Video Conferencing Services at the UA

University IT Services offers Internet-based H.323 Videoconferencing utilizing Tandberg and Polycom endpoints. Faculty, staff, and students are able to initiate, conduct, or participate in IP-based H.323 video conferences at no cost.

• Three Permanent Videoconferencing Endpoints
  • For formal meetings, Room 506 in the Arkansas Union has a Tandberg 7000 endpoint with two 30-inch plasma monitors, one representing the participants at the distant site and one for those in the meeting room, ARKU 506.
  • For remote interviews, Career Services (also in the Union) has a Tandberg 1000 desktop endpoint. In addition to the endpoint, the room is equipped with a computer and document camera.
  • MMRC's Technology Enhanced Classroom is equipped with a Polycom VSX 7000 endpoint and can be scheduled for individual events.
• Three Portable Videoconferencing Endpoints
  • Two Polycom Viewstation room systems for meetings in other network-connected meeting rooms or classrooms.
  • A Polycom PVX laptop/endpoint for desktop videoconferencing.
• Multi-Point Videoconferencing
  • Bridge multiple sites (maximum 6) into one videoconference.
• Conference Recording
  • Record conferences for archival.
  • Stream live or recorded content, viewed using RealPlayer, VX30 Universal Video, or to a normal H.323 video endpoint.

Scheduling a Videoconferencing Room and Equipment

• Career Development Center (Remote interviews)
  Reservations can be made by calling Lori Magar at 575-2805 or by contacting smagar@uark.edu. The room is scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Arkansas Union Conference Room - ARKU 506 (Formal meetings)
  Reservations can be made by calling Arkansas Union Reservations at 575-2146, appearing in person at ARKU 634, or by sending the request to arkues@uark.edu. The room is scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Multimedia Resource Center (MMRC - Gibson Annex) Technology Enhanced Classroom (TEC)
  Reservations can be made by calling Eve Owens (575-7401) or contacting her at emowens@uark.edu. The room is scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Portable Endpoints
  Reservations can be made by calling John Drewry (575-7401) or contacting him at jdrewry@uark.edu. The Portable Endpoints are reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Cost

H.323 (IP) video conferencing is free of charge unless third party equipment is used such as H.320 bridging or use of the I2 commons beyond the initial 300 hours allocated as part of our membership. H.320 bridging is hosted by Ohio State University, and the costs can be quoted on a per conference basis. The Internet2 Commons (large scale multiple conferences) have a charge of $0.10 per port minute once the initial 300 hours are exhausted. Contact John Drewry (jdrewry@uark.edu) to discuss options and price quotes.

Video Service-Level Agreement

Eligibility and Support

All faculty, staff, and students of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville are eligible for videoconferencing services as defined, allocated, and priced in the University of Arkansas Service Plan.

University of Arkansas IT Services provides several endpoints and codices for use and support of videoconferencing across the campus.

SPOC - Single Point of Contact

All U of A customers that commit to a video SLA must provide to University IT Services' video staff a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) at the other participating site(s). The SPOC is a single phone number of the participating site(s)' facilitator/technical contact. University IT Services prefers this to be a phone number to an alphanumeric pager carried by the technician or facilitator responsible for video services. The help desk/dispatching phone system option is available, however, for institutions that cannot provide a single pager number. Contact information for the UA customer must also be provided to University IT Services.

Firewalls

For all participating sites, it is recommended to place the codec outside the firewall and protect it with a "strong" password of at least eight (8) characters.

While there are settings within the codec that allow videoconferencing through a firewall, each case is different. Problem response times in troubleshooting settings will increase greatly due to the complexities and exceptions involved. Coordinated change management, local testing practices, and communication between network and video conferencing personnel will be prime factors in the success of the videoconference.

Service Period: July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007

Definitions:

• Hours of Operation (excluding holiday): 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday through Thursday; 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM , Friday
• Contracted Services: Services for which a U of A customer or sponsoring agency contracts with University of Arkansas IT Services
• Customer Contact: Contact information for the University of Arkansas customer arranging the video conference with University IT Services staff
•  Single Point of Contact: The specific (single) contact information that University of Arkansas IT Services will use to contact the technical staff/facilitator/other site(s) coordinator (pager, helpdesk, cell phone, etc.)
• Facilitator: Trained individual who has the responsibility for monitoring and troubleshooting conferences at the customer's remote participating site(s) and who is authorized to call University of Arkansas IT Services per the Service Level Agreement. Likely the same as the SPOC.

University IT Services and Customer Responsibilities for MultiMedia Resource Center Video Services

For more information, contact Eric Gorder (egorder@uark.edu) or John Drewry (jdrewry@uark.edu), or phone the MMRC at 575-7401.

Troubleshooting

I am trying to particpate in a H.323 (Internet) video conference from my home, and I am having difficulty connecting and have poor video quality.

Even with today's high speed residental broadband (cable or DSL) solutions, most residental broadband connections lack sufficient upload speed to successfully connect with most high-end video conferencing equipment.

Links

• Videoconferencing Cookbook
• Internet2
• Videoconference Adventures