TANDBERG Customers Recognized For Innovative Use of Videoconferencing in Distance Learning

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2001

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

  -- University of North Texas, Arizona Telemedicine Program and the
  Wyoming Department of Education Honored by TeleCon for Significant
         Contributions to the Advancement of e-Learning Using
              TANDBERG's Distance Education Solutions --

TANDBERG, a global leader in videoconferencing solutions, congratulates its customers who were honored at the TeleCon Conference & Exposition last week in Anaheim, Calif. The University of North Texas, Arizona Telemedicine Program and the Wyoming Department of Education all received awards for their innovative use of videoconferencing technology to achieve excellence in distance learning.

With years of experience and expertise in the distance education arena, TANDBERG has developed and provided an in-depth understanding of the evolving needs of its education and training customers. TANDBERG's distance education solutions, built on its core videoconferencing technology, are renowned for their reliability, as well as an extensive feature set that has been specifically designed to serve the distinctive needs of this market.

-- University of North Texas, e-Learning category of Best

Program, Higher Education

Within the University's Distributed Learning Program is the University of North Texas Videoconference Network (UNTVN) -- a two-way compressed video network. Videoconference courses originate in specially equipped classrooms and provide access to hundreds of educational sites across the United States through affiliations with several videoconferencing networks consisting of a consortium of universities, community colleges, technical colleges and public schools.

-- Arizona Telemedicine Program, Applications/Users category of

Best Return on Investment in e-Learning

The Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP) has been providing a wide variety of educational programs to healthcare professionals in the most rural areas of the state of Arizona. Many are traditional continuing medical education programs. ATP also produces unique programs to serve the needs of specific communities including bilingual programs, multidisciplinary approaches and interactive case reviews involving multiple sites. The flexibility of the programming facilitates the learning process, saves rural clinics and healthcare professionals a significant amount of money and is a great benefit to all of Arizona in terms of the quality of healthcare in the area.

-- Wyoming Department of Education, e-Learning category of Best

Program, K-12

The Wyoming Department of Education has developed a dynamic, interactive distance-learning network, which covers an area of more than ninety sites including 72 high schools, ten alternative high schools, seven community colleges, the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Education. The rollout of this video network has enabled students in remote areas to take advantage of higher-level classes, which they normally would not have received the opportunity to participate in. Elementary schools are leveraging the technology for virtual fieldtrips and "ask the expert" sessions. Also, this technology has enabled personnel to maximize their time and productivity, since the typical travel time for a meeting can be, on average, three to five hours one way, due in part to the state's physical size and widely dispersed population.

"These organizations are great examples of institutions that are broadly expanding their curriculum offerings at various levels through distance learning, and we applaud them for winning these prestigious awards," said Richard Grace, executive vice president of TANDBERG. "Schools, colleges and organizations are relying on TANDBERG to provide their students and teachers with training and educational opportunities that were previously unavailable due to time and geographical barriers."

About the TANDBERG Educator Series

Based on the powerful TANDBERG 6000 codec, the feature-rich Educator Series includes an intuitive touch panel in addition to the modular components needed to create a fully interactive distance education classroom. TANDBERG's unique features increase the effectiveness of a distance learning system. Each feature makes the technology easier and more natural for the instructor and the students.

-- Through the graphical Touch Panel interface, instructors can control all
aspects of the videoconference as well as all peripherals, including sources
such as cameras, computers and VCRs.

-- The Instructor Locator Maps automatically track the camera to pre-determined
positions near a whiteboard or podium, for example. As the instructor walks
across the mat, the camera automatically moves to the preset location.

-- A Video Electronic Whiteboard combines a standard whiteboard with specific
TANDBERG technology so the image written onto the whiteboard is displayed
directly onto the monitor. A camera preset is, therefore, not necessary for
both the near and far end users to see the image on the whiteboard.

-- The Audio Science Microphone is a ceiling mounted unit, using pressure zone
technology to enable large room areas to be covered by a single microphone
without degrading the speech quality. Typically, a single Audio Science
Microphone covers a semicircular area with a 14-foot radius from its mounting
location.