SECTION 209.11. Minimum Standards for Meetings Hosted from Dedicated Video Room Environment to Dedicated Video Room Environment by a Governmental Body

(a) Videoconferencing equipment used in a dedicated video room environment shall meet the below ITU standards for the respective medium of transmission:

(1) ITU H.320 or H.324 for videoconferencing over a public switched telephone network (PSTN), private line facility, or integrated switched digital network (ISDN);

(2) ITU H.323/SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for videoconferencing over the Internet; or

(3) Proprietary vendor protocols as long as the governmental body has received certification from the vendor stating that the vendor's equipment and proprietary software protocol release version meet or exceed the required ITU standards.

(b) When using a computer web conferencing system at the primary dedicated video room environment site, a large monitor and adequate speakers shall be used.

(c) Audio signals from a remote dedicated video room environment(s) shall be of similar quality and volume as the local audio at the primary dedicated video room environment.

(d) At least one monitor shall be available at the primary dedicated video room environment site for the audience to easily see remote meeting participants. When using a computer web conferencing system at the primary site, a large monitor and adequate speakers shall be used. The audience and members of the governmental body shall have full view of at least one monitor at each meeting location. Additional monitors shall be placed, as necessary, to ensure a clear view by all in attendance.

(e) If a governmental body uses a dedicated video room environment for the dedicated camera and speaker equipment but is using a computer-based videoconferencing application that is not part of the proprietary dedicated video room equipment setup, then the entity must comply with all minimum standards for computer-based application software and is not subject to the requirements of a dedicated video room environment.

Source Note: The provisions of this §209.11 adopted to be effective September 15, 2022, 47 TexReg 5479