Using Real Time Collaboration Solutions

Real-time collaboration uses the Internet to communicate with participants as if they were in the same room. Real-time collaboration involves several kinds of synchronous communication tools such as:

  • Instant messaging
  • Group chat
  • Whiteboard collaboration
  • Application sharing
  • Desktop sharing
  • Co-browsing
  • Voice over IP
  • Video and audio conferencing tools

University Supported

  • H.323 Internet-Based Video Conferencing - The University of Iowa supports Internet video conferencing solutions that follow the International Telecommunications Union H.323 Internet-based multimedia communications systems standard.
  • Web Conferencing - Virtual Classrooms and Meetings - Support is provided for Internet-based meetings, classrooms, and virtual office hours. Moderator-led interactions are possible from any location using a computer and an Internet connection.
  • Access Grid - The Access Grid is used to support group-to-group interactions across the Grid computing middleware (or computational grids) and visualization environments.

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Examples of Other Unsupported Environments

  • EVO (Enabling Virtual Organizations) - EVO uses the concept of communities which regroup people working on the same project or with the same interest (similar to a news group). The primary objective of EVO is to provide a service to the LHC and other major High Energy Physics programs.
  • Microsoft Research ConferenceXP - ConferenceXP is a shared-source research platform developed by Microsoft Research that provides simple, flexible, and extensible conferencing and collaboration using high-bandwidth networks and the advanced multimedia capabilities of Microsoft Windows.
  • Vidyo - High Definition, multi-party, desktop videoconferencing based on the latest enhancement to the H.264 standard - Scalable Video Coding (SVC).