Videoconference
service in the NIIF network
Authors: András Kovács, Ede Fehér, Tamás Máray,
János Mohácsi
Infrastructural developments
accomplished during the last year in the HBONE network and the large amount of
available bandwidth make the deployment of brand new communication services for
the Hungarian academic community possible. Plenty of successful videoconference
projects being run by US and European national research networks indicate the
world-wide scale usage of videoconference techniques in any field of research
and education.
Hungarian researchers are
involved more and more frequently in international research projects and expectedly
the rate of participation will rise in the next few years. Videoconference
services have been often used in international project collaborations during
past years, providing increased utilisation of human resources and effective,
rapid making of decisions at reduced costs.
The NIIF videoconference
project targets deployment of a countrywide academic videoconference service,
available – according to project plans – in year 2003 for 10-15 institutions
having high speed network access. The project covers the implementation of a
central videoconference server infrastructure, the procurement and deployment
of professional videoconference end systems. Moreover, the project will
investigate available streaming technologies and solutions, providing a suitable
system to disseminate and broadcast remarkable Hungarian research and education
events through the network.
In this presentation, the
current achievements, short- and long-term plans of the NIIF videoconference
project and technical background of the service will be introduced.