Office of the Chief Information Officer - Videoconferencing

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	University at Buffalo Office of the Associate Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer 517 Capen Hall Buffalo, New York 14260-1600 Tel (716) 645-7979 Questions and comments about the CIO Web site should be sent to: it-web@buffalo.edu Privacy Accessibility Statement Last updated: 9/14/2009 Copyright © 2006-08 All Rights Reserved

Baird Point North Campus

Students collaborating at laptop

Students using a new learning space

In the News ...

Fall 2009

Memorandum of Understanding for [UNIT] IT Support Fall 2009 IT NOW CIO Newsletter IT News Channel Launched: Read postings from the CIO about current issues & projects and send feedback to the CIO. UB2020 IT Reorganization Plan - PPT from August Town Hall Meeting UB's Strategic Plan for IT 2009-2012 UB on iTunes U: Learn anytime, anywhere Information Security: Everyone's Responsibility - Learn how to protect personal and sensitive data
Think Green: Hold your next meeting via web or video conferencing
Power Down for the Planet
25 facts you should know about Green IT
Take the Green IT Pop Quiz

Phishing Emails: Spammers send out millions of phishing emails trying to trick people into sending them their passwords, bank card account numbers, and other personal info. UB and other reputable organizations will never ask for your password or other personal info via email or over the phone.

Learn how to recognize phishing scams by playing CMU's Anti-Phishing Phil

Educause/Cornell Institute for Computer Policy and Law Sessions Archived for On-demand Viewing (July 2009)

Cloud Computing: Lost in the Cloud- Privacy and Other Issues of Cloud Computing, Jonathan Zittrain, The NY Times

The Evidence on Online Education US Department of Education Study of Online Learning

Thinking of using Classroom Response Systems/Clickers in your teaching? Clickers are available on a loaner basis as well as in many tech classrooms
Contact ITS

Video chat and calls I Web Conferencing I Room-based Videoconferencing I Open Source videoconferencing client for MacOS I Access Grid (CCR) I Data Collaboration (Internet2)

Green IT: Video and Web Conferencing

A key element in UB's Climate Action Plan is the initiative to use video and web conferencing to replace some travel between campuses and to other local meetings, as well as air and other long distance travel. Conducting meetings via video, web, or tele conferencing not only has a positive impact on the environment, but also may reduce costs and increase personal productivity.

Many UB2020 workstation and laptop offerings now include web cams and microphones.

Free Video Chat/Call Services: Single Person-to-Person Desktop Video Conferencing

Many vendors offer free video chat/call services. These are single person-to-person live communication services. You must have a broadband connection to take advantage of these free services, and, please note that the person you're connecting with must be using the same service. You should also note that the quality of these free services varies with the service and with the quality of your web cam, microphone, and broadband service.

Here are just a few of the free services with links to information on how you can get started with video chat/calls.

Skype is a free VoIP (Internet telephone) service that was launched about two years ago. International students have been using Skype to "call home" through their computers for some time, but Skype now offers video too. Visit the Skype Video Website for information about how to use their latest video calling offering.
Google launched a free browser-based video chat service in November 2008. Google Video and Voice offers Webcam-based videoconferencing to all gmail users. The service supports Firefox 2.0+, Internet Explorer 7.0, and Safari 3.0. WebVideoUniversity provides a tutorial on setting up the Google video chat service.
Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL (AIM) all offer video chat through their instant messaging services. Apple's iChat for MacOS users works with AIM and Apple's MobileMe.
Many other free video chat services are available: just enter "free video chat services" in the search box in your favorite search engine to find other services.

Web Conferencing Tools for Multiple Participants or Groups of Participants

A web conference or webinar refers to a multi-person meeting or live presentation over the Internet. Typical features of webinars include live or streaming video, text chat, slide presentations, application sharing, file sharing, polls, and surveys Since there are few specialized hardware requirements, web conferencing is broadly available to the UB community.

WebEx conferencing software is currently licensed by UB and available from Instructional Technology Services. See the ITS web site for an overview of WebEx and the WebEx site for a live demo and training. Please contact Mark Woodard or call 645-2803 if you'd like advice about using conferencing services.

The Graduate School of Education is using a web conferencing solution called Elluminate. Faculty use Elluminate to conduct classes for students in Singapore and Vietnam, as well as to provide conferencing for dissertation defenses, research collaborations, and other virtual meetings. Read more about Elluminate's features at their web site and/or contact Michael Tinsmon, GSE's Director of IT, for more information on GSE's use of Elluminate.

Room-based Videoconferencing for Multiple Participants or Groups

UB provides many videoconferencing rooms. Most are in academic departments, academic centers, and hospitals, however there are 3 videoconferencing rooms (Baldy 200-G, Health Sciences Library B-15, and 247 Park that can be scheduled by contacting the Instructional Technology Services Group: 645-2803 (Email - Mark Woodard). These rooms vary in their seating capacity and capabilities, please see the following table:
Central IT Videoconferencing Rooms - General Characteristics

Open Source Videoconferencing Client for MacOS - Xmeeting

XMeeting is an Open Source videoconferencing client developed for Mac OS X (10.4+). It is free-of-charge, supports the SIP and H.323 industry standards, and, thus, provides interoperability with other video conferencing equipment, including connections to IP-based video conference room facilities such as those listed above.