Tech Team at Brasher Falls Spends 80% Less Time Managing Student Device Issues by Utilizing a Smart Locker by LocknCharge
Introduction: Brasher Falls Central School District
The Technology Department at Brasher Falls Central School District faced an all-too-common challenge in managing student Chromebooks. Students frequently forgot to bring or to charge their devices. This led to a substantial time investment from the school's technology team, which quickly prompted the need for a more efficient solution.
Customer Challenge: Uncharged, Missing, Forgotten Student Chromebooks
The Director of Data and Technology, Kevin Welsh, highlighted the daily struggle of managing uncharged, missing, or forgotten Chromebooks in the middle school and high school. The two technicians in his office were spending 2 to 2.5 hours daily addressing these issues, requiring constant attention to loan out and to track the return of student Chromebooks.
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Tech team challenges included:
- Constant interruptions to tech team
- No way to know who is taking what device
- Significant time of IT staff wasted dealing with student device issues
Solution: FUYL Tower Smart Locker System by LocknCharge
To alleviate the stress on the technology team and enhance device student accountability, Brasher Falls Central School District adopted the FUYL Smart Locker System by LocknCharge.
Kevin expressed his motivation for investing in these Smart Lockers, emphasizing the need for a solution that would reduce the time spent managing student device issues and provide a better inventory and tracking system for loaner devices.
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Tech team benefits included:
- Reduction of daily interruptions to tech staff
- Ability to quickly see which students have not returned their loaner devices
- Decreased the number of lost and stolen Chromebooks
Results and Impact: 80% reduction in time spent managing student device issues
Implementing LocknCharge Smart Lockers proved to be a game-changer for Brasher Falls Central School District. The technology department reported a significant reduction in the number of instances where students required assistance due to uncharged or forgotten Chromebooks; therefor, decreasing the number of daily interruptions to the IT technicians and other staff. The technology team's daily commitment to handling these issues decreased from 2 to 2.5 hours to about 30 minutes per day.
Recommendation and Overall Satisfaction:
Brasher Falls Central School District's Tech Department enthusiastically recommended LocknCharge Smart Lockers to other school districts.
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Key reasons for the District's recommendation:
- Time-saving benefits
- Improved inventory management
- Enhanced accountability
- Overall ease of use of the system
The Lockers not only streamlined the process of managing student devices but also contributed to a more efficient and stress-free environment for the IT Technicians.
Conclusion: Improved Efficiency and Accountability
The LocknCharge Smart Locker Solution at Brasher Falls Central School District emerged as a success story, showcasing a remarkable 80% reduction in time spent managing student device issues. The implementation of Smart Lockers not only addressed the immediate challenges faced by the technology team but also provided a foundation for improved efficiency and accountability in the school's technology management process.
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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.
Want to learn more about the FUYL Tower Smart Locker and Incident iQ integration?
Watch this short webinar explaining how you can automate end-to-end management of devices to give students and staff a working device in minutes, without derailing the tech team.
Schedule a Live Product Demo
Schedule a live video demo with a LocknCharge team member to get a closer look at how our products help make your life easier.
Webinar: Automating Student Device Replacement with Smart Lockers at School District of Mondovi
In this 30-minute webinar, you will hear from Brad Elkins, IT Director at School District of Mondovi.
As a one-person IT team, Brad was struggling to quickly replace student devices. Brad shares how he was able to automate the device replacement and loaner process with a Smart Locker System to minimize device downtime for students.
What This Webinar Covers:
Presented by: Brad Elkins, IT Director at School District of Mondovi
- History of device program at Mondovi
- Changes in the education landscape and challenges that prompted the need for a better way to manage student devices.
- Use cases for a Smart Locker at Mondovi:
- Broken device exchanges
- Loaner devices for forgotten or lost devices
- Secure charging for devices that need a boost
- Outcomes of Mondovi's Smart Locker program
- Lessons learned
- To read the Mondovi case study, click here.
Webinar: How Ogdensburg School District Uses Smart Lockers to Streamline Break/Fix and Loaner Workflows
Webinar Overview:
This interview-style webinar takes a deep dive into the FUYL Tower and LocknCharge Cloud to see how automating break/fix and loaner workflows are making device management at Ogdensburg City School District much easier for everyone involved.
