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The school
is spread over a number of buildings
– the East Wing that houses
the upper school, the Central Block
which is the reception area, and the
West Wing where the junior school
is situated. School Procurement Manager
John Lycett wanted to find a way to
synchronise communications across
three of the buildings. The existing
method of traditional notice boards
had many draw backs. They weren’t
really looked at and information quickly
became out of date or was removed,
resulting in a lack of control. John
believed the way forward was through
the use of technology and had investigated
digital signage as a possible way
forward.
John had actually decided on a possible
product but the company doing the
site survey failed to turn up on several
occasions. In the interim period,
he saw the innovative Net-Top-Box
demonstrated at a seminar. The Net-Top-Box
is a web based digital signage product,
made by UK manufacturer ONELAN. The
Net-Top-Box takes a variety of different
media inputs and allows them to be
controlled and displayed seamlessly
on any large screen. He approached
ONELAN and was put in touch with one
of their accredited resellers, Smarter Interactive in Aldermaston, who are
trained to demonstrate the product.
Smarter Interactive went into the school
to do a demonstration. John Lycett
ended up delighted that the original
supplier had let them down as he could
see the ONELAN product was a much
more effective solution - and Smarter Interactive a much more reliable and
professional supplier.
Smarter Interactive recommended a solution
that involved three Net-Top-Boxes
– one of which is updated with
different communication messages,
and the other two replicate the information.
The messages are displayed on large
LCD screens, one in each of the three
buildings. Strategically placed, anybody
walking through any of the sites will
pass at least one of the screens.
The system has been up and running
for a couple of months but has already
become an essential communications
tool which is used in a multitude
of ways. Examples of the information
shown include sports day results,
entries for a talent show, urgent
internal information and a daily programme
of events.
John explains why the school has
seen the benefits so quickly. “Often
when new technology is introduced,
it takes a little while to really
get to grips with it. I have to be
honest, when the screens first went
in, the overriding comment from the
staff was “What’s the
point?”
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However,
the Net-Top-Box is really simple to
use. Its intuitive layout, coupled
with the comprehensive training that
Smarter Interactive delivered for different
groups of personnel, meant that our
staff picked it up very quickly and
could start using it straight away.
Our IT department handle most of the
scheduling and our receptionist updates
areas such as the scrolling text.
As well as our own material, we can
link into outside resources such as
live news feeds. This is of particular
interest to our older pupils –
in fact teachers are already commenting
that the sixth formers seem better
informed about current affairs.
We’ve created templates with
six different zones, each of which
can show different media, so it’s
really flexible. And opinions have
been changed very quickly –
most departments in the school have
been in touch with the IT department
asking for their information to be
shown.”
He was also delighted with the quality
of the installation. “We are
using the latest technology and the
installation needed to reflect this.
Smarter Interactive did a fantastic
job of delivering a professional and
efficient install with very little
disruption to teaching.”
Such is the success of the installation
that Dane Court has had two other
schools in the area visit to see the
system in operation. Dane Court is
proud of its local reputation and
John Lycett is delighted that the
school is seen to be leading the way
in 21st century communication with
their students.
Asked to sum up the impact of the
system on the school, John commented,
“In the 11 years I have been
at the school this system has had
the biggest single impact of anything
I’ve done.”
Contacts:
Smarter Interactive
0118 982 3960
John Lycett - Procurement
Manager
Dane Court Grammar School
01843 864941
David Dalzell, -
Managing Director,
ONELAN: 0118 940 2631
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