Video conferencing isn't a new idea. Many communities across the country have already bought into distance learning and telemedicine projects that link professors and doctors to classrooms and patients hundreds of miles apart. But that technology has been limited by the cost of putting in new, fixed phone lines to carry sound, images and data, experts say. The Adirondack Area Network's different and a lot cheaper. It uses a virtual network that doesn't require a large investment in hardware.
Sponsors say it has the potential to open new doors for small businesses and rural communities.
No one is doing it as seamlessly as they are. To date, Adirondack Area Network includes more than 45 institutions, including hospitals, schools, and legal aid services, in upstate New York. Already, supporters say the network, which began operating last October, is bringing communities closer by allowing North Country students to take virtual field trips and by linking rural doctors to specialists at Albany Medical Center Hospital.