Family History Center satellite center

OK, maybe wrong tilte but it was the best I could do.
Here is my question
My Stake President AFTER addin internet to ALL our buildings per headquarter instruction want to take 2 computer from each of our OFFICIAL FHC and put them in 2 of our Buildings to be used as Satellites of exiting FHC's so that they can teach Family History during Sunday School and at other time to get more involment in the Stake with Family History.
My problem or Question is what will Landesk do when it see a new and different ip for these computers and what should I do to PROPERLY id the location as they are no longer at the FHC they were originally in.

Is the official instructions for such a cas and if so where are these instruction?

If there is NOT who do I talk to to get instructions and approval to set this up. It seems to me that this is a desired method to reach the church goal of helping the members learn and grow in the FRamily History envolment.

I think you need to call the Family History Department and talk with them. You'll probably have to get past the first level of support first.

I'm not 100% sure that's within the Stake President's jurisdiction to do that. It's not the setting up of "Family History Workrooms" (unofficial FHCs), but the removing of computers from the official FHC I wonder about. In some cases the machines in the FHC have been replaced by ones supplied from the FHD, so they may have a say in the issue. I'm quite certain it's not within the Stake President's ability to declare these new units "official" or "satellites" of an official FHC. That would be like creating a new ward without going though CHQ.

Secondly, what filtering level is set on these other buildings? FHC have something called "General Access" that usually runs on a PIX box. The PIX box has been discontinued, but there is another "General Access" for the newer boxes that is hopefully the same.

While there are legitimate questions about access, given that these are not official FHCs, I'd question the licensing for things like SAV, LANDesk, FamilySearch Portal, etc. So that's why I think you need to sit down and talk with the FHD tech support folks.

Does anyone have the Phone number for the Family History Department?

You can start here: 1-800-346-6044. You'll probably end up with a support missionary that is better geared to helping end users rather then answering a question from a PH leader. If they give you an answer, be sure to ask for a reference.

There is such a thing as a 'meetinghouse' family history center, but that also has to be formally approved by CHQ as well.

But depending on the area, they may or may not approve the change. In Utah for example, the trend is more towards consolidation of two or three centers into one, sometimes this happens because of buildings being closed for major renovations, others because buildings are so close together that have centers that it's best to put two or three into one centrally-located building.

They have not approved any new FHCs here in Utah, primarily the Wasatch Front, in over three years, maybe one needed to be set up but beyond that that's what I've heard.

The old standard for a new center is that it be more than 30 minutes travel time from existing centers. However a few years ago they put a moratorium on new FHCs in the US. IIRC, it was to focus more effort in other countries that were not so well served.

Based on what I've been hearing in other threads, the prospect making those new "workrooms" official centers is probably very low. I wouldn't even try it unless you live one of those areas where travel time is measured in hours instead of minutes.

I understand those reasons.It is just with the limited resources of the Church and the local units it seems that having 2 or more unused computers sitting in an underused FHC could and WOULD be used by an active HPGL and active FHConsultants in a meeting house better than they currently are aand the cost to make such a move would be nill! as the computers haave already been purchased and the licenses to use LANDESK and SAV have been purchased! It just a matter of putting the resources where they can be used rather than trying to get the users to go to the resources.

Getting approval from the Family and Church History Department to do as your stake president wants may in all likelihood be disapproved.

An alternative is to set up unofficial family history centers, or workrooms. Doing so does not require any authority any higher than your stake president. The computers would come from donations or purchased using the local budget allowance.

An unofficial center or workroom will get no support from the Church beyond your local resources. Russell has already identified the need to set up the Cisco ASA 5505 to use the General Access filtering option to gain access to the needed web sites. Since Church headquarters does not support the computers there will be recurring costs in purchasing and maintaining computer security software. Essentially it would be no different than a personal home computer.

Valid point, but the FHC falls under the jurisdiction of a different department.

KenRichins wrote:It just a matter of putting the resources where they can be used rather than trying to get the users to go to the resources.

When I asked the Family History Department several years ago about putting a computer in a classroom, they had a fit. No security because the classrooms are not locked anymore, great risk of losing the computer, loss of a teaching station on Sunday, liability for the Church, to name just a few of the concerns they had.

They want their resources locked up in the FHC, and they do not want computers left in the regular part of the building unsecured where someone will know they are there and break in to take them.

They also told me that if the stake president authorized computers or laptops to come in the building for training, they should not be left overnight in the building.

Based on those instructions, our stake president removed the computers from the classroom that was being used for family record extraction. Then he made sure all of the wards called family history consultants and sent them into the homes of the members to do training.

