Petersen said the Daggett County demo took only about an hour to set up with equipment costing about $5,000. A permanent system likely would cost about $12,000 per meeting room if document-sharing technology were not installed and "somewhat more" if that component were added.

"But really the cost is quite modest when you begin to calculate the savings for travel, both in terms of hard dollars and hours of time," Petersen said. "We think this is a great bargain for the state."

Petersen said the EDNet system — with more than 200 classrooms throughout the state — could be used initially. However, because educational activities on the network would lead to scheduling conflicts, he proposed setting up systems at county courthouses or libraries where video-conferencing meeting rooms "would be available for whatever government purpose makes sense."

Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, wondered if systems could be put in place soon as a way to help deal with parking woes at the Capitol expected during the upcoming legislative session. Petersen said it "wouldn't be realistic" to have it ready by then. Instead, he will do more analysis and present details to the commission in April.

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