Learn step-by-step how to use Ava at work, in every situation you're in, to make your workplace 100% accessible! If you want to use Ava for online meetings, click here to learn more!
Below an example of how Ava can be used in a business meeting, including conference calls. In the video, you will see a combination of Ava being used on mobile devices (phone and tablet), as well as the Ava web version (laptop). Note that the speakers are speaking close to their phone or any type of microphone they are using.
This article covers the following:
Make sure you know how to use Ava
Try Ava with your coworkers
Make it official: ask the help of your manager to introduce Ava
Other situations at work: job interviews, video conferences, etc.
1. Make sure you know how to use Ava
Before introducing Ava to your coworkers, you'll need to have a solid understanding of the basics:
2. Try Ava with your coworkers
First, try Ava with one coworker:
Do you have a hearing coworker you're close with? It can be someone from your team you know well, but also a very friendly face you say hi to on a regular basis. Or a tech-savvy person to help you out if you're not too tech-savvy.
From your smartphone, use Ava to caption what your co-worker is saying.
Then Invite your coworker to download Ava, for group conversations. You can send them an invitation via email using Share or ask them to manually add you by sharing your Ava Name.
Did it go well? Two people on board is going to make things much easier! Use this first experience to ask them if they would help you talk to the rest of the team to try it out in a small group.
Now, try Ava with a few coworkers
Can you think of some casual or semi-formal meetings within your team at work? It could be at the coffee break, for lunch, or during a small meeting together. These are great opportunities to try Ava with more coworkers and getting a hang of the group functions of Ava in a group where you are familiar with everyone.
Don't give up if you get rejected - things can take time. Main reasons we found: phones are too old, no memory left, or passwords forgotten can slow the process. If you have 3/4 participants connect with you on Ava it's already great progress!
Hint: you can also print out those instructions for beginners here to help your coworker understanding how to use Ava.
3. Make it official: ask the help of your manager to introduce Ava
Talking to your manager about Ava is important. Since their interest is that you perform well at work, you can show them that Ava helps you gain time by accessing information more effectively and cooperate well with the rest of your team.
Request a 15-minute meeting with your manager, with 2 objectives:
Show them how Ava helps you communicate
Ask to help you inform the rest of your team & coworkers about it to make easier to use altogether, with your manager's support.
If you're already using Ava with a coworker, you can ask them if they can help you to explain how Ava is useful to your manager with you.
Hint: you can use this email template for ideas on how to request the meeting. You can also share this guide to make the workplace accessible with Ava.
We may help you reach out to your manager for you. Ask us here.
Be prepared to answer some frequent questions that may come up:
How much does Ava cost? Free up to 5 hours each month, but you'll need an Ava Professional plan for unlimited captioning time. More information here.
How secure/private is this? Security is our number one priority, Ava is very secured and conversations are anonymized and stored in fragments. Conversation notes are text-only and cannot be used as evidence. Top banks & Fortune 500 companies are currently using our services. More information here.
4. Other situations at work
1-1 with clients, outsiders or job interviews. Have an important meeting with a client? A job interview? Grabbing coffee with a new coworker? Use Ava in face-to-face mode
Peer-to-peer training. Does a coworker need to teach/train you at something?
Use one phone placed between both of you during the session
Or invite them to the app at the start, it’ll be easier/faster to communicate.
Large meeting/conference/presentation
If you cannot get a captioner or interpreter for this session (ideal), here are a few ways you can use Ava to have live captioning of a big gathering.
If the meeting takes place in a formal presentation room (amphitheater, large conference room) with a sound system (you can know if you can see speakers and an audio table), you have the option to initially setup the room once by working with the audio engineer to be Ava-accessible, to access live Ava captioning, 98.5% accurate, anytime you're in this room without any other effort from participants. Interested? Read about setting up Ava Event.
If the meeting involves mainly one speaker (casual presentation) who can be asked to wear an appropriate microphone, read about setting up a presentation.
If the meeting involves many speakers (eg. team meeting), try to aim at half of the room at least with Ava. If you are able to convince your manager to have your whole team download the app, you’ll have half of the room equipped with Ava! An Ava user can then sit next to a non-Ava user, and share one smartphone.
For video or conference calls, (on Zoom and beyond!), see this article
For lunch breaks, read our recommendations using Ava during a meal!
Also, for situations in which you don't have a good experience with Ava, feel free to contact us. Sometimes the setup can be tweaked, according to the context. Also, keep an eye on our new updates as we'll keep improving and making the total accessibility experience better and easier over time.