JANET Videoconferencing Recording Service (JVCRS)
The JANET Videoconferencing Recording Service (JVCRS) is now available to organisations registered with the JVCS Booking Service. When a videoconference is booked or launched through the JVCS Booking Service, it is possible to record that conference by simply ticking a box.
Registering to Use JVCRS
Since recording conferences may affect intellectual property and privacy rights, organisations must first sign a license agreement before they are enabled to use the recording capabilities. Please see the JVCRS Licence Agreement for Terms and Conditions.
For organisations wishing to proceed, follow the intructions on how to Request the Recording Capablity.
Note: although any user registered on the Booking Service may submit a request to record videoconferences on behalf of their organisation, it is advisable for them to speak to a Booking Service Administrator before submitting a request.
Once an organisation has signed and returned their license, only administrators for that organisation are enabled to use the JVCRS on the Booking Service. Administrators then have the ability to enable individual users to use the JVCRS within their organisation (see Enable New JVCRS Users).
For any queries about recording conferences contact JVCS on 0131 650 4933 or via vidconf@jvcs.ja.net.
Uses for Recordings
Possible uses may include:
- replaying of lessons/lectures for absent students
- online promotion
- future demonstrations
- meeting or interview reviews
- performance feedback
- continued professional development (CPD)
Once a recording is downloaded by an organisation, it is the sole property of that organisation to use in whatever manner it chooses.
How it Works
Requests for recording videoconferences are made via the Booking Service during the course of booking a conference. This feature is accessed by clicking the Set recording options button (Figure 1) in Advanced settings (optional). Note: the Set recordings options button is greyed out if a user's organisation has not yet signed the licence agreement to use this service.
Figure 1: Set recording options
On the Recording options page (Figure 2), users just tick the Record this videoconference tick box. The default setting for the Output format is mpeg-4 (plays in VLC and Quicktime) and the Video size VGA provides a relatively small playback window. Both of these options may be left as default but it is recommended users test a variety of option setting combinations to find which produces a recording that best meets their needs.
Figure 2: Recording options
The following choice of Output formats is currently available:
- MPEG-1 (.mp1)
- MPEG-4 (.mp4)
- Windows Media (.wmv)
- QuickTime (.mov)
- Adobe Flash (.swf)
- Flash Video (.flv)
After the conference has finished and a recording has been processed, it will be made available for download in the requested file format (e.g. Windows Media). For security reasons, recordings will only be made available to the original conference Booker. The current JANET policy is that recordings will be stored for two weeks before deletion from the server. If this policy changes, users of the service will be advised no less than three months in advance.
For more comprehensive instructions please see Recording and Retrieval.