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Above: Southwestern Bell’s Telecommunity Center on the University of Missouri St. Louis campus provides free video conferencing as well as other technology-related services.
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Small businesses, non-profits and schools take advantage of video conferencing
Video conferencing is becoming more and more commonplace. Now small businesses, non-profits, individuals and even start-ups are using this technology, which was once used primarily by larger businesses.
Video conferencing is a cost- and time-effective choice for companies and individuals alike to communicate with parties across town or across the date-line, and customers are lining up to reap the educational and economical benefits offered by ever-more advanced technology.
Non-profits are also teaming up with companies like Southwestern Bell to provide services to the community at large, not just clients with deep pockets. In 1992, the Coro Midwestern Center joined forces with Southwestern Bell to create SWB’s TeleCommunity Centers, which offer hands-on computer training and access to technology free-of-charge. “We wanted to address what’s now being called the ‘digital divide’—the growing separation between those who have access to technology and those who don’t,” says Robert Trottmann, executive director of SWB’s six Missouri TeleCommunity Centers, a program initiated in 1996.
“All one has to do is come into one of the Centers and sign up as a member, which is absolutely free. We then provide initial training for all members and ongoing classes for anyone interested,” Trottmann says. The local Center, which operates on the University of MissouriSt. Louis campus, serves more than 11,000 members.
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“We wanted to address what’s now being called the ‘digital divide’ — the growing separation between those who have access to technology and those who don’t.”
—Robert Trottmann, executive director of SWB’s six Missouri TeleCommunity Centers
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“We run the gamut in terms of providing service to all areas of interest,” Trottmann says. “We have people who come in to see and talk to their grandkids thousands of miles away, but we also hosted a state-wide conference last August on violence in schools.”
“Some of the most sophisticated systems are even being installed at high schools and colleges for distance education purposes,” says Jim Bilhorn, technical sales specialist with Southwestern Bell. He adds that “decreasing costs have enabled us to offer far more advanced systems at much lower costs than just a couple of years ago.” Southwestern Bell’s educational clients here in St. Louis range from Washington University and the University of MissouriSt. Louis to the St. Louis Public Schools.
“We have used video conferencing in just about every way imaginable,” explains Steve Futrell, manager of technical support for the St. Louis Public Schools. The district has labs in seven schools within the system and uses them for purposes ranging from distance learning to staff development and training. “If there’s a class students are interested in taking that’s not offered through their school, we can link students into a class at one of the other sites. It’s totally live and interactive—if the students have a question they raise their hands and the teacher will call on them, even though they might be 15 miles south.”
Though Futrell points out that it’s not an inexpensive venture, the district’s video conferencing capabilities have opened incredible doors for students and educators. “Through this system our teachers have participated in professional development conferences all over the country, and classrooms full of students have taken live tours of NASA headquarters in Houston. We’ve even set up remote sites for home-bound students with disabilities, giving them nearly the same experience as a child sitting in school,” Futrell says .
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