Why the first 5 minutes of every video conference is, 'Can you hear me?'

The video conference is one of the least-liked parts of modern office culture.
Despite the plethora of video conferencing services — Google Hangouts, BlueJeans, Highfive, Skype, FaceTime, and dozens more — the first five minutes of every meeting tends to be a series of fruitless attempts to get everyone's audio working correctly. And even when it does, dropped connections, poorly timed muting/unmuting, and quiet talkers often ruin the flow.
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