RE: [chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire

[Rich Thompson <richt2@us.ibm.com>]

I don't see the two sets of comments
as contradictory:

1. It has been pointed out that phone
costs to join relevant calls could be a prohibitive factor keeping some
parties from joining TCs.
2. It has also been noted that many
TCs (WSRP included) have an unwritten rule that the cost for supplying
a conference bridge is shared among the corporate members. These almost
always provide tollfree numbers for US callers and sometimes provide tollfree
numbers for selected other countries.

I think that if OASIS is to provide
a service that improves on the current situation, it would need to:
1. Provide more equitable access in
a greater number of countries
2. Spread the cost of the service among
the corporate members (i.e. do not increase the current entry-level costs
to becoming involved)

Whether or not this belongs high on
the priority list is a board level decision regarding whether providing
such a service would further open OASIS to world-wide participation. The
only answers I would oppose are those that either degrade the quality of
service or those that include other impediments to interested parties joining
the work.

Rich Thompson
OASIS WSRP TC Chair

"Luc Clement" <luc.clement@systinet.com>

05/23/06 01:04 PM

To	"Duane Nickull" <dnickull@adobe.com>, "David RR Webber \(XML\)" <david@drrw.info>, Donald Harbison/Cambridge/IBM@Lotus
cc	"Barbara Erbes" <barbara.erbes@oasis-open.org>, <Chairs@lists.oasis-open.org>, "Scott McGrath" <scott.mcgrath@oasis-open.org>
Subject	RE: [chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire

+1 on TCs arranging
their own resources. To reiterate my earlier comments on this:
Please note that
the cost of funding calls has not been an issue for the UDDI TC which has
been composed over the course of its (short of) 3 years of operation from
representatives from industry, academia and individual contributors from
many parts of the world. 
 
We've been running
under an unwritten rule that industry will host the calls, and that any
and all industry participants big/small need to contribute. This is not
an entirely equitable approach but one that has worked for us and many
others I suspect.
Luc Clément | Director,
Product Management | Systinet, a Mercury Division |
Co-Chair, OASIS UDDI Technical
Committee
One van de Graaff Drive Burlington, MA 01803
Phone +1 781.362.1330 | Mobile +1 978.793.2162 | Fax +1 781.362.1400 |

---

From: Duane Nickull [mailto:dnickull@adobe.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 12:07
To: David RR Webber (XML); donald_harbison@us.ibm.com
Cc: Barbara Erbes; Chairs@lists.oasis-open.org; Scott McGrath
Subject: RE: [chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire

Sorry – but I have to disagree
with this in principle.  Yes – Skype is good and the cost is very
low but I do not think that OASIS should bother with the overhead of being
a conference call sponsor.  Simply put, the costs will be greater
than if we continue organizing it ourselves and that cost has no other
place to be passed on than to us, the members.  
 
IMO – it is much more efficient
for each TC to arrange their own resources for meetings.  Let OASIS
keep focused on major issues like IPR, working with other SDO’s, providing
the web infrastructure (WIKI’s etc).
 
My $0.02 CAD worth.
 
Duane

*******************************
Adobe Systems, Inc. - http://www.adobe.com
Adobe Developer Program - http://developer.adobe.com/
Chair - OASIS SOA Reference Model Technical Committee
Personal Blog - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/
*******************************

---

From: David RR Webber (XML) [mailto:david@drrw.info]
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 5:41 AM
To: donald_harbison@us.ibm.com
Cc: 'Barbara Erbes'; Chairs@lists.oasis-open.org; Scott McGrath
Subject: RE: [chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire
 
Just a quick supplemental thought
- internet technology could be changing this landscape (again).
 
I just purchased a standalone Skype
phone by Linksys / Cisco (not Skype thru the PC speakers et al).  The
quality is dramatically better with Skype V2 than it was last year on Skype
V1.
 
OASIS could consider setting up
local Skype dial-in numbers in each member country?  
 
The cost for each is modest. Maybe
Cisco / Skype could sponsor that for us?
 
DW
 
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire
From: donald_harbison@us.ibm.com
Date: Mon, May 22, 2006 3:18 pm
To: "Scott McGrath" <scott.mcgrath@oasis-open.org>
Cc: "'Barbara Erbes'" <barbara.erbes@oasis-open.org>,
Chairs@lists.oasis-open.org


Scott, 

Michael Winters, our IBM OASIS Board member is in favor of OASIS providing
telecomm services, as well. If OASIS is striving to internationalize its
membership more assertively, there should not be a penalty for calling
in from countries that today have the fewest participation.

