Okla. Classrooms Benefit from JetNet

  • 04/01/97

The Western Heights School District in Oklahoma City, Okla., has become one of the first in the nation to introduce desktop videoconferencing in each of its classrooms so students and teachers can meet with peers and personalities around the world.

Engineers and design experts from Piadiea Systems and Monte R. Lee & Co. worked together with officials from Western Heights, Southwestern Bell, Intel and Gateway 2000 in the three-year effort to bring Internet access and videoconferencing capability to all 230 classrooms in the districtís six schools. Called JetNet, the futuristic telecommunications system went ìliveî in February.

Each classroom houses Gateway 2000 desktop PCs with Intel ProShare Conferencing Video Systems 200 equipment. ProShare lets Western Heights users communicate and exchange information over the stateís OneNet network or via Southwestern Bellís ISDN line. Up to 24 people can simultaneously participate in a videoconference from their individual PCs.

Southwestern Bellís Multipoint Video Service, an enhancement to ISDN, enables ongoing visual and audio contact among conferencing participants at up to five locations. JetNet serves a total of nearly 3,000 students, some of whom regularly interact with Dayton Tire and other businesses to learn about employment opportunities. Southwestern Bell, San Antonio, TX, (800) 301-5796, www.sbc.com.

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