Note: This story originally appeared in an IT Times issue from 1992-1993. We reproduce it here in conjunction with our 10 year anniversary issue to give you a glimpse of the past as it relates to the technology news of today. To see how IT Times is reporting on this topic today, click here.

Vice chancellors have used it So have deans, librarians, faculty, and financial aid officers. UCD`s video teleconferencing facility has proven beneficial on both academic and administrative fronts.

Currently located in 203 Mrak Hall, the video teleconferencing facility is part of a video network that will eventually connect all University of California campuses and research facilities.

Davis was one of the first campuses to plug into the network that includes the UC Office of the President, UC Riverside, UCLA, UC San Diego and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara all plan on opening teleconferencing facilities and tuning into the network sometime this summer.

The Davis Facility
A couple of video cameras and two large video monitors mounted in a cabinet are used to project images to and from the room in Mrak Hall. Attending the conference is a bit like participating in a two-way television show. Conferees look at the screen on the left to "interact" with participants from other sites and, at the same time, can see the image being projected to others by looking at the screen on the right.

A piece of equipment known as a codec translates voice and visual signals into digital format so they can travel through the network and be projected on monitors elsewhere. The codec also translates incoming messages so they can be seen and heard by those attending the video conference here on campus. The room in Mrak Hall provides seating for twelve. Four of the chairs are circled around a table where the conference control panel is located. The conference facilitator uses the control panel to manipulate the cameras so the image being projected conforms to the content of the conference. For instance, the facilitator can move the camera in for a close-up during an individual presentation or choose a wide-angle shot to project a group discussion. An overhead graphics camera is available for sending charts, diagrams and other graphic images to other sites. Future plans call for the installation of a microcomputer which will be used to project on-screen images through the network.

Advantages Noted
Those who have used University's video teleconferencing network noted some of its benefits in the Fall 1992 issue of Protocol, a publication of the UC Office of the President.

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

Information Technology invites departments and workgroups with University wide orientation to take full advantage of the video teleconferencing facility. Interested parties can reserve the facility by contacting Julia Barnes of Campus Events at 752-4453. For consulting and training, call Carina Celesia Moore of Communications Resources at 752-5961. Communications Resources also handles troubleshooting and repairs.

NOTE: The video teleconferencing facility is expected to relocate to a dedicated site in the Academic Surge building around the beginning of 1994.

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