Ten years ago videoconferencing was promoted as a way to meet with people for administrative purposes. In 1993, as reported in an IT Times article, videoconferencing already presented many  benefits to UC Davis staff, particularly for meetings and conferences. Those benefits included:

• “monetary savings resulting from reduced travel costs
• greater staff involvement at various administrative levels
• the ability to interact simultaneously with individuals at more than one site
• increased productivity with regard to consensus building, project management, and information dissemination.”

These benefits still ring true today: videoconferencing is still used for administrative purposes, but  its capabilities have also more recently been extended to distance  learning.

Previous Issue Lights, Camerca, Action... Video Teleconferencing Update Classroom Technology Services

Today, administrative conferencing accounts for about 30% of the total use, but the two videoconference rooms are used the majority of the time for distance learning offerings (whereby a course is taught by connecting two or more locations through video monitors). The professor can be alone in one room teaching students in several remote locations, or she can be present with a group of students in one room and connecting to other classrooms via video. PowerPoint presentations or Web sites can be displayed on the video monitors much like a screen in a large lecture hall, and the sessions can be taped for later viewing. Distance learning has presented new opportunities for instructors and students, both here at UC Davis and at other partner campuses. Several general education courses have been taught using this technology, thereby enabling students at other campuses to partake of a UC Davis instructor’s expertise. Each quarter the campus hosts 3-5 Distance Learning courses between UC Davis and other UC and CSU campuses. These kinds of courses help bridge campuses and share expertise. For instance, UC Davis often offers courses on Equine Health via Distance Learning to students on other California campuses who may not have the Animal Science resources Davis has. Instructors often travel from the sending to the receiving school so they can interact with students at both campuses.

 The Nuts and bolts of Videoconferencing: Codec Then and Now

At the most basic level, videoconferencing requires, at each site, a video camera, two monitors, and a codec. The term“codec” is an acronym for "coder/decoder”, and in videoconferencing this important device translates video and voice so it can be transmitted to and received from other sites quickly and without losing quality.

The way the codec transmits the conference varies. In the past, the videoconference system operated over a phone line – a “T-1” connection. That copper connection remains, but now there is also a path over the internet (Internet Protocol, or IP).  With transmission speeds of 10 to 100 or more Mbps (depending on the quality of copper wire in the building), IP  far surpasses T1’s speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps, Although IP is faster, having the backup T-1 makes the service more reliable.

Videoconferencing Equipment

The first videoconferencing unit, a decade-old cabinet with two large monitors mounted in it, still resides in the bigger of two videoconferencing rooms in Olson Hall. , Next door, a “Polycom VS 4000” codec and “Visual Concert FX” devices provide UC Davis videoconferencing clients with the most current technology there is.

In 1992, there was one videoconferencing room in Mrak Hall, and one codec. Now there are two dedicated videoconference rooms, and a portable unit for videoconferencing in bigger classrooms anywhere on campus. Some campus departments also maintain their own videoconferencing facilities, such as those in the Engineering and Veterinary Science buildings.

Future Projects

By October ’03, a monumental initiative called –“California Video over IP” (or CalVIP) is expected to bring most of the scholastic networks in California together under the same Video Conferencing umbrella and IP network. This includes K-12, community colleges, and Universities. This initiative will address new technologies as they emerge and will help coordinate adoption efforts among educational institutions. For more information about this initiative, visit the Web site at http://www.csu.net/CALVIP/index.htm.

The future promises better interconnectivity for the improvement of learning and academic business. Jan Dickens of Classroom Technology Support looks forward to a time when desktop videoconferencing will become more and more prevalent so that staff and faculty can take advantage of the technology from the convenience of their own offices.

If you or someone you know may be interested in using the videoconference service, more information is on the Web at http://cts.ucdavis.edu/.

Send us your comments on this story