New Video Decision Tool Helps You Tailor Your Online Meeting Options

Are you organizing a meeting, conference, or other event for which you want to enable the speakers, presenters, and participants to attend regardless of geographic location? Would you like to take advantage of online collaborative technology, such as videocasting, web collaboration, and teleconferencing, but are unsure which to choose?

CIT's new Video Decision Tool, launched in April, can help you find the best fit for your event. Simply use the free online tool to answer a series of questions about your event, and the Video Decision Tool will suggest one of three services—Web Collaboration, VideoCasting, or Video Teleconferencing—that best suits your needs.

What to consider

Before using the Video Decision Tool, consider the following questions:

•	How many participants will there be?
•	Are there multiple presenters, and are they physically in multiple locations?
•	Will the event be funded by NIH?
•	Will you need captioning or other accessibility accommodations?
•	Do you want to archive video of the event for later viewing?

How to use the tool

To use the Video Decision Tool:

1. Visit the Video Decision Tool web page at http://video.nih.gov/decisiontool/index.aspx. (You can also find a link to the Video Decision Tool on the Collaborative Technology Innovation & Video Services home page.)


2. The questions you need to answer appear on the left side of the window, and a description of available video services appears on the right side of the window.




3. To answer a question, click one of the available options listed below the question. Questions advance automatically after you click an option. You can go back to previous questions and select different answers by using the Back button.
   
   As you answer questions, your decision path appears in a box below the question box. You may need to scroll down to see the decision path.





4. When the Video Decision Tool has enough information, the recommended service appears on the right side of the screen.





5. For more information about the recommended service, select the "Click here for more information" link at the bottom right of the service information box. This link will take you to the web page of the selected service, where you can find more in-depth information about the service along with the option to contact the CIT Video Group or the NIH IT Service Desk.

Other collaborative services offered by CIT

In addition to Web Collaboration, Videocasting, and Video Teleconferencing, CIT offers the following collaborative and assistive services:

•	Podcasting
•	Room Design and Support—transforming traditional spaces into multimedia conference rooms
•	Captioning
•	Video Relay Service—enabling real-time communication between sign language users and a remote hearing party

More information

If you have questions or comments about the Video Decision Tool, please contact the NIH IT Service Desk online at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov or by phone at 301-496-4357 (6-HELP) (local), 866-319-4357 (toll free), or 301-496-8294 (TTY) and ask for the CIT Video Group.

For additional information about CIT's video, collaborative, and assistive services, visit the Collaborative Technology Innovation and Video Services web page at http://video.nih.gov/ or contact the NIH IT Service Desk.

Information about our Video Service and financial forms (billing authorization, account code, and Service Level Descriptions) can be found on the Video Service and Financial Documentation web page: http://video.nih.gov/serviceDocuments.asp.

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