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Lights, camera, interaction!
Videoconferencing saves time, money, travel
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“One year there was a major new tax law, and I did meetings in something like 32 counties in a little over two weeks,” the Purdue Extension agricultural economist remembers. “When it was over, I was worn out from chasing myself all over the state.”
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| George Patrick saw a lot of Indiana earlier in his Purdue University career. More than he wanted to see, actually. |
Patrick still speaks to groups across the state on tax-related issues, but now he’s more likely to travel by foot, not automobile. He walks down the hall from his Krannert Building office on campus to a videoconferencing room. Patrick’s presentations are transmitted to Purdue Extension county offices through Internet protocol (IP) video technology.
IP video uses the World Wide Web to allow people in two or more locations to communicate in real-time video and audio. The technology makes Purdue Extension programs available to more people and at a fraction of the cost.
Dollars and sense
All 92 county offices are equipped with at least one Web camera. Forty-three county offices also have viewing station rooms for larger groups.
Since Purdue Extension introduced the technology four years ago, the number of IP video events has more than doubled. There were 133 Web broadcasts in 2003 and 353 in 2006. This past year, nearly 4,800 people participated in Purdue Extension IP video events. Those events ranged from meetings among a few Extension educators to workshops viewed by hundreds of people at dozens of view stations.
The technology makes educational and economic sense, says Tom Jordan, assistant director of Purdue Extension. “IP video gives us more flexibility in the types of programs we can offer,” he says. “We can use this technology for in-house committee meetings, for seminars and for training programs. This system allows our staff to connect with folks around the state, and while it’s hard to say how many hours away from the office have been saved by IP video over the years, it probably comes out to millions of dollars in time. The amount saved in travel across the state is into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
IP video is relatively inexpensive. The only costs are the upfront investment in equipment—a Webcam, microphone and, for viewing sites, a wide-screen television monitor. “We’re lucky to have the bandwidth and the T1 high-speed Internet connections to make this possible,” Jordan says.
Seeing is believing
Patrick wasn’t sure how conducting meetings from a distance via computer would work when he agreed to take part in his first IP video event in 2003. It didn’t take him long to become a believer.
“An educator in Southern Indiana was putting together a program with a number of agricultural topics. He asked me to talk about crop insurance,” Patrick says. “I wasn’t anxious to drive that far to talk for 20 minutes, but I also didn’t know what to expect with this IP technology.” Within moments of the Webcam beaming the first images and sound, “We thought, ‘This is all right.’”
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