Our Services

Our mission in NUIT Academic & Research Technologies Videoconferencing Services is to support faculty, students, researchers, and staff who use videoconferencing technology in their teaching, research, or business.

Academic & Research Technologies

Consultation and Project Management

Whether you are planning new construction or just renovating an existing room NUIT Academic & Research Technologies can provide a full range of consulting services to help integrate vidoconferencing into your room design.

Videoconference Support and Testing

Academic & Research Technologies Videoconferencing Team is available to assist with all types of videoconferences. Be it a first-time conference coordination or if you've gone through training before, we'll take the time to ensure your conference is successful.

Testing prior to the conference is very important and we recommend it. Pre-conference testing ensures that the network connection between each site is working, that each system is compatible, and the quality of audio and video to and from each site meets appropriate standards and expectations. Our team can work with you to provide guidance and oversight in the testing process.

Event Support

Our event support services covers many areas that are key to a successful meeting, event or videoconference.

These components include:

• Pre-event testing for system compatibility with other groups participating in the event.
• Advise on equipment, data sharing, or additional resources needed.
• On-site support for the duration of the event to make sure things go smoothly.

NUIT Academic & Research Technologies can ensure that your videoconferences and events are successful by handling the technical responsibilities before and during the event.

Contract Services

There are a number of services that Academic & Research Technologies Videoconferencing Team are contracted to provide. Those services cover project management of videoconference rooms, videoconference support or other events. Each contract is developed based on your needs and the resources in which these services will cover.

Documentation, Training, System Support and Maintenance

When videoconference rooms are built, they don't always come with a training manual. We can develop a guide which is specific to your system and train you and your group so they will be confident to walk in, use the system and possibly train others when needed.

As the usage of your videoconference room increases, so will its age, and like any piece of technology, it will require updates and service from time to time. We'll come by and make sure the equipment is functioning properly, clean it up, update the software to keep it up to date and handle any technical issues with the vendor to have it repaired or replaced as needed.

Videoconferencing Infrastructure

In order to videoconference with more than one other site, videoconferencing infrastructure is required. At Northwestern, NUIT Academic & Research Technologies has provided infrastructure to support those types of videoconferences. We have recently purchased new infrastructure to allow for a more robust feature set, a more flexible and compatible system while adding services that were not possible in the past.

Using our infrastructure, you can now:

• connect to multiple sites at any speed with no loss of resources;
• stream videoconferences live and view them via a web browser;
• control the way you see the videoconference (single screen, quad-split screen, etc.) and;
• view higher quality video and audio.

Our multipoint infrastructure can be reserved through our scheduling system by clicking on the My Conferences icon at the top of the screen. For more details on our new infrastructure, visit our Technical Documents for Advanced Users.

Public Videoconferencing Rooms

Academic & Research Technologies provides support for two NUIT public videoconference rooms. These rooms, Tech Institute MG 51 and Wieboldt 421, can be reserved through our scheduling system by faculty or staff. Swift Hall 107 also has videoconferencing technology and is reserved through the Registrar.