Presenters:
- Bob Ladouceur: Edtech and Audiovisual Educator at Ogdensburg City School District
- Katie Ziech Short: Senior Territory Manager at LocknCharge
Workflows:
- Secure, public charging during the day
- Replacement device checkout for broken devices
- Loaner device checkouts for substitute teachers
About NERIC
The Northeastern Regional Information Center (NERIC) is a resource for cooperative educational technology services and support.
They work closely with the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in New York state, serving more than 130 school districts — large and small, urban, suburban and rural — in seven BOCES across a geographic area that covers 17 counties.
About LocknCharge
LocknCharge is the leading Smart Charging Locker company for Education. We are dedicated to helping districts find a better way to manage mobile device technology in their schools by improving the broken device exchange or check in/out process for students, teachers or other faculty.
The Best Charging Stations for Multiple Devices
At LocknCharge, we are dedicated to designing and manufacturing the highest quality charging stations for multiple devices for any mobile device program.
Our mission is to make life easier for schools and organizations implementing mobile device technology for multiple devices–including tablets, laptops, iPads and MacBook devices. If your school or organization has a number of devices to maintain and manage, you know how difficult it can be to find a charging solution or management system that works.
Cords can get tangled, devices become lost or stolen, a limited number of outlets can lead to a counterintuitive technology plan and device management for broken devices is compounding. With 73% of businesses failing to find a proper charging station for their technology, these problems are more common than you may think!
Best Multiple Device Charging Stations
We’ve rounded up some of our best charging stations, smart lockers and charging carts to meet the needs of multiple device types.
1. Joey Charging Carts
Affordability meets functionality.
Our Joey Carts are an affordable option for any school or business looking to charge multiple devices. The design of this Cart accommodates both racks and Baskets so you can charge up to 30 or 40 of just about any device with a 17” screen size.
Not only is the cart small and compact in size, but it also takes only minutes to wire the entire Cart. Plus the power strips are now more easily accessible, so you no longer have to wrestle with tangled cords. There’s plenty to love about this cart! Check it out here.
2. FUYL Smart Locker System
The FUYL Smart Locker System takes hardware asset management to the next level.
The FUYL Smart Charging Locker System is an Intelligent Hardware Asset Management System that charges, stores, secures and manages assets for most mobile devices in 15 individually-lockable compartments. FUYL Towers are powered by LocknCharge Cloud to remotely manage physical assets secured inside the Tower.
This smart charging locker has 5 or 15 individually-lockable compartments, each equipped with a power outlet and a 2.4 amp USB port. You can manage almost any device, including iPads, tablets, laptops, mobile phones, Chromebooks and more. Learn more about the FUYL Smart Locker System here.
3. Carrier Charging Carts
Carrier 20, 30 and 40 Carts provide ultimate security and durability.
Secure, efficient and a future-proofed, Carrier 20, 30 and 40 Carts sound almost too good to be true, right? Well, these Carts live up to the task. With the option for either racks or baskets, Carrier Carts accommodate almost any device up to 17”. Remove the racks or baskets to create an open-concept design that can also hold other technology such as robotics, printers, drones and more.
Our Baskets by LocknCharge hold five devices and make device deployment quick and easy. The top-loading design ensures easy access to devices–no more bending down to gather devices on a bottom shelf. And with cabling stored in the bottom of the Cart, power bricks and cords stay organized and will never go missing. Learn more about Carrier Carts here.
4. Revolution 32 Charging Cabinet
Charge a greater number of devices in a small footprint.
This charging cabinet can accommodate 32 devices up to 17 inches, with or without a case while taking up 50% less floor space than a traditional charging cart.
For 1:1 classrooms that are tight on space but need to charge, store and secure a greater amount of devices, the Revolution 32 Charging Cabinet is just the ticket. And with ECO Safe Charge Power Management, you can easily charge 32 devices in the same amount of time as just one. Learn more here.
5. Carrier Charging Stations
Carrying you to better charging solutions, one station at a time.
Limited on space? No worries - with our Carrier Charging Stations, you can make any wall or desk a secure charging station for anywhere from 10 to 15 devices.
This charging station for multiple devices also comes equipped with Baskets, making deployment of devices up to 13” faster and easier. And for devices up to 17”, swap the Baskets for Racks to easily accommodate larger devices. Still not convinced? Charge your devices while they’re safely locked, giving you back classroom and work time. Check out the station here.