QUESTION
DESIEN subscriber Eric Kapono wondered if anyone has ever used the "Smartboard" interactive whiteboard over a videoconference system. He refers to Smarttech, CLICK: http://www.smarttech.com This company says: "You can use the SMART Board in a combined video and data conference by splitting the screen into video and application images. Just like picture-in-picture television, your video image would sit in a window alongside your data. You can still brainstorm and diagram as if you were at a whiteboard, control all of your computer applications directly from the Board's touch-sensitive surface and dedicate a portion of the Board to displaying the video of your remote team members." If it works will it work with their Polycom FX as a "hub" with 2 Polycom 512s at the remotes, the latter via 3 ISDN lines and the hub with a T1?

RESPONSE
Andrew Kerr, Associate Director, PR*TEC, PREL, Honolulu, HI responded: "I have used the SmartBoards with DL and must say that I really am impressed. While we, too, use Polycoms... I haven't used the SmartBoard with those. My previous position used VTELs and those worked fine with the SmartBoards...they worked so well that I am in the process of trying to get some for PREL. So...in short...I like the SmartBoards and believe they will interface fine with the Polycoms." (Andrew Kerr, kerra@prel.org.)

(Note: If you have questions that you would like DESIEN subscribers to respond to, send the questions to: lehman@ics.uwex.edu and I'll post them in the next DESIEN issue. Send answers directly to the person with the question and copy me. I'll collate the answers and include in the next issue. (Rosemary Lehman)