ISU professors may soon be able to hold international interviews or lectures without leaving campus.

Matt Darbyshire, manager of media equipment at the Instructional Technology Center, said international meetings and activities are becoming easier through videoconferencing.

Videoconferencing involves being able to meet face-to-face over high-speed telephone lines with a camera, dual television set and microphone on either end of the connection, Darbyshire said.

The quality and capability of the videoconference depend on the equipment on the other end of the line.

Darbyshire said Iowa State has the latest technology in videoconferencing, which enables the university to conduct the sessions over the Internet, Iowa Systems Development Network or normal phone lines. The only challenge to the program is finding a time that works for everyone to come together, he said.

“It is just like setting up a normal meeting except there are more factors, and you have to look ahead in your calendars,” he said. “It is the time difference that throws things off, especially when the other city is farther than half way around the world.”

Ann Smiley-Oyen, assistant professor of health and human performance, said she used the teleconferencing system to work with a graduate student in Pittsburgh.

Smiley-Oyen said she thought the videoconferencing resource is useful and applicable.

“The system worked quite well, and she could easily interact with her student and colleagues,” she said.