Video teleconferencing changes around Tinker Published April 3, 2015 72nd Air Base Wing Communications Directorate TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Video teleconferencing underwent a major technology revamp over the last eight months in the Department of Defense and at Tinker Air Force Base. Before the changes, all Tinker VTCs required at least a day in advance to schedule, were in conference rooms and used three digital phones lines. Reserving a VTC room was also difficult due to limited availability and scheduling issues. In addition, VTCs were very expensive to install, often costing $20,000 to $40,000 or more per site. That's all changing for the better. In the summer of 2014, the Defense Information Systems Agency transitioned from a contracted VTC service with AT&T called Defense Video Services to in-house DISA. The new in-house DISA service, Global Video Services, is a significant technology update. GVS supports secure and non-secure VTCs as well as LAN VTC calls, which means almost 90 percent of the Tinker static VTC sites have been converted to work on the Tinker LAN. Later this summer, digital phone lines will be disconnected from the VTCs to avoid FY16 charges for DISA. GVS supports up to 768,000 bandwidth quality video calls, much higher than the prior digital phone line service, but it doesn't support high definition quality, yet. GVS also has new capabilities that their Tinker personnel can leverage to best advantage. A desktop VTC is possible using existing desktop computers with an inexpensive webcam and headset or a laptop with built-in webcam and speakers. With approved software from Vidyo installed on your computer, a web cam and speakers or a headset, you can participate in VTCs with a GVS account. This can potentially save significant TDY expenditures and has potential telework usage between employees and supervisors. GVS allows VTCs on the fly with no advanced scheduling; two or more people or rooms can do a VTC when required with no advance reservation other than between the participants themselves. Adding VTC capabilities to existing conference rooms will also be much less expensive due to alternative technologies. For about $700, an existing conference room can be outfitted to be VTC-capable provided the room has large screen displays capable of displaying a computer's screen. "One solution is the Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e, which brings the video and audio to the conference room and leverages the existing conference room computer as the VTC device, thus saving thousands of dollars in adding audio and video controller switches and equipment. It is also portable," said Edward Graham, 72nd Air Base Wing Communications Directorate VTC guru. For more information on VTCs, contact the base VTC program manager Lenard "Keith" Bell, 72nd ABW/SCXP, at 739-9283. For a complete list of static VTCs on Tinker, visit https://org.eis.afmc .af.mil/sites/ocalcit/tinkervtc/Lists/Tinker%20VTC%20List/AllItems.aspx For more information on GVS, visit https://disa.deps.mil/ext/COP/NS-Extranet/ExternalConnect/SitePages/Home.aspx (select email cert).