Connected - March 2009

Video-conferencing is not a new idea. The technology was demonstrated as far back as 1968 (- see a copy of the the original demo at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8734787622017763097)

These days with a fancy mobile phone or a webcam and a computer running something like Skype, you can see, hear and talk to people anywhere in the world.

If there are just two or three people involved, then this technology works well. It starts to go wrong if many more try to join in.

The Access Grid is a video-conferencing system capable of handling large meetings or even lectures. It works because it takes advantage of a network technology called Multicast. Multicast is makes much more efficient use of the network than the alternative, unicast, allowing a much better service.

AccessGrid sessions are assigned a 'Virtual Venue'. Many Institutions have their own venues and there are a number of public ones, that can be booked online.

The AccessGrid software and support is provided by the AccessGrid support centre at the University of Manchester. The software can be installed on PCs running Windows and Linux or on Apple Macs.
For more details, see www.ja.net/services/video/agsc/AGSCHome/