After Dark: Point, click - and go clubbing

No queues, no fashion police, admission for the price of a telephone call. ISDN technology allows clubbers to log on to their favourite venue - wherever they are

One of the main advantages of living at the end of the millennium is modern technology. If you thought that the remote control unit was innovative, wait until you check out the new technology currently revolutionising clubbing.

Imagine being able to go to the best clubs in London without having to worry about long queues and inflated entry taxes. Bouncers and fashion police? - things of the past; you can be certain of getting in every time.

Check out the best DJs in the world and dance your socks off for a couple of hours (in your PJs if you prefer) before making yourself a cup of tea and hitting the sack.

International Systems Digital Network (ISDN) technology makes it possible to receive live sounds and pictures from clubs like the Ministry of Sound, The Tunnel and The End without breaking your curfew.

The End has been at the forefront of these technological innovations since it open two years ago. "London is the centre of electronic music in the world," says Mr C, DJ and co-owner of The End. "If you work in multimedia you have to use everything available to maximise the exposure of the club.

"We did our first ISDN link a couple of years ago. We had Derrick May playing at the Fuse club in Belgium and Robert Hood DJing at The End. We set up a two-way audio-visual link. If we can push club culture into the home, then the industry will be 10 times as big as it is today."

The End's website offers the chance, via digital pictures that you can toggle, to look around the club. You can view your favourite DJs and listen to live broadcasts of their sets in addition to connecting with like- minded surfers from all over the globe.

The Ministry of Sound is also among the first group of clubs to utilise this medium. Their MoS website really took off at the beginning of the year and currently attracts an impressive number of visitors.

"It's like having a virtual MoS community," says Dr Love, aka Will Lovegrove, head of new media at MoS. "We get clubbers from all over the world who log on at around 5 on a Sunday morning, it's incredible.

"Sometimes users will wait for other clubbers, who they regularly correspond with, to come on-line so that they can talk about their weekends."

Around 10,000 people a week log-on to the MoS website. During the sixth birthday celebrations last month, demand for MoS tickets far exceeded supply. However, clubbers who were unable to gain entry did have the chance to follow proceedings at home as pictures and sounds were broadcast live on the Internet, via ISDN technology.

Moreover, the cameras at the club were left running for 24 hours, so viewers could observe the morning after the night before and the clean- up operation before the next night's revelry.

Technology changes so rapidly that no one is quite sure how far ISDN can go. "Some people don't like to go to clubs but they do enjoy the culture and would like to be involved," says Mr C. "An informative website appeals to those kinds of people. It's now possible to get involved in our culture without physically going to the club.