February 21, 2006

To: Land-Grant Communication and Information Technology Units

From: eXtension

Subject: Request for Application: Web Conferencing Center for eXtension

eXtension would like to receive applications from land-grant universities interested in developing and supporting a national eXtension Web Conferencing Center. The center will be expected to support a variety of organizational and educational activities associated with the work of:

• Pioneering Communities of Practice
• iTeams (institutional teams)
• Training and Development Programs
• Advisory Team Meetings
• Clientele education
• Organization and management functions
• Special needs as defined

An institution or group of institutions working together may submit a proposal. In the case of a multi-institutional proposal, a lead institution and individual contact will need to be identified. The lead institution and contact will be expected to join the eXtension team to represent this area of responsibility.

In calendar year 2006, eXtension will guarantee 125,000 user minutes. All conferences will require facilitator support and a combination of audio (phone) and Web conferencing technologies.

Community of Practice Meetings

10 months x 8 CoP conferences per month x 10 users per conference, 90 minutes per conferences = 72,000 user minutes

iTeams (Institutional Team meetings)

4 quarterly meetings (three conferences scheduled per iTeam meeting) x 150 users per meeting (approximately 50 per conference), 90 minutes per call = 54,000 user minutes

Total User Minutes: 125,000 (minimum)

Unused minutes resulting from these conferences may be applied to other eXtension-related conferences (i.e., eXtension training programs, advisory team meetings, etc.) as coordinated through eXtension. In certain situations, the Center may recommend conferences be done using Voice Over IP (VoIP) either with or without facilitator support. If so, costs are expected to be less. It will be the responsibility of the Center to help groups make such choices.

It is preferred that costs be quoted as a “per user minute” charge; however, institutions may submit costs using a format consistent with how such services are managed in their institution. All models should incorporate Center management, conference facilitation and connectivity charges in their bid.

Communities of Practice will have the ability to schedule additional conferences as resources allow, at the eXtension rate. Also, eXtension member institutions may wish to use Center resources. Such support should be provided at the eXtension rate, as well.

Any charges experienced by the representative to participate in eXtension management and leadership activities will be the responsibility of eXtension.

The period of coverage will be through Dec. 31, 2006. Beyond that date another Request for Application may be executed to address eXtension requirements.

A complete listing of specifications related to this request for applications is below. Selection will be based on how effectively the application meets required and desired criteria and overall cost.

Applications are due March 15, 2006 and should be e-mailed to Dan Cotton, Director eXtension Initiative at dan.cotton@eXtension.org. If you have questions, please send them to Dan or Kevin Gamble at kevin.gamble@eXtension.org.

Thank you.

eXtension Web Conferencing Center Specifications - Request for Proposals

eXtension seeks proposals to provide Web conferencing services as described below. Web conferencing refers to the ability to hold virtual meetings and conduct live presentations over the Internet.

Client Computer Requirements

Required:

• Conferencing client must run on current versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Netscape on Windows, Macintosh and Linux platforms.
• Provide a pre-meeting computer test to ensure system compatibility.

Desired:

• No download or software installation required for meeting participants, or such download occurs immediately, as needed, upon connecting to a Web conference.

Conference Capabilities

Required:

• Meetings can be recorded for playback
  • Recordings available online
• Provide roles for managing the conference and conducting presentations as well as provide a capability to dynamically assign roles to meeting participants
• Support the following capabilities (tools):
  • Polling
  • Whiteboard and annotation
  • Share applications on client computers and the ability to pass control to other meeting participants; sharing to include both viewing a participant computer, as well as actually controlling that computer
  • Present digital materials
    • PowerPoint
    • Documents
    • Images
  • Chat – to all participants, to presenters and private chat
  • File sharing
  • URL transfer (send a URL to participants which launches their browsers to that site)
  • Show video of the presenter
  • Audio
    • VOIP
    • Integrated Phone

Desired:

• Show multiple presentations/content simultaneously (multiple windows)
• Show multiple presenter videos simultaneously
• Allow for multiple speakers at one time using VOIP
• Allow facilitator/presenter to prepare meeting space and materials transparently during live meeting
• Support the presentation of Flash modules
• Support the presentation of captured/produced video and audio
• Recordings available as stand-alone viewable files
• Breakout rooms
• Evaluations which are stored for later retrieval
• Ability to dynamically view used bandwidth
• Ability to adjust meeting bandwidth to support lower bandwidth audiences
• Statistical reports of all conferences showing who participated and how long they participated; include in participation all those who view online recordings
• Provide ability for conference to be conducted entirely with VoIP, thus leading to reduced costs
• Provide integrated phone conferencing capabilities:
  • Ability to start, stop and control the phone conference from within the Web conference space.
  • Ability for conference attendees to join the phone conference from within the Web conference
  • Ability for attendees to dial directly into the phone conference without joining the Web conference
  • Ability to mute, adjust volume and place participants on hold
  • Ability to dial out and invite participants
  • Ability to view all participating phone lines within the Web conference

Scheduling

Required:

• In the case of VoIP conferences, user accounts can be established to allow self-event creation and management without conference scheduling intervention, if desired.
• Users with event creation rights can create an event to begin immediately.
• Users are assigned to groups, each of which has a different level of rights for creation, management, leading and eventual deletion of events.
• For those using the central conference scheduling service, conferences can be scheduled with 24 hours (workdays) of notification via a published telephone number or Web request.
• Notification/confirmation of scheduled conferences to the requester via e-mail from within the Web conferencing system immediately upon conference creation.
• Support reoccurring (persistent) conferences, in which loaded materials are retained and meeting location (Web address) stays the same.
• To accommodate schedules, the Web Conferencing Center should support a minimum of two simultaneous meetings, each not exceeding 60 participants. The Web Conferencing Center should also support large single meetings of up to 120 participants.

Desired:

• Ability to name conferences with meaningful names and use the names in the Web address of the meeting.
• Users can pre-enroll in scheduled conferences; event leaders can view and manage pre-enrolled conference participants, and can e-mail them from within the Web conferencing system.

Facilitation

Required:

• A Conference Facilitator will be available for each scheduled conference. The Facilitator will perform the following duties:
  • Load materials received four hours before the conference start
  • Start and stop the conference
  • Assist with the selection of tools and general layout of the conference space
  • Help conference attendees join the conference
  • Provide directions and support and dial-out to attendees as needed
  • Give Presenter status/capability to participants as appropriate
  • Assist with the general management of the conference
  • Provide Web address for the meeting recording to the meeting requester

Support

Required:

• 800-phone number for conference attendees to call when experiencing problems
• Troubleshooting Web site to help resolve problems, test connections and generally prepare participants for attending a conference

Training/Consulting

Required:

• Just-In-Time (JIT) on-line training for meeting presenters to learn how to use the different conferencing tools.
• Scheduled training, using the Web conferencing system itself, along with providing other online training materials and exercises, to equip users to lead or facilitate events themselves.
• Instructional design assistance with structuring content for creative and optimal use of Web conferencing system.

Branding

Required:

• The Center will be known as the “eXtension Web Conferencing Center” and be designed in an agreed-to eXtension standard with related graphic and trademark identity.

Conference Schedule and Directory

Required:

• A wiki-based conference schedule and directory will be required. The wiki site should provide access to related resources, connectivity and contact information, an archive of past conferences, access to self-help tutorials and guides, and other Web resources, as appropriate. Content management will be required and will refer to the collection of materials (i.e., recordings, slides, etc.) used in various conferences.