Audio teleconferencing system for distance education from Adtec Communications
Audio teleconferencing system
General fears of a possible decline in rural education standards have always been a matter of concern for employers in technical and industrial fields.
But a pilot project in Queensland using an Australian solution shows that regional and distance centres can easily be linked in real-time.
The Department of Education and the Arts in Queensland (formerly Education Queensland), challenged itself to ensure distance education remains updated and relevant in the modern business world.
After making a close market scrutiny to determine what technologies may be applicable, it chose the TeleBridge system from specialist Adtec Communications on which to base its upgrade.
This pilot project has an objective: linking in real-time seven regional towns and cities with the education stream from the state’s commercial centre, Brisbane. The pilot location chosen was Charleville in central Queensland. Apart from Brisbane, the TeleBridge technology is used in Rockhampton and Cairns on the east coast, plus the inland towns of Emerald, Charters Towers, Longreach and Mount Isa.
Managing Director of Adtec Communications, Jeremy Sharp, said the TeleBridge is one of the more adaptable audio teleconferencing systems. "Due its adaptability, we were able to customise various aspects of TeleBridge to suit the teachers and the setup at the Department of Education and the Arts," said Jeremy Sharp.
“The Department of Education and the Arts showed great commitment in setting a platform to educate students right across the State, with a firm view towards keeping regional students supplied with the same level of education streams as their contemporaries in Brisbane”.
"Regional Queensland has many thriving towns due to industrial success, particularly from its rich coal belt sector and the communities there expect equitable standards in education to their children.
"TeleBridge allowed us to customise the solution and ensure teachers and students experience uninterrupted links, high-quality communications standards, and a scalability that easily allows expansion as needs arise."
Under the new TeleBridge based system, every teacher is dealing with multiple locations and classes. Each TeleBridge unit supports up to half a dozen teachers. The consoles for the Department of Education and the Arts were made specifically for this application by Adtec Communications.
TeleBridge, an audio-teleconferencing system expected to save the education body both time and expense, allows regional communities to educate their children locally rather than sending students to boarding facilities in metropolitan centres.
The TeleBridge technology is versatile, scalable and user-friendly. Apart from facilitating educational requirements, the TeleBridge system enables the in-house management of all teleconferencing for business, government, and finance needs.
TeleBridge handles internal, local, long-distance, international and even mobile calls with ease.
Calls can be set up by an in-house operator, configured for an automated hook-up, even pre-scheduled for ‘out of hours’ operation.
As the user begins to grow, TeleBridge Plus provides user and management flexibility through internet bookings and advanced conference management features. Simple expansion through the use of cards is also available.
28-May-2008