Stanford IT services is now providing a video conferencing solution for the entire university--for free! Stanford has partnered with Blue Jeans to offer this service. Many in the Stanford community have become very familiar with using Skype and Google Hangouts. These tools have a number of limitations and Blue Jeans is, by far, a much better video conferencing service compared with these competitors.

Here are some of the features in Blue Jeans:

• Connect with up to 100 people in the same conference call
• Screen share with meeting participants
• Easily schedule, join, and moderate meetings using the simple interface
• Easily setup instant meetings
• Accessibility enabled
• Individualized dynamic connections which allows for the best audio and video experience for each participant
• Connect with people outside of the Stanford community
• Connect using mobile devices (iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone)
• Collaboration features: HD content sharing, video sharing, recording, and chat
• Compatible with any participant device (browser, mobile, audio-only)
• Interoperable with any video conferencing room systems (Cisco, Polycom, Tandberg, etc.)

Here are some use cases:

• Connect with remote guest speakers and researchers
• Offer distance learning
• Connect with colleagues at other institutions
• Connect with campus study groups
• Offer virtual office hours
• IT technical support troubleshooting

How to get started
You can begin using this service by going to the Stanford Blue Jeans web site.

Training
The Libraries will be partnering with ITS to conduct a Blue Jeans training session for library staff. Staff will be informed via email and/or SUL News as to when that training session will take place.

More Information
For more information on training, please contact Ronnie Fields or Deni Wicklund. For more details about the service, check out the IT Services Blue Jeans website.