Video South has been a finalist in the National AV Awards in 2005 for Hull and York Universities' Medical School and in 2007 (videoconferencing installation of the year) for the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) project.
Both of these projects involve specially designed AV and VC systems for remote lecturing and teaching by videoconference. In both cases the agreed curriculum could only be satisfied for students at separate sites if such technology proved appropriate and robust.
When videoconferencing is skillfully integrated with audio visual systems, then most lecturers can cope with one or more remote audience as easily as they can with just the local one. The network service can be provided by the University IT installation, and ‘campus to campus' connection can be provided via JANET. Multi-site connections can be managed by JVCS, as a service to the University.
In 2009 Video South was awarded a place on the expert supply framework for Scottish Universities and Colleges managed by APUC. The rigorous selection process to identify competent suppliers resulted in just eight companies being appointed to the framework to supply more complex AV and VC systems for teaching.
Environmental consequences and carbon emission reduction
The UK Government already accepts that the use of videoconferencing can be a major factor in reducing carbon emissions. The saving in travel for meetings, seminars and lectures can apply to individuals on a routine basis or even to large groups of students. Any reduction in staff movement and any saving in repeat lectures should be part of policy for higher education. Efficiency of this nature also has financial rewards that more than justify the investments made in the technology, especially when it is configured to be low maintenance and user operated.