Getting to know your network

2007.08.22 by Jan Fredrik Frantzen

A successful meeting or black screens. Videoconferencing is a useful tool for sharing knowledge over long distances and for saving travelling time and money, but it calls for good preparation and regular follow-up.

Large or small, for every need. Equipment for videoconferencing comes in several sizes and with a variety of functionality. But the challenges with regard to the digital infrastructure are the same, says Stig Karoliussen at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine.

Several hundred health care institutions in Norway have installed videoconferencing equipment to enable them to hold meetings and to obtain or provide guidance at a distance.

With increasing awareness related to air travel, time savings, and environmental pollution, the business sector has also introduced this form of communication to an ever-increasing extent.

But why are there sometimes problems in getting the equipment to function the way it is supposed to? Why can't you get through to the remote studio that you are trying to contact? It can be particularly difficult in the public health service, in which patient safety and strict security measures make it even more demanding to communicate with other networks.

Different networks present great challenges

“At the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine we have now been working with videoconferencing for many years. So we have made most of the mistakes that can be made, and we know a great deal about the aspects that need special attention,” explains videoconference technologist Stig Karoliussen.

One factor that many people do not take into account when they are planning the installation of this type of equipment is the “digital infrastructure”. It is not always easy to get different networks to communicate with each other, for example a hospital and a senior citizens' community centre that have chosen different network solutions.

“It may be difficult to send a videoconferencing signal between two different networks, because both have been set up with their own firewalls and security routines,” says Karoliussen. For this reason, we also see that the trend is for a growing number of participants to connect to certain large networks, such as Norsk Helsenett, the Norwegian Healthnet, to avoid these problems. This makes connection a great deal easier."

Must have a studio manager

The most common faults in videoconferencing operation occur because the system has not been connected up correctly, or someone has made changes that affect the set-up. Simply connecting a video machine to the system may be enough. The system must then be reconfigured.

“If you are going to run a videoconferencing studio, you must have technical support and a studio manager who knows about all aspects of the system, from correct connection of the equipment to troubleshooting if the picture disappears. Somebody who works with the equipment regularly will learn to recognize the typical faults that occur. This also makes it much faster to solve these problems,” he adds.

If there is no one who is responsible for the operation of the studio, however, you have no one to support you if the screen turns black, even if the fault is easy to fix. At that stage, the temptation to stop using the equipment may be strong.

Insecure Internet solutions

There are also many people who ask whether it is not just a matter of linking up a simple videoconference over the Internet, for example by using Skype. This would seem to be a simple solution for a GP who wants to have a video conversation with a patient in an outlying district.

“This is possible in practice, but the Internet connection may often be unstable. In addition, services like Skype are not secure solutions. Patient information may easily fall into the wrong hands if the video signals are downloaded by outsiders,” Karoliussen warns.

Contact person

Contact videoconference technologist Stig Karoliussen at mobile telephone +47 415 15 090 or email stig.karoliussen@telemed.no if you need more information about connection of videoconferencing in the public health service.

Benefits of videoconferencing

The benefits of videoconferencing can be measured in several ways. The savings in travelling time and money are often highlighted as the most important factors. But the opportunity for a regular forum for collaboration or teaching may be equally important - for example, expertise can be shared between professional medical communities over large parts of the country at the same time. Working together in this way provides great benefits from the exchange of knowledge and experience.

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