Helping rural school districts reach out to their students, the TRC has provided a resource for distance learning. Video conferencing enables one teacher to teach children at multiple sites via two-way video linked by telephone lines. The TRC can accommodate a number of studies at once. Labs can be split into smaller rooms allowing researchers to observe both ends of the communications capacity helps researchers look at areas such as decision making, teleconferencing techniques, telemarketing, electronic data interchange and others. University faculty, staff and students can then take that research to businesses, which can apply the new technology to their needs or solve specific problems.
Researchers also can test the new technology for use in educational instruction and training.
BellSouth and other vendors help the researchers develop comprehensive plans to address the requirements of each business. Two telecommunications laboratories are equipped with fiber optic cable and the latest audio-visual equipment. Two vi deo conferencing rooms are comfortably furnished with large conference-study tables and video monitors. The BellSouth TRC showcases business information applications utilizing the latest communications transport technology. The applications developed, span a wide range of industries and applied technology.