This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.
This is a series of challenges intended to introduce new Mozilla community members—including volunteers and paid staff—to life at Mozilla.
Virtually every Mozilla project has a weekly (or bi-weekly) meeting that contributors call into using a telephone, voice or video chat.
Find out the date and time of at least one meeting you're interested in attending. Then, obtain any required software or equipment for calling into the meeting, and schedule a practice call with a peer. If your meeting has a dial-in number to a conference room, for instance, try calling into the conference room a day before the call.
Practice muting and un-muting yourself to ensure that you can participate in the meeting without echoing or exposing the other participants to background noise on your side. You may want to consider obtaining a good headset if you don't have one already, as using your computer's built-in mic and speakers often causes echo feedback.
if you have trouble, feel free to ask for help here or in #newbies!
Might be helpful if folks have recommended software and hardware for good conference calls. I use Skype Out, which doesn't always deliver the best quality. I've got a Yeti microphone, which is fantastic, but too big so I often don't have it with me when traveling.
What's your favorite headset and conference call software?
One of my favorite topics. I use Bose headphones (Model: MIE2i) that have a little mic. They are a little over-priced, but great for traveling, pretty sturdy, and stay in your ear while running. The only way they could be better is if they sealed your ear the same way as other in-ear headphones do (blocking out external noise makes plane travel much more relaxing.)
I use skype out and it's been giving me trouble lately ;-(
I really like the "practice muting and unmuting yourself" - It's amazing how underappreciated this skill is, and how important it is to keep a call with many participants on track.
