In 2010, I was asked to develop a proposal for implementing high-quality room video conferencing for the United Methodist Church in Kansas. Our efforts received a boost with the donation of three sets of HDX 7000 Polycom video conferencing equipment. We also received a mobile license and an RSS 2000 streaming server. Our initial plan had been to purchase Sony equipment for the western two-thirds of Kansas because it would allow us to place six sites without needing to purchase additional bridging. However, the donation of the equipment sent us in another direction.
In 2009, we had a significant fire in our office, which gave us the opportunity to reconfigure our conference rooms. We set up one conference room with the idea that we would install video conferencing in it. We installed four monitors, two 50-inch monitors and two smaller monitors.
I identified locations across the state that would provide the widest network of coverage and reduce drive time for the greatest number of people. Our initial locations were Hays, the home of one of our district offices; Wichita, the home of the West Conference office, and Topeka, the home of the East Conference office. An additional location was purchased for the Kansas City District office because a Transition Into Ministry program was based from the offices there.
Additional sites were identified in Chanute, Salina and Dodge City. Chanute was chosen because Internet bandwidth was not adequate in Parsons, which is the location of the district office in that area. Salina and Dodge City are hosts to district offices. The Dodge City office has a conference room, where the system was installed. Another system was installed in a local church in Salina.
HDX 6000 units were purchased for the Chanute, Salina and Dodge City locations.
Because we have now exceeded the number of locations that can be connected without bridging, we’ve started using the Blue Jeans online application that allows Skype, Microsoft Lync and browser video connections with room systems. It also serves as a bridge between room systems at a significantly reduced rate. The Blue Jeans application can support up to 25 connections in a single call event. Our contract allows us to use it for bridging at a significantly reduced rate over bridge rental or purchase and set-up.
Now that the bishop is now leading Nebraska as well, the system is expanding again to include locations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Conference purchased a Lifesize system for their conference office and staff there are in the process of determining additional locations.
As each location has rolled out, training has been provided, and I am the primary support contact to assist with connection issues. We’ve worked through a number of issues, including bandwidth and firewall settings.
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