Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Wed, 2018-08-29 10:05
Cambridge has an excellent record of sustainable travel, with 39% of staff cycling to work each day. In many cases, though, it seems unavoidable to have to drive or fly to a meeting or conference. Indeed, last year we spent over six million pounds on flights, emitting significant amounts of carbon in the process.
The University’s School of Clinical Medicine has presented an alternative to its staff, having developed an intuitive and high-quality videoconferencing system to save unnecessary travel between the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the city centre and further afield. Secretary of the School, Dr Caroline Edmonds recently shared her thoughts on the technology with us:
“Video-conferencing saves me hours each week. Being able to participate in meetings at Old Schools or Greenwich House remotely means I can save an hour’s travel time per meeting and avoid the costs of travel in the broadest sense. Video-conferencing is much more effective than dialling in by phone because you can catch the Chair’s attention in the normal manner (or indeed act as Chair) and “read” the meeting in the usual way. With Jabber software on my laptop I can even video-conference in to the University from almost anywhere, although the in-house touchscreen facilities are very easy to use with high quality sound and vision.”
Dr Caroline Edmonds and Dr Tamsin Sayer, Assistant Director of the Research Operations Office, are pictured above participating in a meeting with the General Board Office in the Old Schools.The Cisco video conference system used by Dr Edmonds is also available for staff to use at Greenwich House, the Old Schools, the Roger Needham Building, 17 Mill Lane and Engineering. Finally, staff can arrange meetings, training and workshops on their own PC using Cisco Jabber and WebEx. Contact UIS to discuss which option best suits your needs.
Videoconferencing can be an excellent alternative to attending meetings in person, saving carbon emissions, time, and money. If you have an upcoming meeting that requires you to travel, consider using the Cambridge University videoconferencing services.