 1230w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-300x104.jpg 300w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-768x265.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-1024x354.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Also, it is good to not move too much during the call or you could have a weird effect of parts of your face \/ body vanishing in the background<\/p>\n<p>There is also \u201cstreamer\u201d solutions that are a little bit out of my comfort zone (like having flying kittens or small rockets flying all around)<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #404040; outline: 0px;\" href=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-40-12.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1944 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-40-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"259\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-40-12.jpg 592w, https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2018-01-08_15-40-12-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>ChromaCam is smart enough to get if what is in front of the webcam is a human being or not<\/p>\n<p>The algorithm used is a bit demanding in terms of processing power, so it is predictable that the quality of the experience is going to be tied to the hardware we are going to use.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the day, that solution is as close as possible to my expectation, not perfect but usable &#8220;in times of need&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the past days I have been thinking about a solution to have a \u201cneutral\u201d background to use during Skype for Business video conferences. It\u2019s like having a lifebelt in our boat, probably we will never use it, but in case our real background is not a good fit for a conference (like a busy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[750,690],"tags":[751,77,78,722,691],"class_list":["post-1937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-750","category-skype-for-business","tag-microsoft-teams","tag-office-365","tag-on-premises","tag-skype","tag-skype-for-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1937"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1954,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions\/1954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modern-workplace.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}