Information Technology Services

Steps to Successful Videoconferencing Room Installations for Departments

1. The department must write a proposal requesting a private departmental, non-dedicated video facility and submit it to ITS for approval. The proposal should:

• Identify the unique uses for the room. Be specific. For example, a researcher may require a facility for meetings of 10 people where a PowerPoint presentation will be given and people are at NDSU, UND, Hettinger, and Singapore.
• Identify room location.
• Show a layout of the room identifying the location of the videoconferencing equipment.
• Designate a departmental Technical Coordinator who will learn how to operate the equipment, perform basic troubleshooting, assist others in their department, and be the department representative on the Video Consortium Group. This person will be trained by ITS staff and will be the liaison between the department and ITS.
• List the proposed equipment (should meet state standards).
• Budget for the equipment.
• Budget for a maintenance agreement with the vendor or reseller.
• Budget for replacement after four years.
• Request equipment installation and configuration from the vendor/reseller and the Videoconferencing Technologies Group (VTG).
• Request training from the VTG for the departmental technical person and end users.
• Explain how scheduling of the video room will be handled.
• Identify a person that will schedule or change events that use the state network.

2. Contact Sandy Sprafka (sandy.sprafka@ndsu.nodak.edu, 701-231-8688) to arrange a meeting to discuss:

• The state network. This includes the role of the Information Technology Department (ITD; responsible for designing and maintaining the state network) and the Interactive Video Network (IVN; responsible for scheduling events).
• Registering and certifying your site on the state network.
• Naming your equipment.
• Videoconferencing terminology, concepts, uses, and "gotchas."
• The role of the department in ongoing operation (Technical Coordinator, end users, event technicians, scheduling, etc.).
• Equipment -- both necessary and recommended equipment based on the expected use of the room.
• The role of ITS.
• Bottom line -- video conferencing requires a long-term commitment from the department.

3. Order equipment. Current prices and packages are found at http://www.ndivn.nodak.edu/web/Tech_Support/Network_Eqipment/planning/approved.asp

4. The department Technical Coordinator should request a static IP number. Send e-mail to ndus.ip.request@ndus.nodak.edu. Include the following information:

• Equipment type (e.g., Polycom VSX7000)
• Location (building & room #)
• NDSU inventory number (ask for one from your department immediately after ordering the equipment)
• A unique name (e.g., polycom-iacc422) identifying room location

The request takes about 24 hours to complete. The IP number will be returned to the departmental Technical Coordinator.

5. Obtain an Information Technology Department H.323 Certification Checklist from http://www.state.nd.us/itd/networking/docs/certification.doc. Complete the first two lines (Site Name and Site Contact). For example, Site Name: NDSU IACC 204S, Site Contact: Sandy Sprafka/ 231-8688/ sandy.sprafka@ndsu.nodak.edu.

6. Send a "Request for Data Service" (http://its.ndsu.nodak.edu/resources/forms/netwk_request.pdf) along with the Certification Checklist to Network Services. Request an Ethernet connection that is directly on the switch and configured for videoconferencing. If you will need a computer connection as well, request a second Ethernet connection.

7. After the equipment arrives,

• Request installation and configuration from the ITS VTG. Note: The equipment vendor, Facilities Management, or others may also need to be hired depending on the requirements of the installation.
• Check with your Technical Coordinator on the status of the H.323 Certification Checklist. This process tests your video connection for quality and allows you to set up events through IVN that connect with more than one additional site.
• Request training from Tammy Cummings (tammy.cummings@ndsu.nodak.edu, 701-231-1090).
• Use Corporate Time to schedule all events in your video room so people can reserve the room and equipment.

8. Costs:

• Installation and configuration: $30/hour
• All video units must purchase a 3-year service contract from the vendor or reseller
• To keep all video units at NDSU at the same hardware and software levels, departments are required to pay for any mandatory hardware or software upgrades plus a $30/hour cost to install them.
• Finding new sites and testing connections: $30/hour
• After the first ten hours of ITS troubleshooting per year: $30/hour

Updated July 15, 2006
Sandy Sprafka