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videoconferencing primer | history of videoconferencing on campus | current videoconferencing systems at the UO | setting up a videoconference
Craig Leavy
Videoconferencing Engineer, Telecommunications Services
cleavy@uoregon.edu
Videoconferencing is alive, well, and quietly thriving throughout the University of Oregon campus. From job candidate interviews to defense of doctoral theses, from project management to distance education, videoconferencing is providing the answer for both students and staff looking to connect with colleagues around the world.
The main reason videoconferencing has become such a popular medium for many types of collaborative meetings is that it saves time and money. Videoconferencing's high quality and ease of use is encouraging a growing number of people in the campus community to use it, rather than traveling long distances to meetings and seminars.
Videoconferencing is a way to see and talk with others in real time via an interactive audiovisual meeting channel. The ability to display full- motion video and to hear contiguous, full-duplex audio conversations (meaning both parties can speak simultaneously, as is possible via the telephone) is accomplished by sending compressed audio and video signals over long-distance telephone networks or the Internet.
Videoconferencing systems employ codecs, which compress audio and video signals into digital data, and then decompress them at the far end, or "receive" sites. By connecting sites around the world, either in a point-to-point configuration, or in a bridge call (connecting three or more parties), participants on both the near and far ends are able to see and speak with each other while their respective images are displayed on conventional television monitors or projected onto larger screens.
To ensure that videoconferencing systems from different manufacturers can work together seamlessly, the industry has established a suite of common operating standards. These standards set the parameters for the important criteria of each call, such as the speed of the connection (measured in bandwidth), audio quality, camera control and alignment, and various other signaling information.
The suite of standards used for ISDN telephone line-based systems is known as H.320. The suite of standards for Internet Protocol (IP)- based systems is H.323.
H.320 systems are more widely in use today, but the newer H.323 systems are now saturating the marketplace, and roughly half the video calls placed from our campus are now of the H.323 variety. Because no long distance charges accrue from an IP type call, a substantial cost savings can be realized from using H.323.
Videoconferencing has come a long way since 1994, when it was first introduced at the UO. The days when the video quality of conference calls looked like "pictures from outer space" have all but disappeared. That annoying "delay" in the audio response has also been relegated to its place in history.
Gone--usually!--is the aggravating inability to connect with another videoconferencing site or the tendency for the video call to pixilate, freeze, or drop out entirely in the middle of a call.
This improvement in quality is largely due to better compression algorithms for both the audio and video signals, as well as the increased bandwidth now used for most calls. The vast majority of video calls these days are made at a bandwidth of at least 384 kilobits per second, making picture instability and audio delay a thing of the past.
Videoconferences can be point-to-point between two sites, or multipoint, joining as many as 24 sites on a voice-activated bridge. Up to four sites can be displayed simultaneously on video monitors using split-screen technology (also known as "continuous presence.")
In addition, media peripherals such as laptop computers and document cameras can be utilized to display hard copies of preprinted text and graphics or to share software applications. A very popular feature of the Polycom videoconferencing units is their ability to accept downloads of PowerPoint presentations so that all the participants in a video call are able to view the slides.
There are currently eight videoconferencing systems being used by UO staff and faculty. These systems are in the following campus locations:
The two systems available for general use by university staff and faculty are located in the Rainier Building and the Knight Library. In addition, every school within the OUS family of universities has video systems on their campus, as do most major universities.
The cost of a videconference (done from a Telecom Services videoconferencing unit) for university-affiliated personnel can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the number of sites participating and room rental rates at the far end, but the baseline cost is $80 per hour for the first hour and $40 per hour for each additional hour within the same session.
From a cost-versus-benefit standpoint, videoconferencing has earned a deserved reputation as a real money saver!
In most cases, depending on the complexity of the call and the number of sites involved, a videoconference can be set up in a relatively short time frame (a 48-hour advance notice is usually sufficient) and reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.
For additional information on the availability and pricing of videoconferencing, how you or your department might be able to incorporate videoconferencing into your university mission, or to book a videoconference, please contact Craig Leavy in Telecommunications Services, 346-1026.