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Video Conferencing
Bringing you face to face with customers at a moments notice
Board Rooms, Auditoriums, Classrooms&Training Facilities 2002 Best Rooms Awards
Conceal your projector neatly away in the ceiling while not in use. Secure your LCD projector further with the optional key lock on the wall rocker switch!
In the past, you needed a projector and an interactive whiteboard to create an interactive learning environment. Now, you can make almost any wall interactive with the BrightLink 450Wi.
The Polyvision TS620 USB-Enabled Touch Sensitive Interactive Whiteboard brings your existing web resources and software tools to life. By adding class notes, sketches and drawings, it offers teachers a multi-sensory medium for turning every lesson into a dynamic one with practical features that make teaching more efficient.
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Enjoy the Benefits of Videoconferencing ! Would you like to save money on travel, or enjoy more time at home but still keep in touch for those important meetings? Are you stuck because of weather but really need to be at a meeting or conference? If so you may be ready for Video Conferencing and Amik Technology can help! We design, supply, and install Video Conferencing Rooms we would be pleased to enable your office or Board Room to bring you face to face with clients and colleagues instantly.
If you need to Rent a Videoconferencing Training Room for a Meeting in Thunder Bay or a larger board room contact Heather or Judy at the Innovation Centre. Cost $400
Room Design Samples (6-10 people) Travel isn't as glamorous as it used to be! With increased wait times and security it can be downright frustrating. There are important sales and initial project meetings you need to go to but I would like to suggest that there are also many meetings that you could attend through videoconferencing saving you time, money and frustration. Ever thought of audioconferencing? I agree it's not bad, I have had very effective work meetings using an audio bridge. Videoconferencing is a whole step above audio conferencing, it allows you to get a lot more of what you gain in a face to face meeting (that body language, facial expressions, the ability to notice attention gaps) way better than the phone ever could. Amik Technology would be pleased to assist your organization with the planning, design, installation and training for your video conferencing facility. We can take care of all the details, supply and install.
There have been a tonne of improvements in the videoconferencing technology area. This means it is getting much simpler to operate and more cost effective with the use of the Internet and high speed networks. Yes, Video Conferencing isn't for everyone. It represents a moderate investment in technology probably 2-5 business trips. It is also a significant culture change for many organizations. You may wish to try a few conferences by renting local systems like the Innovation Centre's training room or Contact North. We would be pleased to help you to determine if video conferencing is the right direction for your organization. No cost, no obligation lets sit down and talk about how we could help you do business better with the use of a videoconferencing system.
About Amik and the Projects we have done ....
In general Amik does computer technology projects. We implement many different types of technology solutions for many different types of clients. Often we work as an extension of a businesses internal resources. So keep us in mind for that next big project regardless of the exact technology! Did you know that many larger installations of video conferencing technology required architectural services? Services such as electrical engineering for power and lighting, mechanical engineering for ventilation, acoustics engineering for echo and noise issues, even paint colour and furnishings need to be considered. An effective implementation of video conferencing will compensate for your investment through reduced travel costs and increase workplace productivity. Many find that their sales effectiveness improves, customer satisfaction increases, and mistakes related to poor communication decrease due to the use of visual communication instead of relying strictly on audio or even worse email. So what happens to those who don't do their homework? Failure to properly engineer this type of system , to train and to manage change will result in less effective meetings, which will eventually lead to lack of use of the system. This means that you will fail to meet risk reduction, cost reduction and productivity goals. Yes you will end up stuck with a system that you paid a lot or money for and that nobody uses. In lesser cases you will fumble around looking technology challenged where programming and proper design could have made operation easier thus allowing you to focus on the tasks at hand ... that customer, that sale, or the information you are trying to exchange.
Video Conferencing Room Design Samples (University Lecture Theatre) This project involved the retrofit of a large 75 seat lecture theatre at Lakehead University in 2001. The room was a prototype room with the findings of the project being used as input to the design of the ATAC building constructed in 2003.
RapidRun Video Cabling System
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2003-2004 |
ESC de La Verendrye Video Conferencing Room Design Below is a room designed primarily for Board Meetings which include 3 regional people from outside Thunder Bay along with a dozen local members, about 4 staff and 10 guests.
