Submitted by gabrielle on Mon, 09/18/2006 - 5:22pm.
Costs and Sustainability
Managing the Costs
You have decided that video conferencing would benefit your program greatly. Now you need to know something about how much it costs - and some suggestions for how to get the cost under control.
Snapshot on Costs
There are 3 types of costs: setup of the host site; setup of remote sites; and recurring monthly costs.
Host Site: If the experiments in Hawaii, Maine, and Montana are any indication, the cost to equip a host site with multipoint capability (the ability to link to multiple offices) ranged from $5,000 and 12,000. The main reason for such a vast spread is the program's decision to transmit data via IP (Internet, more expensive, primarily due to the purchase of a router) or ISDN (phone lines, less expensive).
Remote Site: The cost to setup a remote site that did not require a video conferencing unit with multipoint capability was approximately $3800.
Recurring Costs: For IP-based sites in Hawaii, the monthly cost is about $600 for the host site (a T-1 connection) and $78 for each remote site (DSL connections). IP-based sites with T-1 connections in Montana range from $200 - $1000/month, depending on location. Each ISDN site is about $300.
For more information, especially on ISDN setup, contact Hugh Calkins at Pine Tree Legal Assistance (hcalkins [at] ptla.org).
Initial costs to implement video conferencing depend on specific vendors, equipment needed, bandwidth, and existing infrastructure. One of the most important things you can do to keep costs down is to draft a thorough Request for Proposal (RFP) that outlines your goals and needs. Vendors can use this statement of need to bid appropriately on the costs of setting up your system. Without a clear statement of goals and needs, projects can get in trouble - ending up either under budget or, even worse, over budget to the detriment of the program or project. An RFP will help a vendor match the appropriate technology to your vision. Ask NTAP for assistance with an RFP if needed.
However, other factors outside of the startup cash price affect the cost of the entire system:
- Will my existing network help facilitate this project?
- Who can maintain and fix the system?
- What are the recurring costs? Can I afford to keep my decisions on bandwidth after I've installed it?
These other factors can be big issues in successfully integrating video conferencing into your technical toolkit. At this point bandwidth is both expensive and necessary. While it's impossible to say exactly how much telecommunications companies in your area would charge for your monthly bandwidth, you should be warned that sustainability is an important issue, which cannot be overlooked and will not disappear. You don't want to successfully implement a new technology, only to have to tell everyone you're pulling the plug because you can't afford the monthly fees. The more carefully the vision is planned, the easier it will be to obtain accurate initial and re-occurring costs giving you a better idea of viable sustainability.
