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Conferencing home
Audio conferencing
Cost of DCS
Joining a conference
Linking audio & video confs.
Register as a DCS user
Scheduling a conference
Video
conferencing rooms
Schedule a conference
Cancel a conference
Conference tips
DCS/ESNET (guest/guest =
login/password)
Reference info
What to expect
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Revised: 02/23/00
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Different audio
conferencing connection methods
- Using the SLAC telephone
system. You
use your own telephone equipment at the office; there are facilities
built right into the SLAC phone switch. The Phone
Guide explains how to use them in How
to Place a Conference Call.
- DCS: Digital Collaboration
via ESNet. ESnet's Digital Collaboration Service (DCS) provides multi-site, room-based
video/data/audio conferencing and web accessible calendaring through the
ESNet audio bridge. The equipment and support facilities are operated
and maintained at the ESnet site at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory. DCS is generally a
higher quality, more robust, easier-to-manage connection than our phone
switch. It costs only as much as a telephone call to Berkeley,
California, and it works very well. We strongly recommend the DCS service.
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Scheduling a DCS conference: two
methods
- The recommended method for
most schedulers is to call Art Bray (artb@slac.stanford.edu)
at 650-926-8500. He's the SLAC conference coordinator and
can enter your request in the DCS system.
Once Art makes a reservation for you, the system will send you
and all your colleagues participating in the conference a confirming
email. He'll ask for time and duration of the meeting, a meeting contact
person's name, plus the phone numbers, names, and email accounts of the
participants from you. The system should also send you a reminder email
on the day before the conference.
- Register
with DCS and set up your own conferences
If you schedule many conferences, you might want to
register directly with DCS through their Web site DCS. It is
recommended that you consult with Art Bray (artb@slac.stanford.edu) for
assistance with that process. Here
are some general guidelines but the process is subject to change from time to
time:
- You need to be a
registered DCS user to make your own
audio conference reservations. Once you register, you'll receive
an email telling you your new user name and password, also referencing
the "house rules" you are going to abide by whenever you use
DCS. Be sure to read those rules. You aren't only abiding by the SLAC
computer user's rules when conferencing on DCS.
- Go to the change
password web and change your password immediately.
- User Registration
needs preferences information on you. Navigate to that page and fill in
your name, phone, email, office location, etc. If you are asked which
resources you want to schedule, specify 'Audio and Video Conferences.'
- You'll be asked for
your name and password. Try giving the new one you've just designated.
If that doesn't work, use the one the system gave you to start out with.
- Once you've completed
that, you're ready to reserve a slot for an audio conference. When you
reserve an audio conference you do not have to enter a conference room
name. You need to fill in only the title of the audio conference, date,
time, length, number of ports, and the meeting id number.
- Close your web browser
at the end of each reservation session to protect your password.
To
set up your own DCS conference, enter
your user name and password, log in to DCS, check the calendar, choose an available
conference time, and schedule your own conference. You and all your fellow
designees will get an identical confirming email.
Notes:
Every Audio conference has a
meeting ID. You'll be given this ID (or you'll designate one) when you
register for the conference. Participants will need to specify this number
when they call into the audio bridge to get connected to their conference.
Meeting ID numbers must be 4 digit numbers (0000 - 9999). If you do not select a number when you reserve your
conference, or if you select an invalid ID, it will be set to an
automatically generated conference ID number.
You can enter in participant
information for each audio port. If you enter in conference participant
email addresses, they will each be sent notifications about the conference being
created and a reminder the day before the meeting.
Problems? Send a message to dcs-admin@es.net if you have
problems with DCS. The ESNet support staff will try to help you schedule a
conference.
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Cost
The DCS audio bridge service is free. The only cost is a phone call to
the audio bridge (located in Berkeley, California).
Linking an audio conference with a videoconference
DCS audio bridge conferences can be tied in with DCS video conferences. Contact Art Bray (artb@slac.stanford.edu, or call
650-926-8500) to arrange this.
Participating in a DCS voice conference
- Prior to the meeting
you will usually receive a confirmation/reminder email designating the
telephone number to call, a list of the participants, and an ID to use
when you call.
- At the time of the
conference, you call the number, identify yourself, and follow the
instructions for entering the ID.
- You will then be
announced to the others who have already joined the conference and you
will join the conference.
- You may leave the
conference by hanging up at any time, and may rejoin by calling the
number and entering the ID as before.
Deprecated
Services
SLAC
also has a contract with a vendor (EZ-Telecom) that provides voice
conferencing services. This is NOT recommended due to the high cost.
These services require calling
an audio conferencing bridge on the East Coast, and cost about
$.21/minute/attendee
(US$) even if you schedule it but do not actually use it as scheduled.
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