Surely being on camera for most virtual work meetings is now the standard?

[CantFindTheBeat]

I've just read a post where someone said that not wanting to be on video for a work Teams call whilst working from home was perfectly fine.

Surely this is no longer the case?

Obviously illness, rare WiFi issues and other and minor exceptions happen, but on the whole, don't most employers and managers expect people to be seen as well as heard these days?

Nah, we're good thanks.

Sorry, @skippy67 - indeed you are! that was an xpost meant for the OP's YouTube

Yes people managed when we didn’t have video capability by using telecoms that were audio. Not by meeting in person. I was there. It lasted a good thirty years. You’re not the first generation to have teams with members located across the globe. If you cannot work effectively without video, that’s a detriment, not something to brag about.

And honestly, it’s worth being a bit “rude” to people like you to save the planet for future generations.

Yes people managed when we didn’t have video capability by using telecoms that were audio. Not by meeting in person

This is why I refuse to have the camera on for customer calls. I'd have spoken to them on the phone in the past so why do they need to see me now?

Yep, and now you can also truthfully say you are cutting your carbon footprint by 96% just by turning your camera off. If a million people did this, we’d save the pollution of a coal burning power plant.

Yes we used the phone - but we also drove to many more meetings, or flew, or took public transport. We didn’t sit at our desks from 9-5 making phone calls - face to face meetings were part of life.

😅😅

Sorry, I was thinking more about my job. I never had face to face meetings or travelled so any customer contact was on the phone. They didn't see me then so why do they need to see me now?

Because times have changed and it’s perfectly normal business behaviour nowadays presumably.

I just find it strange and will carry on refusing as much as possible. I still regret turning on the camera for a creepy customer who wanted to see what I look like! I refused all further calls with him but should have spoken up then as he made me feel uncomfortable.

We have a cameras on policy. It's part of the deal if you want to work from home. I have no issue with it, not like I'd be hiding my face in a meeting in the office.

Exactly this.

Are people talking about different things? Because I have meetings with colleagues and clients, people I have a working relationship with. So of course we use cameras, it would be rude not to.

If I was taking calls from strangers who happened to be customers, e.g. in an inbound calls type environment then no I wouldn’t expect to have cameras on.

Possibly. Most of my meetings are internal when I will grudgingly have the camera on if others do. I sometimes have to have meetings with customers which in the past wouldn't have been done face to face but over the phone. They are not generally my day to day contacts and so I don't think they need to see what I look like and I think it's odd for them to tell me they do.

I meant to add they aren't inbound sales calls from strangers, I'm an administrator and they are clients.