Teleconferencing

Phone based teleconferencing

We have a few options for simple phone based conferences. If you would like to also send a single video stream from Computer Science to other parties, please contact help@cs.unc.edu and we will talk to you about the various options.

In house

Our Nortel phone switch supports up to 6 parties in a basic teleconference, but you need to start the conference from a digital phone, see digital-phones for details. For international calls, we bear any long international long distance costs, and you will need to use a phone configured for international long distance or obtain a code from help@cs.unc.edu.

Meet-me

Campus operators offer a free teleconference option, Meet-Me. There are two sizes of Meet-Me conference circuits. One is the conference 30 size and the other is a 150 size conference circuit. The conference 30 allows you and 29 other people on the same call. The conference 150 allows you and 149 other people on the same call. With this service each conferee connects to you instead of you calling each conferee, and thus they are responsible for any long distance charges. You can reserve a Meet-Me conference circuit from the UNC Operators by calling 919-962-2211 in advance of a conference. They will provide you a phone number to distribute to all parties involved, so please do not wait until the last moment to set up the conference call. The conference call itself can take place any time of the day or night.

User Managed Audio Conferencing

With this option you pay per minute for all conferees. This service is a flexible conferencing solution that is secure and easy to use. Because it is an automated, self-service solution, the moderator has total control of each and every call, allowing him/her to conduct meetings anytime, from absolutely anywhere.

Important: There is no set up charge. However, a per minute usage rate for each conferee, including the moderator will apply. The rate is $0.03 per minute per participant as of 2011

This service provides a toll-free conference telephone number, a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a Meeting Room number. To obtain a toll-free audio conference service Submit a request or send email to help@cs.unc.edu  Please include date and time of conference and grant or funding source that will be used for payment. Once request is processed, toll-free number and virtual meeting room pin and instructions will be provided to you.

Video Conference Options

We have dual stream video conferencing ability set up in SN011. With this system, both a video stream of the speaker and images from a computer can be sent to other sites with similar capability. Point to point conferences are relatively easy to set up, multi-point conferences require setup through MCNC, so advanced notice is required.

We have a cart with a single stream video conference device available for use in the department. Please send email to help@cs.unc.edu to reserve this unit. As with the setup in SN011, the remote site(s) will need to have a rig with similar capability.

In late spring of 2012 we began testing Cisco's Webex conferencing system. Results so far are mixed, but we can set up conferences with this software. This system allows for desktop and application sharing, and requires participant computers to have a camera and microphone.

Ad hoc video conferencing is also an option. If you would like to use Skype, Google, or iChat and are not sure how to get started, send email to help@cs.unc.edu and we'll give you a hand.