Once considered experimental and expensive, the technology for videoconferencing has matured in recent years, making it cheaper and easier to install and use. As a result, government agencies are investing in new systems to keep up with demand. "It's been a tremendous productivity tool," said Ernesto Villalta, telecommunications engineer for the California Department of Water Resources, which has seven videoconferencing sites around the state. "Time that used to be spent traveling is time that can now be used productively by employees."
According to government officials and analysts, the growth in videoconferencing can be tied to better technology, which has made it more convenient to hold virtual meetings.
Distance learning is perhaps the biggest user of videoconferencing technology in government today. That interest has triggered growth in government use of videoconferencing for interviews, public hearings, training and press conferences. Courts now use videoconferencing to arraign criminals, while correctional institutions use it for telemedicine to cut the cost of inmate health care.
High-End Video
State and local governments have, for the most part, invested in room-system videoconferencing and continue to do so. In fact, videoconferencing got its start when Compression Labs Inc. (CLI), based in San Jose, Calif., designed the first room system in 1982. Room systems offer full-motion video, usually running at 384 Kbps (kilobits per second) or higher, and usually have two large monitors, so a group of people sitting around a conference table or in a classroom can see, as well as hear.
In 1992, the state of Georgia invested more than $50 million to construct what was then the world's largest videoconferencing system. The Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System is a combined distance-learning and telemedicine service, linking more than 200 schools and hospitals throughout the state.
In 1993, California's Department of Transportation (Caltrans) installed videoconferencing to link 12 district offices with its headquarters in Sacramento. Initially, videoconferencing was installed to cut the cost and time of travel. But then an interesting thing began to happen. "Folks who never traveled to meetings began attending the videoconferencing sessions," said David Bell, associate information systems analyst for Caltrans. "Where once we would send one person to a meeting, we now were filling the meeting rooms with people who wanted the opportunity to discuss issues."
A typical Caltrans videoconferencing room is 12x20 feet and has two 27-inch monitors built into the wall. One camera is trained on an oval table, which can seat as many as 18 people. Another camera is available for showing static images, such as flip charts. Some rooms are equipped with a document camera, which can send images from a PC application. Sites are linked by fractional T-1 lines.
Most of Caltrans' video equipment was purchased from CLI, which is now part of V-Tel Corp. "All the equipment is off-the-shelf hardware," said Bell. "We didn't do anything exotic. We just wanted basic equipment that was reliable and relatively easy to use."
Busy Bridges
Another dedicated user of room-system videoconferencing is California's Department of Water Resources. Five field divisions are linked to headquarters in Sacramento, as well as a second site located in a different part of the city. The department purchased room systems from Pacific Bell, so that staff could hold long-distance business, administrative, budget and executive meetings. Videoconferencing also has been used for training, job interviews and -- depending on the season -- weather status conferences, which are sometimes available to the press.
A growing trend, according to Villalta, is the demand for multipoint conferences, which involve more than two sites. Multipoint conferences occur with the help of a special computer known as a MultiPoint Conferencing Unit (MCU), or a videoconference bridge. MCUs can accept videoconference calls from different systems and then link them together, similar to a telephone conference call.
Today's units primarily come from four vendors -- Lucent Technologies, PictureTel, MultiLink and VTEL -- and comply with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) H.320 protocol for connecting different systems across circuit-switched networks, such as leased lines and ISDN. For example, California's Department of Water Resources uses its MCU to connect sites over T-1 lines and ISDN.
The MCU software also manages the videoconferences, automatically linking different sites at scheduled times and switching from one location to another. MCUs also can automatically switch the video depending on who's speaking. Villalta said his department schedules conferences several weeks in advance with their bridge. At the selected date and time, the MCU automatically connects the different sites to begin the multipoint conference.
Viewing the Benefits and Costs
When discussing benefits, government officials mention cost savings, productivity gains and convenience. When the Illinois State Board of Education began videoconferencing in 1996, they saved more than $16,000 in travel expenses in 60 days ["Video Network Streamlines Communications," Government Technology, August 1996]. Less time spent traveling equals more time for work, according to many officials. Finally there's convenience; videoconferencing allows more people to attend meetings who otherwise would never have the resources for travel.
But, as Bell pointed out, videoconferencing doesn't eliminate travel altogether, nor does it eliminate the cost of holding a meeting. While Caltrans doesn't charge its district offices for the time they spend videoconferencing, other states offer videoconferencing as a fee-based service. For example, the state of Washington charges a government agency $660 to hold a two-hour conference that connects three sites.
Building a videoconferencing system isn't cheap either. While room systems have come down in price, a single system with two monitors can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $65,000. High-end MCUs range in price from $156,000 to more than $220,000. Then there are network costs. Caltrans spends approximately $40,000 per month to link its 18 videoconferencing rooms; but the agency keeps those rooms busy, holding as many as 110 meetings per month.
Videoconferencing is an excellent tool for prearranged meetings, training sessions or classroom lectures. Just don't try to hold ad hoc meetings, especially if it's a multipoint conference. MCUs require a certain amount of administration before, during and after a meeting. As a result, almost all agencies with videoconferencing services require users to reserve their meeting days or even weeks in advance -- those who don't, pay a price. "Scheduling takes up most of our time and resources," commented Bell. "We may have to schedule a videoconference five or six times before it actually takes place because of changes in priorities."
