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TIPS ON BETTER VIDEOCONFERENCING

Your video conferencing will be as good as a face-to-face meeting if you:

• Prepare questions. You'll need them to get the discussion going.
• Wear camera-friendly clothing. Avoid wearing reds and whites, plaids and prints.
• Speak as though everyone was in the same room. Make sure you speak naturally and clearly as though everyone participating were in the same room.
• Stay aware of which camera you are on.
• Delayed timing. Give participants a little extra time to answer questions as there may be some delay in image transfers.
• Graphics and overheads. Make sure any graphics or other materials you use when presenting are large and simple. Also, notify the participants when you are about to use one.
• Roll call. Start with a roll call of all participants so everyone will know who is at each site. Add something personal such as weather to help relax the participants.
• Summarize. Before ending the video conference, summarize the discussion and any decisions that were made. Then follow up with written minutes as soon as possible.

This information was summarized from an article in the April 1998 Communications Briefings. Tools for Virtual Teams, by Jane E. Henry, Ph.D., and Meg Hartzler, ASQ Quality Press, 611 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202.

The Division of Communications continues to offer Video Conferencing services with locations in Ainsworth, Beatrice, Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Lincoln, Nebraska City, Norfolk, North Platte, O'Neill, Omaha, Scottsbluff and Valentine! The rate for video conferencing to State agencies continues to be $20 per hour per site. To set up a video conference, call 402/471-4130.

As a reminder, the Division of Communications does have a "room restoration charge" of $50.00 when a room is reported as being in disarray and staff is required to return the room to the original configuration. Please help us in keeping the video rooms in order and clean.

FISCAL YEAR END REMINDER

YOUR JUNE 1998 DIVISION OF COMMUNICATIONS ITD'S WILL HAVE A FY99 DOCUMENT NUMBER ON IT. IF YOUR AGENCY CAN PROCESS THESE ITD'S BEFORE THE FY98 DAS-ACCOUNTING DEADLINE, PLEASE CONTACT JANET AT 402/471-2762 OR SHELLEY AT 402/471-3850 FOR A CURRENT YEAR (FY98) NUMBER.

COMMONLY ASKED BILLING QUESTIONS

Q: Why is my ending balance on my monthly ITD so much when I have paid my bill to the Division of Communications?
A: All payments on ITD's and personal checks are sent through DAS Accounting and the State Treasurer's Office. Their monthly processing schedules may have different (later) dates then DAS Communications. Many times a payment is in route to DOC or has been processed by DOC but has not yet cleared DAS Accounting or the State Treasurer. Therefore, it appears delinquent on your bill. The ending balance can commonly be equal to two or three months bills. If the amounts shown do not balance with what you show having paid, contact LaDonna at 402/471-4701 or Zale at 402/471-4703 to verify your actual balance.

Q: Why am I getting charges on my phone bill from companies like VarTec and Excel? Also, why are there separate charges labeled PICC and Universal Service Fund?
A: AT&T is the only long distance company that State of Nebraska employees are authorized to use for State business. If an employee decides to change the long distance carrier on their State telephone, they will receive charges such as the PICC and Universal Service Fund. The Division of Communications will be passing these charges onto the customers. Also, if an employee does change his or her long distance service to a company other than AT&T, our office will be changing that number back to AT&T and any charges incurred in that change will be charged back to the Agency. Please notify your employees of this information.

TOLL FRAUD WARNING SIGNS

While the Division of Communications does have some safety procedures in place, it is still each Agency's responsibility to monitor their usage. The following are patterns you need to watch for on your monthly telephone bill. Long duration calls, increases in calls after business hours, reports of odd calls, complaints that your system is "always busy", and unexplained surges in use. Train your employees to be security conscious and to report unusual calls or messages. Encourage them to use passwords that are difficult to guess. The best ones are nontrivial. Do not use your extension number or program your password into one of the program keys on your telephone.

International calls are an extremely hot ticket for telecom hackers. The following are the most popular call destinations: China, Egypt, Pakistan, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Columbia, Ghana, India, El Salvador and Russia.

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Chip Davis has donated new music by Manheim Steamroller to be used in
the locations where Music on Hold is available. **********************************************************************************************

DIRECTORY LISTING CLOSING DATES:

The following commercial telephone directories close their listings in the near future. If you have any offices listed in the local directories for these towns, please review your listings and contact LaDonna at 402-471-4701 if you have any changes.