%0 Conference Paper %B 19th World Conference on Open Learning and distance Education, Vienna, Austria %D 1999 %T ODL services and PTTs: The Greek PTT case %A Christos Bouras %A Vaggelis Kapoulas %A Apostolos Gkamas %A Thrasivoulos Tsiatsos %X During the last years Open and Distance Learning (ODL) methods that utilise network resources and services are gaining wide acceptance. An increasingly number of enterprises uses ODL for training their employees. Interestingly enough not all the enterprises that want to and can use ODL are doing so. The role of PTTs is important in here. PTTs can provide not only the connections necessary for the implementation of ODL services but the ODL services themselves, thus making the process of adopting ODL easier for the enterprises. In Greece the main PTT organisation, as part of its strategy to offer integrated telematics services in various areas, designed and currently operates a pilot network offering ODL services. The services offered include among others Synchronous Distance Education, Asynchronous Distance Education, Co-operative Learning etc.The network utilises ISDN links to connect the users of the ODL services (either trainers or trainees) to a central site. This site is used to interconnect the users among themselves, and to host the services and any educational material needed. The ODL services can be offered either over ISDN services or over the Internet (using TCP/IP services and applications). In the first case the central site utilises a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). In the second case the ISDN lines are used to the implement the connections to the Internet, and the central site utilises a powerful server. Each user may access the ODL service using an ISDN enabled personal computer. Small groups of users that wish to participate from the same location can be accommodated using larger displays. The ODL services (and the network that supports them) are currently being used and evaluated by a variety of organisations and enterprises including schools, hospitals, vocational training centres, etc. The results of the evaluation will be used to guide the deployment of the system in full scale. %B 19th World Conference on Open Learning and distance Education, Vienna, Austria %8 20 - 24 June %G eng