[AG-TECH] Fading AG usage?

[Derek Piper]

	I think my experiences here at Indiana University are very similar to 
Jeffery's in that although the AG is a 'nice to have' it's hard to get 
faculty interested in using it, despite having favorable
	We do have a lot of polycoms around and they do get used more often, 
probably because there's less to set up beforehand and you can 'make a 
call' as opposed to just turning up in the same venue someone else is 
and hoping they have their speakers on. If someone is on an AG venue 
it's impossible to know where, so anyone else trying to get ahold of 
them can easily 'lose' them. I guess there's Jabber and email to track 
people down but I have had that happen before and then it's a call on 
the polycom (with its analog to a phone) that lets the parties 
communicate. Sometimes this spur-of-the-moment video chat is what people 
go for.

	Derek

Jeffrey Miller wrote:
> Here at ND, we installed an InSORS grid system. I’ve informed all the 
> deans, department chairs and even specific instructors about our grid 
> and its great uses.
> 
> _No response_. I had an open house and demonstrated its capabilities… 
> had about 6 people showed up and _one_ of them was an instructor.
> 
> We’re going to do a University wide mailing of a brochure showing what 
> the AG can do as ND is moving toward being a research University. But… I 
> can bring the horses to the trough but I can’t make em drink so to 
> speak. The AG is a “nice to have” but its not at this time a “need to 
> have” and until that happens I’m afraid the usage will be a novelty. We 
> also just installed a Polycom 9004 HDX as we are finding that A. its 
> easy to use, B. you can collaborate easier on it, C. more people have 
> em. (Polycom that is) We didn’t want to have to dedicate software 
> engineers and other technicians to build and maintain an actual AG node. 
> So we went with InSORS, who did a pretty good job at setting us up and 
> their tech support is GREAT. But… the InSORS cube has a lot of issues, 
> they don’t even have a basic wiring diagram of their product… I had to 
> draw one and give it to em. They also don’t have a system to integrate 
> into a “control room” scenario. Its designed to sit in the back of the 
> room its being used in. The equipment is packed so tightly into the cube 
> that maintenance is very difficult. We’re going to pull it all out and 
> re-rack it. But I wish we had an AG community like England does. We need 
> to have better demo’s and a better strategy on how we can lure 
> researchers to our room to use it. I never know who is giving 
> presentations to the AG community. There is no site that I know of that 
> we all can go to, to see who is presenting.
> 
> We’ve hooked up with Los Alamos a few times but I have to go fishing to 
> find out who is presenting. IF we could know who is presenting to the AG 
> community at  large a week or two ahead of time then I could get the 
> word out to our faculty here and then garner some real interest. 
> Otherwise, its all just point-to-point.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for listening to my venting…
> 
>  
> 
> Jeff
> 
>  
> 
> Jeffrey L. Miller
> 
> Manager, Videoconferencing Resources
> 
> Office of Information Technologies
> 
> **University**** of Notre Dame**
> 
> 304 ITC Building
> 
> Notre Dame, IN 46556
> 
> Office; 574-631-6850
> 
> Cell 574-261-1895
> 
> PolycomFX IP 129.74.72.3
> 
> Polycom PVX office 129.74.58.127
> 
> jmille22 at nd.edu <mailto:129.74.58.176jmille22 at nd.edu>
> 
> "It's a privilege to work at Notre Dame..."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> *From:* owner-ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov [mailto:owner-ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov] *On 
> Behalf Of *Jason Bell
> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 16, 2007 12:02 AM
> *To:* Derek Piper; ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov
> *Subject:* RE: [AG-TECH] Fading AG usage?
> 
>  
> 
> G'day Derek and All
> 
> I have been meaning to reply to this email for some time now, but have 
> been caught up with a number of things.
> 
> Firstly, I must concur with most of the other comments in regards that 
> for my perspective, AG usage is increasing.
> 
> If I may voice my opinion, I thought I would provide some perspective 
> from my Australian point of view and also from a QA and install guide 
> perspective as well.
> 
> ·       A point of note that occurs to me is that the AG is no longer 
> considered a TOY or a research experiment, rather than a tool that gets 
> used in a production environment, hence people no longer "play" with the 
> technology, rather they implement and use it..
> 
> ·       Secondly, I know of a number of research groups who are funding 
> within Australia their own Access Grids (10+ sites) for the sole purpose 
> of research, teaching and collaboration.
> 
> ·       Thirdly, I am seeing an increase in the number of collaborative 
> teaching's across multiple institution.  (Example, we have 2 classes a 
> term for a particulate cross institution subject.)
> 
> ·       I would also say that a number of sites no longer regularly sit 
> in a Venue's Lobby (Hence the possible belief that people are no longer 
> using it), rather they are in regular sessions, or have formed their own 
> niche or internal groups and have become less visible.  A simple example 
> that I am seeing, is a number of internal AG's purposely build for a 
> single institution.
> 
> ·       On a QA perspective, I have had a number of emails informing me 
> that they are in the process of building a number of sites and are 
> interested in the QA process.
> 
> ·       I have also seen institutions that have had an AG for a number 
> of years, building additional ones, which giving the institution has had 
> previous experience, doesn't advertise the fact.
> 
> Overall I would say the use of the AG is ever increasing, but it is no 
> longer a global group, but rather AG users have began splitting up into 
> their own niche groups for a variety of purposes.
> 
> Anyway, that’s just my 2 cents worth.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Jason.
> 
> As a side note, I think these issues are making it ever more important 
> to have a single location for AG related topics, ie accessgrid.org.  As 
> the AG community begins to diversify and begin forming there own 
> internal groups…  It is ever more important in my opinion for a single 
> point of contact for AG related topics.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Derek Piper [mailto:dcpiper at indiana.edu]
> Sent: Friday, 5 January 2007 5:25 AM
> To: ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov
> Subject: [AG-TECH] Fading AG usage?
> 
>         Hi all,
> 
>         I've been part of the AG community for a while now, nearly 3 
> years and
> 
> over that time I've not seen a lot of growth in the number of sites that
> 
> we interface with for AccessGrid meetings. Quite oppositely I have seen
> 
> sites that were good AG participants fall into 'disrepair' through lack
> 
> of funding and site expertise.
> 
>         A bit of a devil's advocate question, but is AccessGrid usage
> 
> declining? Is AccessGrid on the way out? I've seen people turn to things
> 
> such as Polycom for meetings rather than have AccessGrid meetings.
> 
>         I'm curious to learn of other points of view on this.
> 
>         Derek
> 
> -- 
> 
> Derek Piper - dcpiper at indiana.edu - (812) 856 0111
> 
> IRI 323, School of Informatics
> 
> Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
> 

-- 
Derek Piper - dcpiper at indiana.edu - (812) 856 0111
IRI 323, School of Informatics
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana