Videoconferencing Overview

• Distance Learning Courses
• Research Support
• In-classroom support
• Meetings and Training Opportunities
• Videoconferencing Primer

Resources

• Videoconferencing available at Rutgers University
• Videoconferencing Resources Available for Scheduling
• Reservation Policies
• Reservation Form

Videoconferencing technology allows people at two or more locations to see and hear each other at the same time. Although videoconferencing has been in existence for quite some time, availability of cost-effective methods of transmission were limited.

Recently, through the emergence of video support software for transmission over the internet, and the rapid development of wide availability of broadband communications, video over the internet (also sometimes referred to as video over IP) has begun to transform the potential for videoconferencing from an expensive, large corporation luxury to a widely available tool for personal and business collaboration.

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The departments that have offered videoconference courses cuts across all major disciplines and professional studies. From Fall' 97 to Fall '04, the Division of Continuing Studies has hosted approximately 165 full semester courses, serving more than 32 individual departments. Often, the courses are offered to students on other Rutgers campuses and centers, but have included participation with educational institutions as diverse as Harvard, University of Washington, NJIT, University of Puerto Rico, Mercer County Community College and Edison HS. More than 2500 students have attended classes delivered via distance learning in the Division of Continuing Studies classrooms. In the professional development area, corporate partners have included IBM, Prudential Insurance and Lucent Technologies.

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Videoconferencing can enable collaboration among research partners, whether local, national or international reach and can enhance all phases of a project.   Planning, data sharing, review and evaluation, can all occur without the burdens imposed by distance.

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All distance learning courses and other events are fully staffed by a Division of Continuing Studies certified distance learning technician, who will make the necessary connections prior to class time and remain on site during the class to deal with any questions or operational issues which might arise.

One-on-one orientation and training is also provided to all faculty and other presenters prior to your class or event.

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Many administrative areas have taken advantage of videoconferencing as well. Multi-campus meetings are easily achieved by connecting rooms on the Camden, Newark and New Brunswick campuses. These kinds of events can take the form of regularly scheduled staff meetings which eliminate the need for driving between campuses. Time constraints can be reduced, while interactivity remains high. There is also added flexibility for committees which might require sharing and reviewing documents on a tight deadline. In the same way, training for new policies and procedures can be accomplished more rapidly and efficiently.

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In it’s most elementary form, videoconferencing can be thought of as nothing more than a phone call enhanced by cameras (to transmit images) and some sort of a screen display (to “display” images) at each end. Like a phone call, the voice and images are carried through some network that requires an address (or phone number) so the call knows where to go.

Transmitting images is trickier than transmitting voice only in so far as (1) video requires a much more robust transmission capability as it sends an incredible amount of data, and (2) unlike data transmissions, which can survive intermittent delays (so, the file gets there a second or two later), effective videoconferencing requires a higher level of quality of service since most participants expect that there will be synchronization between voice data and image data (the mouth is moving in synch with the voice). This is easy to describe in theory, much more difficult to deliver in real life in high bandwidth applications.

Quality of service consistent with full 24/7 support videoconferencing at the highest levels must be available on the transmission network.This requirement generally is not found within the University and frankly, does not exist except within limited intranets. Therefore, videoconference users need to understand the tradeoff between exceptional high quality video and the level of required support, withmore convenient videoconferencing options that exist in situations with more informal support levels. For the overwhelming proportion of videoconferencing needs within the University, the latter is entirely adequate.

CODEC: In order to make effective use of telecommunications resources, videoconferencing general uses some sort of device or software that “COmpresses” the data when sent, and “DECompresses” it when it is received; this device or software is the “CODEC”.

Typically, large room setups, interactive classrooms, and executive level videoconferencing utilize hardware based CODECs, designed precisely for this purpose. While the entry point for these hardware devices once exceeded $50,000, they are now available for as little as $3,000 for entry level room systems. Typically, the more expensive the CODEC, the greater bandwidth it is capable of using, thereby having the potential to display much higher quality images.

In more informal videoconferencing situations, software based CODECs are used in combination with low cost “web-cams”, or web-based cameras. Low end videoconferencing is often entirely satisfactory when real time collaboration is sought between small numbers of participants.

