Creating a Clinical Video-Conferencing Facility in a Security-Constrained Environment Using Open-Source AccessGrid Software and Consumer Hardware

The Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has been split into widely separated facilities, leading to much time being spent traveling between facilities for meetings. We installed an open-source AccessGrid multi-media-conferencing system using (largely) consumer-grade equipment, connecting 6 sites at 5 separate facilities. The system was accepted rapidly and enthusiastically, and was inexpensive compared to alternative approaches. Security was addressed by aspects of the AG software and by local network administrative practices. The chief obstacles to deployment arose from security restrictions imposed by multiple independent network administration regimes, requiring a drastically reduced list of network ports employed by AG components.