If the ITN bridge is needed but unavailable, the originator will notify recipients and work with them to make alternate arrangements to participate. To interconnect the systems, the ITN site coordinates the conference date and time with the Vision Athena site or sites. For multipoint activity involving the ITN video bridge, the ITN sites dial the assigned video-bridge number, and the ITN bridge dials out to the Athena gateway to complete the connection. These DLC s are very knowledgeable about schools circumstances and needs and can be very helpful to any school, regardless of its connectivity, in developing utilization of interactive video.
Content providers are responsible for invoicing participants directly.
There is no additional charge for the video service from the ITN site up to the point of the cross-connection. Network connection resources are limited and in high demand. To help assure that resources are fully available, and consistent with established Vision Athena policy, sessions must be cancelled with at least 48 hours notice to avoid the connection charge. Even the older communications technologies such as the telephone can occasionally malfunction, and interactive video technologies are more susceptible to problems if only by their comparative newness. Problems identified in the earlier tests have been corrected, and the engineers involved feel that the systems will now inter-operate reliably.