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March 2003
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A Review of Contact North/Contact Nord, Distance Education Network's "Emerging Technologies" Conference Contact North Hosts its 2003 Emerging Technologies Conference at the Valhalla Inn, Thunder B ay February 25-27, 2003. There were probably 250 participant, question is: What did we see? What should we have seen? and Where do we go from here? Video Conferencing TechnologyAdcom, Duocom, and Wardrop Engineering display some of the current equipment out there for video conferencing. Adcom displayed a medical cart complete with a high resolution monitor that is used for Telehealth consulting. During a workshop they actually demonstrated a telehealth consultation with their head office staff. This was good at showing the technology in practice but I was expecting to see heavier use of diagnostic tools. It would have been really nice to see a medical supplier with a wide range of diagnostic tools at the conference. Duocom displayed typical board room videoconferencing systems and smart board technology. They had a Sony plasma video screen that looked pretty sharp one comment though, these are susceptible to burn-in so for static pictures you may wish to pursue LCD technology. Education Dr. Catherine Henderson, CIO of Community Services I & IT Cluster spoke on eLearning but the focus was on computers in the curriculum not video conferencing or streaming of lectures. Bottom line computers in the curriculum make students more employable, they are better stimulated learners, and they get better grades. The big gap still seems to be in developing the curriculum so that it embraces the technology. The conclusion from the session was that the world drastically needs more integrators and analysts (the application engineers of the computer trade). There are currently quite a few Distance Education systems that are now installed in learning centers. Reportedly few are getting rave reviews. In a conversation with Bob Angel, head of CTRC at Lakehead University the common issues seem to be that distance education systems are too complicated. Too many key strokes too much to remember! Lakehead is currently working in partnership with Sony Corporation to resolve some of these areas of complication. In terms of what we did or didn't see at the conference, nobody really touched on this area. We should have seen vendors talking about the advancements of AMX and Crestron central control units in simplifying use of the technology. Health, Telehealth Doctor Ed Brown, Director of the NORTH Network project gave a good talk on the current use of videoconferencing for telehealth consulting. Use of this system is increasing rapidly causing the team to work very hard at scheduling consultations. Interesting to note that this is still a volunteer project and that OHIP is not yet funding this type of medical consult. The status of eHealth (Electronic Health Records) was presented by Sam Marafioti. While there seemed to be lots of stuff going on in this area the most memorable issue was that Politics associated with Privacy and Security seem to be the major stumbling block in terns of getting projects going. Also the sad attempt that the government did at issuing new health cards is a big issue as eHealth databases need to use the health number as a unique identifier for clients.
Networks & Bandwidth Audio and video over IP are really starting to take hold. Customers that use private networks to interoffice communicate are finding videoconferencing and IP telephones are really cost effective communication tools. It is also a really good tool to justify more bandwidth than other business cases might allow. Satellite Internet is coming along. The problem with Satellite Internet continues to be the restrictions on upload bandwidth. In terms of videoconferencing satellite is still not an option although streaming of video to remote locations is. The ORION people had a booth and talked about the project. More importantly Lakehead's goal is to maximize use of this big pipe. They are extending offers to local and regional school boards to share the vision, the costs and the benefits. For many there are issues of privacy as the pipe is open to the world where current private networks are viewed secure. The major benefit, something that has been a drawback to video or IP until now, is customers can video conference to anywhere the network reaches rather than being restricted to the limits of their current private network.
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Content: Videoconferencing, Telehealth, Telemedicine, Distance Education, Distance Learning, Audio Conferencing, or Video Conferencing, Thunder Bay Ontario Canada |
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If you would like to arrange a video conference in Thunder Bay we currently have a Sony PCS-G50 for rent through Amik in partnership with Signal Resources (807-475-9341). You can video conference at our site or We can provide screens, projectors, LCD's, sound reinforcement, and either fixed or wireless mic's at a location of your choice. We also through partners can provide streaming and session recording. Request a quote today! 
With over 12 years of experience in the video conferencing field we have a good understanding of what works and who it will work for. 
As a consulting firm we offer a product
independent service that ensures you get the best product for
the task, not necessarily the most expensive. We also offer experience in use of the technology which will help you to avoid the pitfalls and system design issues that make some systems cumbersome.
Lakehead University School of Medicine (2005) 
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