Don Harbison
Program Director, IBM ODF Initiative
Business & Technical Strategy
IBM Software Group
tel:1-978-399-7018
Mobile: +1-978-761-0116
email: donald_harbison@us.ibm.com

"Scott McGrath" <scott.mcgrath@oasis-open.org>
05/22/2006 02:22 PM

To	<Chairs@lists.oasis-open.org>
cc	"'Barbara Erbes'" <barbara.erbes@oasis-open.org>
Subject	[chairs] TC Teleconference Services questionnaire

 

Reminder of the Teleconference questionnaire.  If you have replied – thanks.  If not, here is your chance.
 
Scott…
 
Chairs,
 
We’ve heard the dialogue on the Chairs list about the problems Committee teleconference costs pose for members – both for international participants who dial in and for member organizations who volunteer to host calls.
 
OASIS is investigating options for funding Committee conference calls out of member dues. We have conducted a preliminary analysis based on postings to our central events calendar, information from our member databases, and the service quotes of several service providers. This research indicates that the annual cost of providing fully internationalized services for every call of every Committee, could exceed 10% of our total operating budget (over 250,000 USD annually).
 
In light of the extraordinary costs involved, it is vital that we take the time to fully understand the expectations and circumstances of all our Committees, so that we might identify alternatives to manage costs while still addressing the majority of your needs.
 
To that end, we’re asking a representative of each OASIS Committee to spend five minutes answering the following 16 questions on teleconference usage. We appreciate that in many cases, the best you can offer is an educated guess. That’s fine. Any information you provide—even if it can’t be verified by detailed tracking or reports—will be helpful to us.
 
Only one reply per TC or Sub-Committee is needed, so please coordinate your responses with co-chairs and secretaries.  
 
Thank you in advance for your time,
 
Scott McGrath
Director Member Services
 
 
OASIS Committee Teleconference Requirements Questionnaire  
Committee Name: ODF Adoption TC
(If you chair more than one Committee or Sub-Committee,  please fill out this questionnaire separately for each.)
About your teleconference use:
On average, how many teleconferences does your Committee hold each month? (4)
 
How many minutes does your average teleconference last? (60 minutes)
 
Approximately how many minutes was the longest call your Committee held in the past year? N/A
 
About your teleconference callers:
 
How many callers typically participate in your teleconferences from:
__5__ North America
__3___ Europe
__1___Asia
__0___Australia
_____Other
Do you believe the expense of international (country-to-country) calling is a limiting factor for OASIS Members to participate in the Committee you chair?
As a new TC, we do not have sufficient experience to respond.

If so, can you cite specific examples?
 
 
About your existing teleconference support
 

Does a member of your Committee provide teleconference hosting? Yes. If so, which member(s)? IBM.
 
If you are generally pleased with the service your Committee uses most frequently, can you tell us the name of the provider (and why you like them)?
 
If you are not pleased with the service your Committee uses, can you tell us the name of the provider (and why you are dissatisfied)?
 
Does the teleconference service provide toll-free IN-COUNTRY OR INTERNATIONAL TOLL-FREE? access in some areas?
Does your teleconference service provide local numbers in more than one country?
 
Can you offer any advice about other services you tried and discontinued?
Premiere previously provided conferencing services, but IBM now uses its own VOIP technology and has migrated to it.
About future teleconference use and support
 
Given your current situation and the impact to OASIS in doing so,  do you think OASIS should provide teleconference services, funded by member dues?  Yes.
 
If OASIS could provide only limited resources to solve the largest problems inhibiting member participation, what do you think reasonable bounds would be?
 
Indicate your acceptance of the following suggestions, on a scale of 1 to 5
(5 Meaning you would accept the idea, 1 being you would not accept the idea)
 
_5__OASIS would provide international service with in-country  dial-in for all Committees, all calls.
_2_OASIS would provide a local dial-in line for the country in which the majority of Committee members reside, others members pay their  international rates to dial-in.
_4_OASIS would continue to encourage member organizations to host Committee calls and covers the costs only when a Committee is unable to identify a host.
_1_OASIS would encourage Committees to use free conferencing services (such as freeconferencecall.com)
_1_OASIS would not provide any teleconference service that will have a budget impact
 
 
Any other comments or suggestions: