Maritime Academy Charter School Achieves Help Desk Efficiency with Smart Lockers and Incident IQ

Maritime Academy Charter School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is committed to providing quality education to its students. With a growing number of Chromebook users, the school's Network Engineer, James Elnicki, was facing challenges in managing device distribution, device troubleshooting, and ensuring students had access to functional devices.

Challenge: The technology team was overloaded with Chromebook requests, and students were missing out on class while they waited for a replacement.

Maritime Academy Charter School had been grappling with a rising number of Chromebook-related help desk requests, which disrupted the work of their Network Engineer, James Elnicki. Managing the distribution of loaner devices and troubleshooting issues took up a significant portion of his day, hampering his ability to focus on essential networking tasks. 

Solution: Streamlined device management processes with LocknCharge Smart Lockers and Incident IQ platform.

James Elnicki learned about LocknCharge's self-serve Smart Lockers from a former colleague who worked at Google. After quickly researching the solution online, he recognized potential to streamline the process of loaning Chromebooks to students and teachers. The school implemented LocknCharge's FUYL Smart Locker System and integrated them with their ticketing system, Incident IQ.

Implementation: Efficient, self-service for issuing and tracking loaner devices.

The integration of the FUYL Smart Locker System with Incident IQ allowed Maritime Academy Charter School to create an efficient, self-service process for issuing and tracking loaner devices.

Students and teachers could request a loaner through the ticketing system, which would then automatically assign a device and provide the necessary information, such as a PIN, directly within the ticket.

The school mainly utilized two workflows: Temporary workflow, for short-term device loan, and Spare workflow, for longer-term device replacements due to breakage or malfunction.

Benefits: Efficiency, time savings, self-service access, flexibility, no scheduling and cost savings

• Efficiency: The FUYL Tower Smart Lockers and Incident IQ platform streamlined the process of issuing loaner devices, reducing the time spent by staff in managing these requests. Although exact time savings were difficult to quantify, it was estimated to be approximately an hour a day.
• Improved Focus: With the automation of device distribution and troubleshooting, James Elnicki could dedicate more time to networking and other important tasks without constant interruptions.
• Self-Service: Teachers and students could easily request and receive loaner devices, ensuring minimal disruptions to learning or teaching.
• Flexibility: The school's Help Desk could manage the issuance of loaner devices even if James Elnicki was not physically present at the high school, providing a more seamless support experience.
• No Scheduling: The Spare workflow in Incident IQ allowed the school to pre-load Smart Locker bays with loaner devices, simplifying the process of device replacement. Students could swap out devices, and the tech department could retrieve the malfunctioning ones, all on their own schedules.
• Cost Savings: The FUYL Towers reduced the need for additional staff to manage device distribution and troubleshooting, potentially saving the school an additional employee's salary.

Conclusion:

The implementation of LocknCharge's FUYL Tower Smart Locker System and their integration with Incident IQ, has revolutionized Maritime Academy Charter School's approach to managing loaner devices. The system has improved efficiency, increased productivity, and allowed the school's Network Engineer to focus on more critical tasks.

By providing a seamless self-service experience for students and teachers, the school has managed to enhance its support services and reduce interruptions to teaching and learning. Overall, the partnership with LocknCharge has proven to be a transformative solution for Maritime Academy Charter School.