Once the group of countries that will participate in your event has been determined, the GDLN Service Unit will arrange the video conference session scheduling and the Activity Agreement signing. In the following sections, you will find information about programming video conference session connections, their costs and the Financial Mechanism.

Connections

Connecting video conference sessions for events on the Global Network is done through the World Bank bridge. This is done through the Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) at a minimum speed of 128K, but preferably at 256K. If your organization would like to provide contents via the Global Network, but has not connected before, our Network Operations Center policy is to carry out a technical test before connecting for an event. To schedule a test, please contact the Regional Test.

Date changes

After signing the Activities Agreement and scheduling the connections, the event is registered as a fixed date on the GDLN calendar. One week before the event begins, the GDLN Service Unit will send everyone involved a confirmation of the video conference sessions. In the event that a date change is indispensable, it is necessary to negotiate again with the participating Centers and assure that there are enough spaces for connections in the new schedule. Any changes must be made at least one week in advance of the event's beginning. It is recommended for a mutual agreement to be stipulated between the Center and Offering Partner, within the Activity Agreement, with a policy regarding cancellation of the activity, including conditions and any applicable penalties, and the amount thereof.

Joining the Global Network costs nothing. Offering your programming over the Global Network entails the following costs:

	Open Access	Select Access (Rental)
Costs
Connection of the Network to offer VC sessions
Uploading the VC (US$ 235 / session)
Connection between each Center and the Network (146 KB .pdf)
Associated expenses, stipulated in the Activity Agreement (e.g. snacks)
2% of the total amount for costs of the bank transfer

For programming under the Select (Rental) Mode in particular, it is important to indicate in advance all the costs involved in offering the activity within the Activity Agreement in order to have a clear understanding between the Offering Partner and the Centers before the day of the offering.

After having firmed up participation for your event and having signed the Agreement on your organization, all that remains is to offer the event!

Among the most important factors for an event's success is regular contact and collaboration among the Offering Partner and Centers. By this time, communications will already have gone back and forth between the parties and they will be ready to offer their Dialogue, Course or Seminar.

Advice for offering your session
Distance learning using video conferencing has its own protocol. To learn more about this etiquette, and recommendations about the use of microphones and the device guide, please select here.

Connection

• The connection is made at least half an hour prior to beginning each session. Once connected, please make sure that your site has a technician present, in front of the camera, to be able to test the microphones and video quality. If any problem is detected, it may be necessary to restart the session, which takes time.
• It is important, before the session, to check all presentations that will be projected.
• In the event that any technical problems should arise in the middle of a VC, please call the GDLN technician or the Network Operations Center, 202-473-7000, specifying the title and connection time for your session.
• Last-minute changes: The GDLN requires a week advance notice to cancel. The cancellation policy will be applicable.
• To ensure that connection is possible, the GDLN makes a test with every new site.

Using the Instant Messenger
To maintain good organization during sessions, we have found it very useful to use the Instant Messenger. This makes it possible to have a link between the offering site's facilitator and the participating Centers' technicians and/or moderators, avoid unnecessary adjustments to adjust microphones, comments on the agenda, notifications about time, etc.

Technical Troubles?
If, during the sessions, you experiment any technical troubles, you can call the Network Operations Center, 202-473-7000. Global Network Centers in the Region may also call our team technician.

For sites that make an Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) by calling Washington from their country, the procedure for obtaining the ISDN number is to call the Network Operations Center in the morning of the session day.

The Global Network's Financial Mechanism offers the way to pay, in any currency, the costs involved in the learning activities offer, such as the fees for the contents payable by the Center or the rental of a Center by the Offering Partner, depending on the arrangement that has been agreed upon. The Financial Mechanism is a general bank account that moves funds among a series of bank sub-accounts (one for each Center and each contents partner) and, on the 15th and 30th of each month, transfers the funds between the GDLN sub-account and the Center's or partner's local bank account. To learn more about the Financial Mechanism, a User's Guide (pdf 84 KB) is attached below, with an explanatory paper.