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sacrament meetings to shut-ins

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:38 am
by paul.harris-p40
Most of our shut-ins do not have internet service in the home. They do however have phones, I believe the policy restriction is for video not for audio, is that right? I have been trying to find a conf. call solution that is low cost. We have on average 5 shut-ins per ward and 10 cents a minute (the lowest I have found) is still to expensive. Do any of you have any leads on a phone solution?

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:34 am
by Pete
paul.harris wrote: I have been trying to find a conf. call solution that is low cost. We have on average 5 shut-ins per ward and 10 cents a minute (the lowest I have found) is still to expensive. Do any of you have any leads on a phone solution?

The Church has a contract with a large telecommunications provider that should be about half that cost. For more information regarding this service and how to get it set up for your unit contact Nolan Adams (adamsnd@ldschurch.org).

Eventually we'll figure out what information we can post wrt these instructions - for now we'll be vague and ask you to send email to Nolan.

Our Stake uses this technology

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:05 am
by duttonml-p40
The Juneau Alaska Stake has cameras mounted in the chapel for broadcasting stake conference, stake women's conference and such. We use a live internet feed and a Getner (sp?) system for the audio. We have speakers from the outlying wards and branches give talks and prayers during the meeting. At least one of our sites participates from home.

It is non obtrusive and adds a lot to making the stake feel connected even though we span two countries and hundreds of miles.

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:51 pm
by Pete
tleish wrote:Exactly... so the question is, how can we affordably do this.

As far as physically connecting the audio from your meeting to the bridge you have a few challenges. To get line-level audio injected into your phone system you'll need an EJ10 (http://www.emtechelectronics.com/emtech ... 83a646bbed) (link provided so you can recognize the device, not to advertise) or a TTIA (//http://www.emtechelectronics.com/emtech/pages/products.jsp?prodid=473c3468f9e908a646bbed). There is a decent chance your building already has one of these devices. Recently buildings have been receiving EJ8s, which unfortunately do not have the phone jack.

If you end up needing to purchase something, Emtech makes a device specifically for briding the PA system to the phone system: the EJT. I'm sure other manufactures have similar products.

The second problem is getting line-level audio into the device - generally we do not have a phone line near an audio output jack (look for audio out under your sacrament table or near your podium.) One option is to use the comtek wireless audio used for assistive listening (http://www.comtek.com/pro_audio/pr75.html). You may need to use a splitter and plug in the included earpiece to get the device to power up.

[Tip of the hat to Glen Meyer for providing the info above - he'll be following this discussion and can respond to more detailed questions.]

Reason for attending weekly meetings

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:30 am
by epoulin-p40
The main reason we hold weekly sacrament meetings is to partake of the sacrament. No technology will replace the priesthood in action with a visit to bring the sacrament. Given that, the real solution for shut-ins is a visit from Home teachers, who may be able to deliver a recording on some media (DVD) of the sacrament meeting along with the more important ordinance.

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:45 am
by thedqs
I believe that they were just refering to getting the messages to the members who couldn't come for certian reasons. Of course the sacrament is the most important point, and after the meeting the home teachers would still come over to provide that ordinance. It was just so that the members didn't miss out on so much as they were before.

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:22 pm
by jj47-p40
In the Provo tech talk Mr(bro)(boss) Dehlin mentioned that "all" buildings by now were supposed to be broadband connected. Ours, in N.E Orem are not. (We connect via wireless from surrounding homes to do missionary apps and such) So, who can I chat with about connectivity for these "already connected" buildings? ALSO, why not have a "rental" of streaming and projection equipment for stake conferences?

John
801-222-0222

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:18 pm
by WelchTC
John Lockwood wrote:In the Provo tech talk Mr(bro)(boss) Dehlin mentioned that "all" buildings by now were supposed to be broadband connected. Ours, in N.E Orem are not. (We connect via wireless from surrounding homes to do missionary apps and such) So, who can I chat with about connectivity for these "already connected" buildings? ALSO, why not have a "rental" of streaming and projection equipment for stake conferences?

John
For technical help, I recommend you go through the normal church support system in place to support local units. I don't know who that is but your leadership should have information about this.

Tom

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:20 pm
by Pete
John Lockwood wrote:In the Provo tech talk Mr(bro)(boss) Dehlin mentioned that "all" buildings by now were supposed to be broadband connected.
There must have been a miscommunication. About 5000 buildings worldwide have been connected by a project approved by the Presiding Bishopric. The primary customer for these connections has been the family history department.

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:24 pm
by Pete
John Lockwood wrote:why not have a "rental" of streaming and projection equipment for stake conferences?
regionally allocated equiptment (FM group, area, whatever) is being considered.

there are companies that rent gear out for this very purpose - most of the ones I've seen are targetting the building-to-building problem with line-of-sight solutions.