[Publib] Video conferencing capabilities

[Paul Mills]

Hi Darren,

My name is Paul, and I work for PALS, your regional library system neighbor
to the South.  We use Polycom equipment as do most of the regional systems
in the state.  Polycom is the de facto brand for all state of Illinois
offices (I have been told that the central procuring agency for the state
mandates this brand) so that may be something to consider when you are
looking at which brand of equipment to buy if you envision talking with
other state agencies alot.  Theoretically brands of videoconferencing
equipment are interoperable, but my experience has been mixed in this
regard.

Our equipment at PALS is usually devoted to meetings for members of our
system -- whether it be general PALS meeting or consortia specific
meetings.  We also use it for internal staff meetings as well as connecting
with the Illinois State Library.  We have had occasion where outside groups
have requested to use it as well, but those have not been very frequent.
I'm sure the availability of the equipment in a public library setting would
see much greater use from, well, the public.

You also want to consider how much bandwidth you have available and how much
videoconferencing would use.  On the Illinois Century Network (ICN) the
recommendation has been to assume 500 kbps will be needed.  In practice we
use less (typically 384 kbps).

If you use ICN as your ISP, you should get in contact with your local
regional technology center (RTC) of ICN to see if the fees associated with
being a video endpoint on ICN would be applicable to your situation.  I
believe you are in RTC IV, and they are good folks there who have worked
with me on video for many years.

Finally, when considering what equipment to purchase, you may want to
consider whether you want equipment that can serve as a bridge (i.e. connect
to more than one site simultaneously).  We have one unit at PALS that can
connect up to three additional sites, but that is not enough for our 8 video
locations so we use the state of Illinois' bridge for those calls.  This may
or may not be an issue for you, though, and there may be commercial services
that would do bridging for you on an as-needed basis if you decide this is
an aspect of the service that you wish to pursue.

I think this is a great idea to pursue!  Thanks, and please let me know if
you have any questions.  I'd be happy to help.

Paul


On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Darren Thompson <
dthompson at blueislandlibrary.org> wrote:

>  Hi,
>
>
>
> We’re looking into offering video conferencing here at our library and are
> curious who else offers this resource to their patrons.  In today’s economy,
> I see a lot of potential of offering this technology to businesses, staff
> training, general patrons, City departments, etc.  If you do have video
> conferencing capabilities, do you use a PolyCom system?
>
>
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
>
>
> Darren
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Darren Thompson
>
> Manager of IT, Tech & YA Programming
>
> Blue Island Public Library
>
> http://www.blueislandlibrary.org/
>
> Ph: (708) 388-1078 x28, Fax: 388-1143
>
>
>
> "We are quick enough to feel and brood over the things we suffer from
> others, but we think nothing of how much others suffer from us."
>
>
>
> Thomas à Kempis
>
>
>
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