General Guidelines for Managing Penn State Videoconferencing Rooms
This document suggests general guidelines for managing videoconferencing rooms at Penn State.
Public vs. Private
Certain videoconferencing rooms are reserved for the exclusive use of a department and are considered Private facilities. Other rooms are available for scheduling by any University department and are, therefore, considered Public. All videoconference rooms installed under the $15.8M Telecommunications Infrastructure Project are Public rooms. The guidelines presented in this document are recommended for both Public and Private rooms. They are required for rooms installed by the $15.8M Infrastructure project.
Room Contacts
The room shall have an individual and a backup designated as the Videoconference room scheduling contact and an individual and a back-up designated as the Videoconference room Technical Contact
Training
The equipment is to be operated by trained personnel.
Free training is offered by Teaching and Learning with Technology. A week's notice, at minimum, is required to arrange TNS training.
Priorities
Priority shall be given to scheduling meetings that will use the video conferencing equipment. Other meetings may be scheduled, but it may be necessary to relocate or reschedule non-video meetings. Generally, however, no meeting should be canceled or rescheduled with less than five business days notice.
The room shall be available to all departments for videoconference use on a first-come, first-served basis. However, use of the videoconference equipment for credit classes should take priority over other video meetings. The room scheduling contact will make the final decision on priority.
Availability
The conference room shall be made available during normal business days between 8AM and 5PM. Conferences at other hours will require special arrangements.
Responsibilities
Users are responsible for the proper care of the video conferencing equipment and for general room clean-up following the meeting. The operator of the equipment is required to have operator training prior to using the equipment.
Technical Problems During a Videoconference
During a conference, any technical problems encountered should first be directed to the room technical contact. If the problem cannot be resolved locally, specialized assistance is available for rooms covered by an TNS maintenance agreement by calling the TNS Network Operations Center at (814) 865-4662 (5-4NOC).
Maintenance
Telecommunications and Networking Services will arrange maintenance contracts with external vendors or provide staff assistance. See Videoconferencing Equipment Maintenance for more information.
A separate maintenance policy applies to video equipment installed as part of the $15.8M Telecommunications Infrastructure Project.
Environment
The videoconference equipment must be secured and proper environmental controls regulated to help maintain the equipment in good working order. The lighting and room acoustics should be maintained as recommended by Telecommunications and Networking Services (TNS). See Videoconference Room Design, Installation and Maintenance Services for more detail.
Reporting
In order to monitor usage and project future needs, conference room managers should maintain room usage data. This data is to include:
- Whether the use was course-related, and the course number/section if applicable
- Date, time, and length of conference
- Name/phone number of person requesting the service
- Other pertinent information
