DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE SYSTEM FOR TELECONFERENCE

1.1 Introduction

The communication in teleconferencing is both vertical and horizontal, and the emphasis is on interaction at all levels. Meaningful interaction in real time is the strength of teleconferencing, and this sets it apart from other technologies used in education. The one-way limitation of educational broadcasting is overcome through the technology configuration. As computer and electronics technology continues to grow over the ages, many new innovations continue to flood the industry, creating machine and avenues through which human activities can be enhanced.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

The development video messaging over media is an important aspect of this growth in technology. Such information was then able to be packaged and transmitted remotely from source to intended users. But this was rarely a real time scenario. The best we can get out of this was a live coverage of an event, which was usually of high cost and difficult for individuals to own.

The advent of the internet offered better opportunity for inventors to think of better ways of making the communication of video information from source to target in real time and with less cost. Much equipment have been developed to this effect. Further improvement has given birth to what is now known as teleconference.

The word ‘tele’ means distance, the word ”conference” means consultations, discussions. Through teleconferencing two or more locations situated at a distance are connected so that they can hear or both see and hear each other. It allows the distant sites to interact with each other and with the teaching end through phone, fax, and e-mail. The interactions occur in real time. This means that the learners/participants and the resource persons are present at the same time in different locations and are able to communicate with each other. In some situations, questions can be faxed/e-mailed early for response by the resource persons conference is further described by Matthew Lombard and Theresa Ditton as an illusion that a mediated experience is not mediated." Today, it often considers the effect that people experience when they interact with a computer-mediated or computer-generated environment. The conceptualization of presence borrows from multiple fields including communication, computer science, psychology, science, engineering, philosophy, and the arts. The concept of presence accounts for a variety of computer applications and Web-based entertainment today that are developed on the fundamentals of the phenomenon, in order to give people the sense of, as Sheridan called it, being there." Since teleconferencing is actually a useful tool in organizations because it is solely used to bridge the geographical distance between two or more companies, and from my research,

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the design and implementation of Teleconference System.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation reveals the problems of the existing system which some observers argue that three outstanding issues have prevented videoconferencing from becoming a standard form of communication, despite the ubiquity of videoconferencing-capable systems. These issues are:

1. Eye Contact: Eye contact plays a large role in conversational turn-taking, perceived attention and intent, and other aspects of group communication. While traditional telephone conversations give no eye contact cues, many videoconferencing systems are arguably worse in that they provide an incorrect impression that the remote interlocutor is avoiding eye contact. Some teleconference systems have cameras located in the screens that reduce the amount of parallax observed by the users. This issue is also being addressed through research that generates a synthetic image with eye contact using stereo reconstruction. Telcordia Technologies, formerly Bell Communications Research, owns a patent for eye-to-eye videoconferencing using rear projection screens with the video camera behind it, evolved from a 1960s U.S. military system that provided videoconferencing services between the White House and various other government and military facilities. This technique eliminates the need for special cameras or image processing.
2. Appearance Consciousness: A second psychological problem with videoconferencing is being on camera, with the video stream possibly even being recorded. The burden of presenting an acceptable on-screen appearance is not present in audio-only communication. Early studies by Alphonse Chapanis found that the addition of video actually impaired communication, possibly because of the consciousness of being on camera.
3. Signal latency: The information transport of digital signals in many steps needs time. In a telecommunicated conversation, an increased latency larger than about 150–300 ms becomes noticeable and is soon observed as unnatural and distracting. Therefore, next to a stable large bandwidth, a small total round-trip time is another major technical requirement for the communication channel for interactive videoconferencing.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to develop an Online System for Teleconferencing. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were set out as follows:

1. To develop a software that will facilitate the connectivity of two or more computer user for communication purpose.
2. To implement a software that will facilitate dynamic Network system, video streaming server, and explore the power of visual basic in data handling
3. To ensure secured connectivity between the administrator and the end users during tele conferencing
4. To design an application that will meet local specific requirements of training in terms of content, language and conditions
5. To implement a system that will overcomes time or scheduling problems for the learners who can assemble at a learning center for a limited period only because of their full time or part time work, and family and community commitments.

1.5 Significance of Study

The relevance of the teleconference system research work is obvious for several reasons as shown below:

1. The study will impact positively on education by allowing live participation without physically being present for a lecture
2. Legal issues can still be treated even when a person is not fit to go to court, Press men can attained international conferences without having to be physically present and telemedicine is possible because of teleconference
3. It makes the best use of the available resources by expanding the learning opportunity and taking the resources to the learners.
4. Training is of high quality and consistent. There is exposure to multiple perspectives from the primary sources, and therefore as the input from the resource persons is direct, there is little loss of quality in transaction.
5. There is greater appeal; motivation and retention of information as a variety of teaching methodologies are used.
6. Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.

1.6 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the design and implementation of an online teleconferencing system. The scope of this work will cover dynamic Network system that can communicate in real time, video streaming server, and explore the power of visual basic in data handling

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Internet: A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.

Online: Computer or device connected to a network (such as Internet) and ready to use (or be used by) other computers or devices.