Desktop Videoconferencing
One solution to the high start-up costs and relative inflexibility of room-system teleconferencing is to build a desktop videoconferencing system. Desktop systems are cheap: Intel offers a videoconferencing package -- complete with camera and special boards for capturing video and audio -- for $1,500. If you already have the hardware, you can download a free copy of Microsoft's videoconferencing and data-1collaboration software, NetMeeting 2.0, off the Internet. linked to headquarters in Sacramento, as well as a second site located in a different part of the city. The department purchased room systems from Pacific Bell, so that staff could hold long-distance business, administrative, budget and executive meetings. Videoconferencing also has been used for training, job interviews and -- depending on the season -- weather status conferences, which are sometimes available to the press.
A growing trend, according to Villalta, is the demand for multipoint conferences, which involve more than two sites. Multipoint conferences occur with the help of a special computer known as a MultiPoint Conferencing Unit (MCU), or a videoconference bridge. MCUs can accept videoconference calls from different systems and then link them together, similar to a telephone conference call.
Today's units primarily come from four vendors -- Lucent Technologies, PictureTel, MultiLink and VTEL -- and comply with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) H.320 protocol for connecting different systems across circuit-switched networks, such as leased lines and ISDN. For example, California's Department of Water Resources uses its MCU to connect sites over T-1 lines and ISDN.
The MCU software also manages the videoconferences, automatically linking different sites at scheduled times and switching from one location to another. MCUs also can automatically switch the video depending on who's speaking. Villalta said his department schedules conferences several weeks in advance with their bridge. At the selected date and time, the MCU automatically connects the different sites to begin the multipoint conference.
Viewing the Benefits and Costs
When discussing benefits, government officials mention cost savings, productivity gains and convenience. When the Illinois State Board of Education began videoconferencing in 1996, they saved more than $16,000 in travel expenses in 60 days ["Video Network Streamlines Communications," Government Technology, August 1996]. Less time spent traveling equals more time for work, according to many officials. Finally there's convenience; videoconferencing allows more people to attend meetings who otherwise would never have the resources for travel.
But, as Bell pointed out, videoconferencing doesn't eliminate travel altogether, nor does it eliminate the cost of holding a meeting. While Caltrans doesn't charge its district offices for the time they spend videoconferencing, other states offer videoconferencing as a fee-based service. For example, the state of Washington charges a government agency $660 to hold a two-hour conference that connects three sites.
Building a videoconferencing system isn't cheap either. While room systems have come down in price, a single system with two monitors can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $65,000. High-end MCUs range in price from $156,000 to more than $220,000. Then there are network costs. Caltrans spends approximately $40,000 per month to link its 18 videoconferencing rooms; but the agency keeps those rooms busy, holding as many as 110 meetings per month.
Videoconferencing is an excellent tool for prearranged meetings, training sessions or classroom lectures. Just don't try to hold ad hoc meetings, especially if it's a multipoint conference. MCUs require a certain amount of administration before, during and after a meeting. As a result, almost all agencies with videoconferencing services require users to reserve their meeting days or even weeks in advance -- those who don't, pay a price. "Scheduling takes up most of our time and resources," commented Bell. "We may have to schedule a videoconference five or six times before it actually takes place because of changes in priorities."
Desktop Videoconferencing
One solution to the high start-up costs and relative inflexibility of room-system teleconferencing is to build a desktop videoconferencing system. Desktop systems are cheap: Intel offers a videoconferencing package -- complete with camera and special boards for capturing video and audio -- for $1,500. If you already have the hardware, you can download a free copy of Microsoft's videoconferencing and data-1collaboration software, NetMeeting 2.0, off the Internet.
Desktop systems have fewer features than room systems but are considered easier to use, thanks to their relative simplicity. They operate over WANs, LANs, ISDN and POTS (plain old telephone service) lines.
California's Department of Corrections is pilot-testing desktop videoconferencing for a telemedicine program. According to Christine Martin, who is with the department's healthcare division, desktop video was chosen because the site lacked the space for a larger system. The PictureTel system connects two sites at 384 Kbps and is used for a number of purposes, including diagnostics and clinical exams. Caltrans also is investigating desktop video, mainly for purposes of holding ad hoc meetings between engineers.
But the primary benefit of these desktop systems seems to be data collaboration rather than video. In a review of several desktop video products, Infoworld magazine concluded that "for most day-to-day collaboration, especially in a workgroup whose members are familiar with one another, video doesn't add anything crucial. ... The benefits of video are just too marginal and intangible to justify."
Multicast Initiative
Limited interest in desktop videoconferencing hasn't stopped vendors from trying to improve and expand the use of the technology. The latest entry is IP Multicast technology, which conserves bandwidth so that full-motion video can be broadcast over the Internet in an efficient way.
IP Multicasting makes it possible to send video data in a single stream to any number of people. Currently, when a video clip is sent over the Internet to a group of people, it is transmitted individually to each person, clogging the network pipeline. Backers of the technology point to a number of new services that include everything from the distribution of software upgrades to videoconferencing and training for dozens, hundreds or thousands of people.
A group of 75 companies have formed the IP Multicasting Initiative to accelerate the adoption of the technology. In September, the initiative announced that six of the world's leading Internet and network service providers joined the group. But more cooperation will be needed before multicasting takes off. The technology must be supported by all the network devices in the data path and will require more router capacity to work on a large scale.
For government agencies, multicasting could prove beneficial as a tool for delivering multimedia or video over an intranet to agency workers. Later, as the Internet becomes more compatible with multicasting, state and local governments could use the technology for transmitting video to the public.
But for agencies that are trying to decide whether they need videoconferencing, they might begin by examining how their organization is structured, not how much they travel. "Our district offices are fairly autonomous," explained Bell. "They really take advantage of videoconferencing to coordinate their activities. I don't think an organization that is centrally managed, where all the decisions are made at the headquarters and then disseminated to the field offices, will have a strong need for videoconferencing."
For more information, contact David Bell, Caltrans, at 916/654-6711
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