Affordable and Usable Video Conferencing?

Sabalon writes "I work at a state university with remote sites, minimal space, and all the other usual bits. We used to have some dedicated-circuit video conferencing tools but those have fallen into disuse. The administration is now interested in being able to stream a class from site to site, or at least have a student at one site have visual interaction with a person at another site. My thought is that if Skype, uStream and others can do live video, there has to be some things out there that don't cost a fortune but work effectively. Key things would be the ability to use commodity web cams as a source, viewable on a PC (preferably all the main OSes) and the ability to add in other devices (say H.323 encoders) or desktop/application sharing. Are there decent products and solutions out there for us mere mortals?"

Does it need to be free?

[potscott]

Cisco WebEx seems to fit the bill, although I'm not sure if it'll run on *nix.

Re:We do this...

[cayenne8]

After reading the article...why not just use Skype or Ustream as they mentioned?

Solutions

[girlintraining]

Are there decent products and solutions out there for us mere mortals?

Just about anything will work -- unless your internet service provider sucks. Then you're kinda doomed. So do your homework on what low-latency providers are available or get a leased line between the sites.

Video taping a class is not uncomplicated.

[hellop2]

One thing to consider is that if you want to stream a class from a regular webcam you will not be able to see what is written on the board due to the low resolution.

Also, the teacher will walk out of view of the camera as they write on the board.

My school had motion tracking cameras. It looked like a normal video camera on a tripod, with a motor attached. The teacher would wear some kind of tracking device on their belt, and the camera would automatically follow them.

You would also want to consider a "smart board". Something that digitally records what the teacher writes on the whiteboard.

Pretty much, unless you script and edit a filming session while splicing in closeups of the board, your result will not be as useful as it could be.

Mutually Exclusive Requirements

[pete-classic]

The administration is now interested in being able to stream a class from site to site [. . .] Key things would be the ability to use commodity web cams as a source

You're not going to be able to usably capture a classroom lecture with webcam and associated microphone.

-Peter

Cheapest option... :P

[__aaclcg7560]

Set up a water cooler inside an empty conference and the workers will gravitate there for a meeting. Of course, some of the biggest liars will try to dominate the water cooler. The plunger from the restroom will take care of that problem.