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The Division of Continuing Studies is the primary point of contact at Rutgers for individuals and departments wishing to explore uses of videoconferencing, whether simply to schedule and use existing University facilities, or to explore development of videoconferencing within a school or department. While a large organization like Rutgers needs to have a central point of coordination, which in the case of videoconferencing is the Division of Continuing Studies, each department is encouraged to consider and develop as much expertise and infrastructure it considers appropriate.

Role Defined: The Division of Continuing Studies works closely with the Office of Information Technology and others to insure that up to date information on OIT telecommunications requirements is available. The Continuous Education's distance learning mission, further, enables individuals and departments to secure in one convenient place, the technical, instructional, and research expertise necessary to help deploy videoconferencing or interactive video instruction successfully.

The Division of Continuing Studies serves as a collaborative and cooperative point of coordination and leadership, and is not a "gatekeeper." Continuous Education will provide leadership and work with OIT and academic units to develop and refine policy, but it is committed to a "modified decentralized approach to interactive video instruction and videoconferencing". While a large organization like Rutgers needs to have a central point of coordination, each department is encouraged to consider and develop as much expertise and infrastructure it considers appropriate. Once a department enters videoconferencing activities, it is asked to become an active participant in its support and future policy development.

Types of Rutgers Videoconferencing Resources: There are several major classes of videconferencing resources available at Rutgers:

1. Interactive Video Classrooms (IVC). There are a number of fully developed Interactive Video Classrooms throughout the University and at several off-campus locations. CEO is responsible for scheduling and maintaining these IVCs. IVCs are located on the Newark, Douglas, Livingston, College Avenue, and Camden campuses, and in off-campus locations including Freehold and Mt. Arlington.
2. Videoconference meeting rooms. These facilities are small than IVCs and usually can accommodate between six and twelve meeting participants. A complete list is available online but several facilities worth mentioning include: University Inn (Cook/Douglas), Winants (CAC), and Davidson (Busch).
3. Video over IP Bridge. This is a scheduling and hardware resource that allows for the "bridging" of several videoconferencing sites, thereby expanding the videoconference from point to point to many. An accurate analogy is that this makes it possible for a "video conference call" similar to a telephone conference call.
4. Web-based Videoconferencing. Continuous Education also licenses or directly supports two other forms of convenience and desktop conferencing. Both of these systems can be described as "Web-based Videoconferencing". In each, a small "client" software is downloaded to an individual's PC, which would be equipped with a web cam (Between $50 and $150). CEO maintains a scheduled of use requests that allow individual faculty or departments to use this Web-based videoconferencing without further investment in facilities or CODECs.
5. Planning and Development Support. There are several critical issues that must be taken in account when individual departments desire to consider or deploy videoconferencing resources. CEO will work with individual schools and departments to insure that the appropriate technical staff members are aware of the precise standards required by OIT Telecommunications Division, as well as the expected efficacy of the projected deployment. We have learned through experience that it is not about the technology, but realistic expectation vis-à-vis the unit goal. Engaging our planning and support service early will facilitate a successful departmental deployment of this exciting tool.

To make a reservation for our services, you can use our Videoconferencing Room Reservations form or use the link from the right hand menu.

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Historically, business quality videoconferencing was at a standard defined as the combination of three ISDN telephone lines, thereby generating a video call at 386KB. At the other extreme, most contemporary CODEC based room systems are capable of point to point transmissions of three or even four megabytes.

Generally, at Rutgers, we have set the following minimum standards for facilities:

• Interactive Classrooms should be capable of at least 2 MB
• Conference and seminar rooms 1 MB
• Convenience and desktop collaboration: 386 KB

In establishing a connection, users should be aware that the total bandwidth available is shared by all videoconference sites. So, in simple terms, is a department purchases a Video over IP (Internet based conferencing) capable of 2 megabyte transmission, this means that the unit can engage in point to point videoconferences at video quality of up to 2 MB. However, if a third location is brought into the videoconference, the 2MB bandwidth must now be shared by three sites (about 700kb each). If a fourth site is brought in, the effective call quality will be only 512 KB … still quite good, but substantially less crisp than at one or two MB

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Select Campus Location: Select campus... New Brunswick Campus Newark Campus Camden Campus Freehold Mount Arlington Trenton

Room Type/Capacity

Networks

Resources

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DCEO'sfacilities are offered as a service to all academic units for classesand other course-related activities without cost. Similarly,videoconference rooms can be scheduled by administrative units on afirst-come, first-served basis.

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