NOAA WebShop 2007

Video Teleconference Information (VTC)

The VTC capabilities are being coordinated by the National Ocean Service. The main unit will be installed in the NOAA Auditorium in Silver Spring, Maryland, and broadcast to locations throughout the country. See VTC Local Details, for meeting rooms, coordinators and contacts.

In addition to receiving the VTC broadcast, there are topical presenters in Asheville and Stennis that will make their presentations via this VTC connection. Additionally, all of the listed sites are requested to participate in the collaborative discussions that will result in short reports to the general audience on day three.

What you need to know to get and stay connected!

The first and probably most important note concerns audio. The VTC will be run in an "Exclusive Speaker Mode". Only one site at a time will be heard. This will be manually controlled at the video bridge level. No later than 30 minutes before the meetings begin each day. ALL sites must manually mute their local microphones. Leave these microphones muted throughout all three days except for any time your site is scheduled to present to the full workshop.

Who's on when...

On the first day (Tues, 11/13) the Silver Spring site will be the only presenter. On the second day (Wed. 11/14) the bulk of the day will be Silver Spring with a session each for Asheville and Stennis (Approx 12:30p - 1:30p). After opening remarks from Silver Spring the last day will start with each of the identified sites being cycled through to provide their Collaborative Reports. See Presenter Information for details on timing, switching, verbal cues, etc.

All questions from remote sites will be handled electronically through e-mail or Instant Messaging. A dedicated computer will be handy at each location to send messages, see chats, and to view the Webcast in the event the VTC connection goes down (i.e. plan B). See WebShop Communications for details and instructions.

NOTE: IP connections (all OAR's & Asheville) will lose their connectivity briefly (about 45 seconds or less) every 2 hrs of the connection. These should reconnect in less than a minute. If for some reason the connection is down for over 90 seconds please call Duane Mann at (301) 713-1156 x180 for assistance. This is an anomaly in the video bridge (not a setting).

If you have any questions or problems with the VTC, Duane Mann is your main contact (301) 713-1156 x180.

 

VTC Testing History

Test Schedule

Test specifics

A full connection test of ALL sites at the same time confirmed load capacities of the various VTC systems. The test ran for two hours. The test was hoped to to confirm that connections will stay up for the full 5 hours of the workshop. However, it was found that the connection spontaneously disabled at the two hour mark consistently. To accommodate this, the program will be adjusted to include short breaks every 1:50.

VTC Topographical Evolution for NOAA WebShop

We will be connecting to the following sites in the following manner(s).

The connection load of this meeting will be distributed by having both OAR and NMFS provide bridging links for their offices. Those line office end units will connect to the NOS bridge by cascading through their line office bridge’s cascaded link.

The four OAR sites identified will be connecting to their bridge in Boulder over IP.
The Boulder bridge will provide a cascaded connection with the NOS Bridge.
Jason Wilsey will provide you further instructions.

The two identified NMFS sites will be connecting to the Verizon bridge over ISDN.
The Verizon bridge will provide a cascaded connection with the NOS Bridge.
Reggie Thompson will provide you further instructions.

The NOS bridge will provide direct connections for the following:

This page will be updated as preparations continue. Use the RSS capability to get updates as they are posted.