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Video conferencing a big hit

26 March 2008

Monash staff are embracing video conferencing to replace some face-to-face meetings.

The Education Faculty saved so much time, money and carbon emissions during its trial of video conferencing units last year that it has now bought six of the units for use in its day-to-day activities.

With much assistance from IT Services, the Education Faculty undertook a six-month trial in which staff at the Clayton, Peninsula and Gippsland campuses held meetings via video conference, rather than traveling to one campus for the meeting.

Project manager Penelope Goward said the trial was a huge success, saving staff a combined total of about 20,000 km in road travel and preventing the fatigue, road dangers and carbon monoxide emissions associated with driving.

She said the faculty also saved thousands of dollars in petrol and efficiency costs, and more than 40,000 km in air travel by conducting meetings with academics based in Canada and the United States via video conference, rather than flying them to Melbourne.

The Education Faculty has now purchased a fixed and a portable video conferencing unit to be based in each of its offices at the Clayton, Peninsula and Gippsland campuses, so they can be available for education staff to use for meetings whenever needed.

The units were chosen for their simple-to-use interface, which means that meetings can often be run without the need for technical assistance.

There is also the possibility the units could be used to assist research projects in the future, and facilitate telecommuting and other environmentally and family friendly work practices.

Ms Goward said it was a great result and it was pleasing that other faculties were also using video conferencing.

"There are times when a face-to-face meeting is the best option, but video conferencing certainly has a place and has many benefits associated with it," Ms Goward said.

Contact Pam Miller at Information Technology Services on +61 3 9905 4779 if you would like to book a video conference room, or visit the Videoconferencing at Monash website for more information.