While looking for information for another thread related to family history center computers I came across this quote from the Policy and Guidelines For Computers in Family History Centers:

Family history center computers should not be removed from the family history center unless they are being disposed of or unless directed by the Area Family History Support Office.

So it looks like using FHC computers outside the center is quite unlikely.

I wonder if this might be a use for the Church webcasting systems? Might be more money but it would be within the guidelines more I'd think.

Just a thought I had.

avskip wrote:I wonder if this might be a use for the Church webcasting systems?

You lost me.

RussellHltn wrote:You lost me.

Ok. Hang on for the ride...

From what he said initially, they are wanting to do remote training. I think you could use the Church webcast equipment as a conferencing/training aid. I've not played with the webcaster before but it seems plausible. Example: Have people watching remotely with a computer screen fed in as video input and someone talking into a microphone (audio) to teach them.

Of course there is the option that the Church webcasting equipment is not that flexible.

Just one of my random fleeting thoughts. I have one periodically that escapes the can I'm in.

avskip wrote:Ok. Hang on for the ride...

From what he said initially, they are wanting to do remote training. I think you could use the Church webcast equipment as a conferencing/training aid. I've not played with the webcaster before but it seems plausible. Example: Have people watching remotely with a computer screen fed in as video input and someone talking into a microphone (audio) to teach them.

Of course there is the option that the Church webcasting equipment is not that flexible.

Just one of my random fleeting thoughts. I have one periodically that escapes the can I'm in.

I was lost also but decided not to show my ignorance. I now see what you were thinking about. After looking at KenRitchins' original post I don't think he was talking about doing remote training. He was interested in moving FHC computers to locations in other buildings where the people are rather than the people coming to where the computers are located. The training he was referencing would be hands on use of the computers to do family history work - the instructor looking over the shoulder kind of training while the student uses the internet.

Your idea of using the meetinghouse webcast equipment for remote training and instruction is entirely within the capabilities of the program.

jdlessley wrote:The training he was referencing would be hands on use of the computers to do family history work - the instructor looking over the shoulder kind of training while the student uses the internet.

I also don't think it was just training but even using the computers. We have to remember that computers aren't as ubiquitous as telephones and TV sets. Not every home has one.

jdlessley wrote:Your idea of using the meetinghouse webcast equipment for remote training and instruction is entirely within the capabilities of the program.

The idea has merit, but from what I've seen reported so far, does it have any webconferencing capability? I'd think the two way dialog would be necessary for effective training. Otherwise you might as well video the session and play it back.

The answer to this may be refurbished computers. The sites I've seen them, they're dirt cheap.

RussellHltn wrote:I also don't think it was just training but even using the computers. We have to remember that computers aren't as ubiquitous as telephones and TV sets. Not every home has one.




The idea has merit, but from what I've seen reported so far, does it have any webconferencing capability? I'd think the two way dialog would be necessary for effective training. Otherwise you might as well video the session and play it back.

The answer to this may be refurbished computers. The sites I've seen them, they're dirt cheap.

I have noticed some pretty low prices for the Dell Optiplex GX270 and 280 lately. That could be a better option overall!

avskip wrote:I have noticed some pretty low prices for the Dell Optiplex GX270 and 280 lately. That could be a better option overall!

Indeed! The problem for me is the shipping costs. They almost rival the cost of the computer.

RussellHltn wrote:The idea has merit, but from what I've seen reported so far, does it have any webconferencing capability? I'd think the two way dialog would be necessary for effective training. Otherwise you might as well video the session and play it back.

The conferencing part is not a capability of meetinghouse webcast. But by using any of the audio conferencing systems available you could use those for the two way dialog.

If the training was only for one remote site the meetinghouse webcast could be used for the video going out and a separate telephone connection for the audio communications. This is not elegant but it would work.

RussellHltn wrote:The idea has merit, but from what I've seen reported so far, does it have any webconferencing capability? I'd think the two way dialog would be necessary for effective training. Otherwise you might as well video the session and play it back.

The Meetinghouse Webcast equipment doesn't have webconferencing capability, but there is an article on clerk.lds.org titled LDS Web Conferencing - Local Units that provides some helpful information on webconferencing options (assuming all the sites involved have Internet connections).

jdlessley wrote:The conferencing part is not a capability of meetinghouse webcast. But by using any of the audio conferencing systems available you could use those for the two way dialog.

For training, a webconference would probably be superior to audio conferencing, since the trainer can show actual steps being performed with the software.