The Internet2 Real Time Communications Advisory Group (RTC-AG) was convened in 2005 by the Applications Strategy Council to develop strategic directions for Internet2 with regard to voice over IP, video conferencing, instant messaging, unified messaging, presence and application sharing in support of collaboration within and among Internet2 member campuses and peer networks. The recommendations of the RTC-AG identify key technologies and directions for member campuses and partner institutions and promote an aggressive agenda for moving the Internet2 community forward in a coherent fashion towards an interconnected and standards based rich communications environment.

The committee concluded its work in December 2006 with the release of the following key deliverables.

1. Executive Summary. A high level view of the RTC-AG tools and how they can be used.
2. Reference Architecture. Provides high level recommendations describing architectural components that Internet2 members should have in order to interoperate effectively with other Internet2 campus networks. The architecture also identifies key technologies and components that will allow campuses to effectively develop and manage large scale RTC services and migrate those services forward as new protocols develop.
3. Architectural Checklist. A tool that can help campuses assess how closely systems comply with the recommendations of Internet2’s Real Time Communications Reference Architecture. The checklist is intended to be used by campuses as a self evaluation tool and as a decision making aid when evaluating systems for campus deployment. A Word version of the Architectural Checklist is also available.
   
4. Activity Alignment. A set of recommendations about working group restructuring within Internet2 and an enumeration of strategic priorities.
   
5. Final Report. Letter of transmittal from RTC-AG to the Applications Strategy Council describing the work of the committee and next steps for Internet2.

Membership

• Dennis Baron, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  
• Markus Buchhorn, Australian National University
• Ben Chinowsky (Scribe), Internet2
• Tammy Closs, Duke University  
• Phillipe Galvez, California Institute of Technology
• Jill Gemmill, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Gwen Jacobs, Montana State University
• Tyler Johnson (Chair), University of North Carolina
  
• Ivan Judson, Argonne National Laboratory
• Deke Kassabian, University of Pennsylvania
• Gurcharan Khanna, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Stephen Kingham, Australia's Academic and Research Network
• Walt Magnussen, Texas A&M University
• Steve Smith, University of Alaska
• Ben Teitelbaum, Internet2
• Mary Trauner, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Jonathan Tyman (Flywheel), Internet2
• Egon Verharen, SurfNet
• Roger Will, Ford Motor Company
• Garret Yoshimi, University of Hawaii
  

NOTE WELL: All Internet2 Activities are governed by the Internet2 Intellectual Property Framework.