SAIL-Teleconferencing

This was a teleconferencing project implemented in SAIL, where thirteen

locations-including plants, the Ministry of Steel and the SAIL corporate

office-were connected over an ISDN line to enable video conferencing. Earlier,

conducting and preparing for important meetings took weeks, and coordinators

needed to make arrangements for the officials' travel and stay before the

meeting. Now, through video conferencing, all the MDs of plants and other

high-level officials from all locations can have meetings face-to-face. This

saves time, as well as the cost incurred due to the travel and stay of

officials. The same system is also used to have technical training among the

employees through technical discussions, live over video



conferencing. All the locations can also share PowerPoint presentations during
the meeting. The project is based on a centralized as well as a distributed

architecture. Polycom VSX-7 units have been installed at each location. There is

also one high capacity multi-conferencing unit at the SAIL corporate office,

through which, presently, 13 sites can be connected. This project has reduced

the time taken in top management making important decisions, and thus, it has

improved the efficiency of the organization.