NESCent Multimedia and Audio/Video Conferencing Support Policy for Working Groups


NESCent supports a variety of technology options to support the multimedia and audio/video conferencing (A/V) needs of your working group. The technologies differ to the extent at which they support audio, video and screen sharing, the equipment required on the end of the remote participant, and the number of concurrent remote participants that can be handled.

If your group is interested in using any of our multimedia and A/V services, please send an email to help@nescent.org (please copy Danielle Wilson, danielle@nescent.org) at least two weeks prior to the time you anticipate using the services. In your email, please explain what activities you are planning that might require those services. Once we receive your email we will respond with further questions or a proposed solution to meet your requirements. We will then ask for the remote participants' contact information. We require a test connection to be done with each remote participant at least three days prior to the start of the meeting.

Please note that in order to effectively support your multimedia and A/V needs, we must receive two weeks advance notice and timely responses to the questions we ask. Remote participants may not be able to use the technology if they fail to schedule a test connection or to secure the necessary equipment and network bandwidth.

Current multimedia and A/V options NESCent provides:

Audio/Video and screen sharing

  • Polycom PVX6000s for audio/video and screen sharing.  This option provides the highest quality, but requires each remote participant to use a Polycom or Tandberg device.  Only three remote participants can connect at one time.
  • Adobe Connect Pro for audio/video and screen sharing.  This option is the most easily accessible and works using a computer's web browser.  Adobe Connect does require each remote participant to have their own headset with microphone or headphones and a computer microphone.  A webcam is required for video.
  • Skype for audio/video and screen sharing.  This option works great for audio only connections and can support up to 25 people.  It does support video, but currently video is one-to-one.  When using Skype a headset with microphone or headphones and a computer microphone is recommended.  A webcam is required for video.

Audio only

  • Skype. When using Skype, a headset with microphone or headphones and a computer microphone is recommended.
  • Conference Phone.  Each room at NESCent contains a conference phone.  This option works great for audio, is very simple, and requires that the remote participant have access to a landline, cellular, or VoIP phone. International participants have also reported success in dialing in using Skype Dial-Out. The conference phone supports at most 6 concurrent incoming calls. A conference call account can be set up if more are needed.