Skip the plane and go to that meeting on the web

Senior systems analyst Les Finken (on lower screen) demonstrates the new Internet-based videoconferencing room by chatting from afar with Tim Kakavas, broadcast TV/radio technician. Photo by Kirk Murray.

At first it doesn’t look like much. Pleasing blue walls, an attractive new conference table, a pair of large-screen television sets. The technology does an excellent job of receding into the background. But look closer, and the gadgetry is there. A set of handheld remote controls. A multidirectional microphone on the table. A pair of video cameras. A document camera that can project a page of an open book up on the video monitors.

The room is a pilot project of Information Technology Services: an Internet-based videoconferencing facility. From here, faculty and staff can hold virtual meetings with colleagues across campus or across the world.

“It opens the door for people to do things they wouldn’t do otherwise,” says Les Finken, senior systems analyst with Academic Technologies and one of the organizers of the ITS video-conferencing initiative. It may take the place of travel to a conference, enable teachers to conduct distance education, and allow students to schedule thesis defenses even when members of their committees are on sabbatical. One student already has used it to have a job interview with a distant employer.

The room, which is operated by ITS—Video Services led by Terry Edmonds, accommodates up to four people. They can connect to similar rooms anywhere else in the world. One of the two monitors displays the local room, while the other shows the remote location.

While videoconferencing is certainly not new, previous systems (like the Iowa Communications Network) rely on some kind of permanent hardware to connect the two end points. The new videoconferencing facility instead carries its signals across the Internet. It can’t always provide the same quality of sound and image that the ICN does. If there’s heavy Internet traffic, or if one or both users have slow web connections, the system automatically adjusts by reducing the quality of the image so as to preserve the intelligibility of the language. But when the users at both ends have high-speed Internet connections, both the sound and the image are smooth. In a demonstration for fyi, the system worked almost as naturally as if the other person were there in the room.

The studio currently is available for University-related use by any faculty, staff, or students. It’s also a showroom: Departments that try out the equipment and like it can purchase similar versions for approximately $3,000. Desktop units, suitable for one-on-one conferences, are available for about $500.

“A lot of it boils down to saving time and saving money,” Edmonds said. “That’s what sells most faculty once they’ve seen it. They realize, ‘Hey, if I can save two or three plane flights, I’ve justified the price of one of these units.’ ”

One faculty member who’s already bought into the system is Richard Hurtig, chair of the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He began exploring Internet-based videoconferencing as a tool for outreach.

“We have an NIH-supported grant that links us with Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and Howard University in Washington, D.C.,” Hurtig says. “We wanted a year-round, bi-directional connection with those campuses. That’s why we started looking at Internet-based videoconferencing equipment.”

Hurtig worked closely with Finken and his team as they developed a University-supported system, providing valuable insights into how the technology would ultimately be used in practical situations.

“As much as I am a technology nerd, when it comes to teaching; I’m a real face-to-face person,” Hurtig says. “To the extent that technology allows us to have that kind of interaction, and that it really allows for the kind of free exchange of ideas that you have in a classroom, then it will be successful.”

The room is considered a pilot project. Depending on the response of its users, ITS might add seats or help departments set up their own Internet-based videoconferencing rooms in locations around campus. Based on their experience so far, Finken and his colleagues expect it to be quite popular. Finken recalls demonstrating the unit to one academic department.

“I was 20 minutes late to the meeting because I had to go put out a fire somewhere,” Finken says. “They were all sitting around, and I walked in with this unit. In five minutes it was up and running. They said, ‘That’s it.’ They were sold.”

Article by Sam Samuels