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VIDEOCONFERENCING

K-State at Salina’s multimedia services department oversees videoconferencing equipment on the Salina campus, which enables attendees to participate by phone or network lines with participants anywhere in the world with similar equipment.

AVAILABILITY
Several rooms on the K-State at Salina campus offer videoconferencing capabilities.  The most commonly-requested room is the Media Studio, which is ideally set up for such connections and privacy if desired, and seats 20 persons.  For larger events, our College Center Conference Room uses a data projector and a larger 10ft x 10ft screen.  If you need to include more than 20 participants, contact Media Services directly first to discuss needs and related issues.

To confirm availability of the rooms and equipment, contact David Swisher at (785) 826-2628 or email media @k-state.edu.

EQUIPMENT
The Media Studio uses a Polycom ViewStation 512 with a 384 kbps connection speed (lower speeds available if requested).  Participants usually interact with the remote site(s) through a large (31”) TV, but a 8’ x 7’ projected image is also available at $11/hr.  Bridging of multiple sites is provided in conjunction with Telenet2 in Manhattan (additional charges may apply for bridged calls).

CHARGES
Several fees are charged in connection with a videoconferencing event:
ITV Connection Fee        $18                   (one-time)
ITV Charge                       $17.50/hr         (hourly)
Technician Fee                $45/hr              (hourly, but limited)
Coordination Fee            $70/hr              (hourly, but limited)
Room Rental                    varies                       

The ITV Connection Fee is a flat rate charged once for the event, the ITV Charge is based on the total hours we're actually connected, the Technician Fee covers the multimedia specialist assisting you on-site and is only billed for the actual time they're assisting (usually about an hour, but can vary), and the Coordination Fee covers setup and coordination time by our conference staff (usually about an hour, but can vary).  There is also a room rental charge of $70/day for the Media Studio (other rooms have varying fees).

These charges are authorized by our current Schedule of Charges on file with the Board of Regents.  Charges are waived when 30% or more of the participants are K-State students, faculty, or staff (so in most instances, there is no charge for campus groups and meetings).

The Media Studio can connect with either ISDN lines or IP address.  ISDN is the corporate standard and is a high-quality connection, but is costly (a 384 kbps call uses 3 phone lines, so you pay for one long distance call times three phone lines).  IP connections utilize network connectivity, which is a somewhat lesser quality connection and has some degree of latency (a short lagtime of milliseconds), but usually does not cost additional.  If you use ISDN lines, those phone charges are billed separately at actual cost when the bill arrives; IP connections do not involve additional charges for the connection method.

HOW TO REQUEST
A link to our Videoconference Request Form appears below.  Please look the form over, fill in the information requested (including billing information), sign, and fax back to us at: (785) 826-2632.  After you sign and fax this form to us, our media specialist will be in touch with you to clarify any technical details and our conferences office will prepare a contract based on the further details you provide (on that we will spell out as close of an estimate as possible).  If the room or equipment is not available, we will notify you (feel free to contact us in advance to inquire of availability while you’re planning dates and locations).  Once we receive a signed contract from you, the event is calendared and can proceed.

Videoconference Request Form

If you have further questions, contact one of the following:

David Swisher
Multimedia Services
(785) 826-2628
dswisher @salina.k-state.edu