King’s Ely School Replace all of their old technology with New SMART Touchscreens 

Project Requirements

In July 2018, Proactive AV installed six SMART touchscreens which replaced old SMARTBoards and projectors and shortly after the school started looking into a five year roll out replacement programme. The clear project deliverables included reducing maintenance, common software consistency of use across all classrooms whilst also reducing power consumption/costs,and power costs, central control of the new hardware and the future proofing of the equipment.

Classroom Audit and Project Details

Kings’s Ely requested Proactive conducted an audit to confirm the status of their existing equipment before deciding what to replace and when. In November 2018 two members of the Proactive technical team carried out a sample audit of 45 classrooms. It found that 17 of the 45 SMARTBoards surveyed were damaged with holes, dents or cracked casings, missing pens, many projectors did not have HD functionality, projector images were larger than the SMARTBoard in some cases (affecting interactivity capability), the average bulb life was approximately 2000 hours and even though several of the projectors indicated only several hundred hours of use, the poor images given suggested replaced bulbs. After the audit, Proactive were able to demonstrate the significant risk to ongoing teaching disruption and the costs of not replacing the existing equipment as a priority. When including the reducing energy consumption costs, Proactive could demonstrate a cost effective lease solution to allow King’s Ely to replace all the equipment in one phase.

Reduced Energy Consumption

A SMARTBoard 680 and Epson projector utilises 518 watts of power at a cost of £128.90 per annum per class which with the 106 classrooms equipped with the technology, equates to £13,663 per annum. In contrast the MX265 utilising 105 watts would cost £2,571 per annum; a significant reduction in energy consumption—something the school takes seriously.

Project Outcomes

The SMART MX265 was the chosen replacement hardware being driven by existing PC’s and managed centrally by software provided. 99 SMART MX265 screens were installed by Proactive engineers in December 2018 (in addition to the six screen install in Summer 2018) with the existing equipment removed from site as per WEEE Regulations. Any economically salvageable units were refurbished and provided to other charitable organisations for use in other schools. The project was paid for via a five-year finance lease.

Training and Support

Ongoing bespoke training packages are being conducted for the teaching staff based on their previous experience and knowledge. The Proactive Support Desk is on hand to deal with any technical and support queries.

Of Proactive AV, Simon Drew, Business Manager of King’s Ely said:

      Dealing with Proactive has been exceptionally easy; they deliver! From the very first explanatory phone call to the initial installation, followed by the surveying and project management of the major installation has been nothing but impressive. Once the technical and procurement details had been sorted out and the lease finalised Proactive decommissioned, installed and tested 99 new installations between 14th and 21st December. All the follow up ‘snagging’ and support has been timely and nothing has been too much trouble for Proactive to deliver. Oh, and the price was extremely competitive too! Based upon my experience, I would gladly and wholeheartedly recommend Proactive to anyone!   

Marc Hawes, the school’s academic Director of ICT and Computing said:

      I have been amazed by the level of aftercare support Proactive have given. For the first week after returning to school in January Proactive engineers were on site trouble shooting any issues teachers had, resolving them all very quickly. The level of training was excellent and they fitted with the schedules we required.  I would thoroughly recommend them to any other schools.   

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