LOCAL businesses are being given the opportunity to experiment with high-quality video-conferencing.

European money has already helped equip the £70,000 Multi Media Studio in the Bolton Bury Technology Management Centre at Bolton Institute.

Additional cash is now available to subsidise the cost for smaller Bolton firms wishing to use a video conferencing link to speak to potential customers/suppliers anywhere in the world.

Introductory events involving about 20 companies will be held in March to demonstrate how the system works.

It uses the equivalent of six telephone lines (ISDN6) simultaneously and provides excellent video and sound reproduction without synchronisation problems. Individuals and products can be featured on the 8ft by 6ft screen with the use of roving and document cameras.

Sales people can also give computer presentations to their customers and share documents and spreadsheets live.

Mr Wilf Gardner, the Institute's Vice Principal, set up a demonstration for the Evening News this week featuring Mr Brian Bethell, Managing Director of Video Conferencing 2000 based in the Eaton Place Business Centre in Sale.

The two men chatted as easily as if they were in the same room while they demonstrated camera techniques which allow everybody present to be seen at both ends of the video communication.

Mr Bethell was able, impressively, to adjust the size of his image to help photographer Richard Rollon frame the photograph on this page.

There was also a slightly bizarre exercise in telecommunications technology when sharply-focused images of mobile telephones were beamed to Bolton and Sale to demonstrate the system's visual usefulness.

Mr Bethell and Mr Gardner believe that this latest video technology will become more popular as companies begin to appreciate possible savings on travel and hotel costs. "I am confident it will take-off," Mr Gardner said.

"Our quality is the best in the North-west."

Mr Bethell told us how a senior consultant from Hope Hospital, Salford had been able to address a conference in New Delhi, India from Sale before getting back to work for the rest of the day.

Bolton companies interested in one of the introductory events are asked to contact Margaret Moir at the Institute's BITE centre on Bolton 900100.

Those who wish to take it further will be invited to enrol on a subsidised programme which will:

Provide training in the use of the equipment.

Give one hour dedicated use with only the phone costs to pay.

Give a further eight hours' use on a sliding scale of subsidy.

Institute staff will work with companies to develop contacts who use video conferencing at other locations and it is intended to form a Bolton Video Conferencing Business Club.

It would offer a discounted price to members below the likely cost of £100 an hour.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.