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The AccessGrid (AG) can be setup as a meeting room or on a laptop. The former is obviously more expensive than the latter.

One of the critical factor in making the AG work is testing and people. The AG is technologically more advanced than video conferencing systems and is a true collaborative workspace: you can share software applications and work collaboratively on the same document between geographically distributed locations. However somebody at each AG node needs to test the equipment and the network regularly (see the AG quality assurance program below).

• multicast networking must be enabled on your network and on all routers to the upstream provider.
• at least one systems administrator/programmer familiar with Linux (and Windows), and audio/video systems to support and maintain the AG software.
  
• a trained node operator needs to be available during AG meetings. This person can be the sys admin mentioned above or a junior person.
  
• a room
  
• equipment: the cost varies depending on the configuration and how much you are willing to pay for some of the components (eg projectors); typically the cost for a room is around AUD 25,000.
  

Meeting Room Setup
video
audio
microphones
computers
room setup

Laptop Setup

Quality Assurance
Jason Bell at CQU runs the AccessGrid quality assurance program.
Testing runs are done every Monday to tune the network and the hardware for optimum operation. This has resulted in a performance improvement in all the sites that participate to the program.