Setting up a videoconference Videoconferencing Infrastructure   Network Links   Conference Rooms   Hardware Types of Conferences Offered   Point-to-Point   Multi-point Support Offered   E-mail    Phone support Cost Conference Attendant   Camera Setup and  Test   ISDN Circuit (if needed) Videoconferencing Resources   Polycom ESupport   Video Conferencing       Cookbook

Videoconferencing lets you meet with professional colleagues without leaving NAU. Today's computers, networks, and video protocols make it possible to meet with one person at a remote site or with several colleagues at different sites simultaneously. Until recently, videoconferencing required the use of dedicated telecommunications circuits to link individual components together. The typical deployment for a campus environment was to link room systems via T1 circuits to a master control unit which was then connected to an ISDN circuit. The arrangement was inflexible and costly, and excluded the use of a personal camera. The only standard protocol available was H.320. Today's video conference equipment can be linked using a standard Ethernet network via the H.323 protocol. This makes the use of room systems and personal cameras inexpensive and practical, because a single infrastructure can now accommodate all types of camera equipment. You can connect via the Internet or an ISDN circuit. Point-to-point connections are as easy as a phone call. Videoconferencing can be an attractive alternative to traveling for meetings with professional colleagues. A desktop video camera (ITS supports the Polycom ViaVideo, $450) costs less than the price of a round-trip plane ticket to most destinations -- and once you have the camera installed, a desktop conference over the Internet costs nothing. Larger conferences, which require ITS support, involve support fees, but they're still much cheaper than flying. The Polycom ViaVideo (desktop) and Polycom H.323 room cameras supported by ITS can be purchased direct from Polycom. You can use a purchasing card; your department can issue a purchase order (if the amount is less than $1,000); or you can have your department order through NAU Purchasing Services.

If you have a desktop camera, you can set up your own videoconference anytime using the Internet, as long as you know the IP address of the person you want to conference with. However, if you want to hold a room-size or multi-point videoconference, this requires support from ITS. They will need the following information:

• Date and time of conference (Note: if you're holding a videoconference requiring ITS support, they generally need about two weeks' notice, in order to arrange for equipment and testing)
• Number of participants and/or number of sites.
• Purpose of conference
• Technical contact information for the remote site(s) (the site(s) you're conferencing with)
• Any data sharing, PowerPoint, NetMeeting, or file exchanges needed

Include this information in your request to ITS.

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Videoconferencing Infrastructure
Network Links

NAU Campus Ethernet network and Statewide Links
Internet/InternetII access

ITS Conference Rooms
Babbitt Administration Center Conference Room

Polycom Viewstation H.323 room camera with TV monitor
PictureTel Room Camera

Polycom ViaVideo Personal Camera
Accord MGC-50 Bridge
ATT ISDN PRI

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Types of Conferences Offered
In a "point-to-point" videoconference, one camera at NAU conferences with one camera at a remote site. In a "multipoint" conference, more than two cameras are involved, as with a three-way telephone call.

Point-to-point

LAN/Internet conferences using ITS facilities and equipment

ISDN conferences using the ITS video bridge (with or without ITS facilities)

Note: Point-to-point conferences using no ITS equipment -- just desktop cameras and Internet connections -- do not require ITS support.

LAN/Internet conferences using ITS video bridge (with or without ITS facilities)

ISDN conferences using ITS video bridge (with or without ITS facilities)

If the video bridge is used in the conference, then a video bridge operator can monitor the meeting and assist when problems arise.
 

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Support

E-mail

You can contact ITS to request videoconference support at vcsupport@lists.nau.edu.

        Contact either Armand Ramirez or Matt Sells at 523-0662.

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Cost
These costs apply only to videoconferences requiring ITS support. For point-to-point desktop conferencing using the Internet, once you have the camera and software installed on your desktop computer, there is no cost for the conference itself.

Conference Attendant

$35 per hour (30 minute increments). $35 per hour billed in 1/2 hour increments.  While a video conference using the bridge is in progress, one ITS person will be monitoring the system for quality and failures. This is necessary to quickly resolve problems. During this time one FTE is dedicated, while they can do some trivial work at their desk they must be constantly available.

$75 per site. This covers the coordination and testing of the far end sites. For a bridged conference, it would require testing each far end site. Typical time involved in coordination and testing is two hours per site.

$130 per hour (for domestic connections. Additional fees will apply for international connections.) This is for a 384kbs call, which is six phone lines. If the Internet or I2 is used then there are no circuit charges and this does not apply.

Here are a few examples of costs for various combinations of time and circuitry:

One-hour conference using ISDN: $35 + $75 + $130 = $240

Two-hour conference using ISDN: $70 + $75 + $260 = $405

One-hour conference using IP: $35 + 75 = $105

Two-hour conference using IP: $70 + $75 = $150

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Links to Videoconferencing Resources
Polycom Corp. ESupport

This site describes Polycom products, including the ViaVideo (desktop) and Polycom Room Systems supported by ITS for videoconferencing use at NAU.

An information site produced by the Video Development Initiative, a multi-university consortium supporting the development of video technology.
 
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Updated 7/18/02
Maintained by ITS Network Operations Center Center