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Access Grid Quality Survey & New Services Update

Access Grid Quality Survey & New Services Update. Michael Daw Manchester Computing Access Grid BOF, All Hands Meeting 20 September 2006. Contents. Quick review of the AGSC year AGSC User Survey e-Science Centre Survey The Message… …Possible Solutions. A Busy Year!. User survey

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Access Grid Quality Survey & New Services Update

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  1. Access Grid Quality Survey & New Services Update Michael DawManchester Computing Access Grid BOF, All Hands Meeting20 September 2006

  2. Contents • Quick review of the AGSC year • AGSC User Survey • e-Science Centre Survey • The Message… • …Possible Solutions

  3. A Busy Year! • User survey • New look website • Booking system launched • Improving services • VRVS • Jabber integration • AG3 • IG2

  4. Usage Highlights

  5. Growth of UK Access Grid Nodes

  6. AGSC Survey – Respondents • 9th-31st January 2006 • 26 different institutions • e-Science • e-Social Science • AGSC registered • etc. • 70 respondents: • Users 69% • Node admins 24% • Node operators 6%

  7. User Quality • Excellent: 35% • Good: 44% • Poor: 15% • Abandoned: 5%

  8. Session Frequency • On average… • Users – used AG 3.1 times each month • Node admins/operators – nodes used 4 times each week

  9. Number of Sites Involved “How many sites are involved in your Access Grid sessions?” • Two sites only 45% of sessions • 3-5 sites 39% • 6-10 sites 14% • More than 10 3%

  10. Top Rated Problems “What are the top three problems that hinder Access Grid sessions that you are involved in?” • Networking: 26% • Problem sites: 24% • Poor quality audio: 21%

  11. Benefits of the AGSC "What do you see as the main benefits of the Access Grid Support Centre?" • General support 54% • Services 19% • Quality Assurance testing 17% • Training 17% • Did not respond 27%

  12. Benefits of the Access Grid “What are the ways in which Access Grid helps you in your work?" • Alleviating the need to travel: 74% • Facilitating teaching: 6% • Negative comments: 6% "Saves time & money travelling. Communication is more natural & open as body language and expression is available" "Not impressed by AG and now use as a last resort only" “A cool thing to show to people who don't know how far video conferencing has come"

  13. Top Rated Improvements “What are the top three improvements you would like to see in Access Grid?” • More reliability: 35% • More Access Grid nodes for those without: 16% • Better audio (e.g. stereo): 12% • Running meetings without an operator: 7% • Better video: 7% • Better integration with other applications: 4%

  14. e-Science Centre Survey • Conducted by Clare Gryce, University College London • Nine centres responded • Most centres report increasing usage of Access Grid • Most sites have node operator service • Several sites encourage user-operation • One site charges for node operation

  15. e-Science Centre Survey “Is the Access Grid valuable?” • All respondents said yes • Most sites planning further installations • One site is planning to replace other videoconferencing technologies with AG

  16. The Message in a Nutshell • Users are most concerned about reliability • In almost all cases, this means problems connecting and problems with audio

  17. What Goes Wrong?

  18. What’s to be done? Regular QA tests • Good for… • Training • Looking after your node • But… • What about between tests?

  19. What’s to be done? Open test sessions • Good for… • Training • Imparting information • Knowing the AGSC is there for you • In case you need to test

  20. What’s to be done? AG Check • Good for… • Self testing • Checking audio & video quality “objectively” • Perhaps a replacement for QA tests…?

  21. What’s to be done? Incident report • Good for… • Grass a site! • Keeping nodes up to scratch • But… • No good if it’s not used! • http://www.agsc.ja.net/incidentreport.php

  22. What’s to be done? Store working audio configurations • Good for… • Centralised storage • When it all goes wrong • Will be accessed through booking system

  23. What’s to be done? Request AGSC assistance • Let us baby-sit your meeting • It’s easy to ask! • Good for… • Solving problems before they affect users • When you’ve got a meeting that can’t go wrong! • When sessions always seem to fail • If you’re new to this game

  24. What’s to be done? Better training • AGSC on-line movies – coming soon • AGSC workshops – every six months

  25. A Selfless Act (Urwin Wood, University of Newcastle)

  26. And Finally… • Report for JISC • “Usability & manageability”+ • Focus group: 2nd November • Volunteers apply here!

  27. Research Support ServicesManchester Computing Providing Research Infrastructure & Support http://www.mc.manchester.ac.uk/services/accessgrid michael.daw@manchester.ac.uk Manchester Computing

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