1. 1 Collaborative Services Donald J. Welch Ph.D. Merit Network

2. 2 Agenda l Collaborative Services are Part of our Mission l E-Mail and Document Management l Merit Video Collaborative Services l On-Net Pricing l Data l Voice l Professional Learning l Geographic Communities l Virtual Worlds

3. 3 Collaborative Services l Part of Merit’s Mission l A lot of “old fashioned” leg work l Not much technology, yet l Especially in Higher-Ed l Collaborative technology is seen as a core competency l Collaborative technology need is large enough that they can’t see an economy of scale benefit

4. 4 E-Mail and Document Management l E-Mail based on Zimbra platform l Think Exchange with a web-based Outlook Client l Working with Xythos to provide a powerful Document Management system integrated into the mail client l Working to integrate with our Voice provider l Zimbra integrates with Blackboard

5. 5 Merit Video Collaborative Services l Patterned after MCNC’s service l Description l Pre-class set up and check l During class proactive monitoring l We provide the MCU l No HD yet, but will provide in advance of demand l We do not provide the end-points l Additional Fee service l Helps make our NOC cost- effective

6. 6 “On-Net” Pricing l Encourage collaboration l Data l Purchase 10 MB = 5 MB on and 5 MB off l Most 5 : 1 Off to On l Some 1 : 1! l Voice l Calls from one MeritVoice member to another are free

7. 7 Professional Learning l Meetings l Merit Member Conference – Multi-day l MJTS, MOST l Workshops - Single Day l Merit puts the program together l One-time topics l Usually related to what we are doing l Training l Rarely provided by Merit l Professional training through partners l For lower price l Not available in Michigan l Internships l NANOG – Engineers, Event Planning, Web Design l Other roles within Merit l Communities of Practice l Pilot: Michigan Information Technology Executives (MITE) l Multiple in-person meetings l Web-based collaboration suite (iCohere)

8. 8 Geographic Communities l Take many different organizational forms l Informal l Formal – Co-operatives, Consortiums, etc l Geographically close, usually rural l Share Fiber and other Resources l Need better access to broadband l Vast majority are in our potential community l Higher-Ed, L-12, Libraries, Health Care, Government, Non-profit l Do partner with ISPs (or at least offer) l Many are not Members l Any some don’t become members l This is hard work l Takes lots of patience: 1 to 3 Years l Leverages our trusted position

9. 9 Virtual Worlds l Virtual Worlds will be important to education l Young people like to interact l Very powerful model l Web 3.0? l Inquiry-based Education l Effectiveness l What form? l Public vs. Private l Single vs. Multi-use l Issues l K-12/Higher Ed l Growth l Availability of Content l Interactivity/Shared Objects l Compatibility l Cost l Domain Specificity l Privacy l Intellectual Property l Regulation/Evaluation l Control l Disabled l Effectiveness l Reputation l New Function vs. Stability l Acceptable Behavior Multi-Function Single-Function Public Private

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