IT Services

Videoconferencing

Staff at Sussex can set up or participate in virtual meetings using videoconferencing. As well as offering environmental benefits, videoconferencing facilities have been used where individuals face travel restrictions or as a routine means to contact colleagues in distant locations.

Both options are free to staff for use on University business.

AdobeConnect

Members of staff can attend or host virtual meetings or videoconferences with colleagues using the AdobeConnect service installed at Sussex. Provided you have headphones or speakers, a microphone and standard software such as Flash player on your computer, you can gain access to the service using a web browser. If you have a webcam, you can also use the video functions.

There is no need to register for the service — members of staff can simply login with their normal username and password.

Features

  • service is available from your desk so there's no need to book facilities
  • participants can join the conference from anywhere provided they have a web browser with Flash Player installed and access to the internet
  • attendees can share documents and draw on interactive whiteboards to help exchange ideas
  • meetings can be recorded and viewed later by people who were been unable to attend
  • although videoconferences must be hosted by a member of staff, you can invite anyone to attend by sending them a link to the meeting

Videoconferencing suite

There is also a videoconferencing suite for the use of staff in Arundel 1E. The suite is suitable for connecting to other sites which use a compatible system. For more information or to book the facility, please email videoconf@its.sussex.ac.uk.

Features

  • higher quality visuals and sound
  • several people can be in the Sussex conferencing suite at the same time
  • suite is available during normal office hours

Technical details

The suite in Arundel 1E uses a Tandberg IP-to-IP system and is designed to work with a compatible IP system at the remote location. Some videoconferencing suites use a different communication method, based on the ISDN protocol. If you need to communicate with a facility somewhere else in the world which uses the ISDN-based system, it is usually possible to use a bridging service to establish the link. Please specify this when booking so we can make the necessary arrangements.

Alternative approaches

Other means of holding virtual events have sometimes been used at Sussex. For example, by using equipment available from IT Services, Schools have set up webcasts of lectures and seminars which can be viewed in real-time on the web. We do not offer this as a service at present and cannot provide dedicated support, but we can lend the necessary equipment and provide general advice on how to proceed.

Updated on 30 September 2010