Using Smart Notebook software on 3rd Party boards

[Connetix]

Hi, one of our suppliers has bought it to my attention, that smart software (the fold free version), cannot be used on any 3rd party devices, ie Promethean or clever touch boards.

 

Can anyone verify if this is correct? for some reason I was of the impression, that as long as you had one 'Smart' board, you can use the software on all the computers in the school.

 

Many thanks for your help. Regards, Afzal.

[Steve21]

Nope that's always been the case, even the install the software on all computers when you have 1 board is a grey area rather than "allowed"

 

Steve

[yac2016]

Yep be careful so many schools we go to and they are using Smart software on none SMART boards.

[christhetech]

The supplier is absolutely correct Afzal. If you are using 3rd party boards, the you would also need to pay an additional subscription to use Smart software on them, even if you also have a couple of Smart boards dotted around.

[Connetix]

WOW.. this is incredible

 

[TABLE=width: 100%]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]SLS, 1 year non smart hardware Q11

[/TD]

[TD]£498.91

[/TD]

[TD]12

[/TD]

[TD]£5,986.92

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

For a software that was previously free. This has to be commercialism at it's very best.

[christhetech]

It seemed to be the way that Smart were going for a while, away from the boards and moving more into maximising their Software. Let's face it, the number of schools that have Smart Notebook as their IWB software of choice, it is more or less the de-facto standard. So from Smart's POV, why bother flogging screens, when they can just sell the software and still make a very handsome profit?

[bigdannyb79]

WOW.. this is incredible

 

[TABLE=width: 100%]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]SLS, 1 year non smart hardware Q11

[/TD]

[TD]£498.91

[/TD]

[TD]12

[/TD]

[TD]£5,986.92

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

For a software that was previously free. This has to be commercialism at it's very best.

 

I'd speak to SMART - it wont cost you that much and they recognize the previous licensing model was counter intuitive so I'd have a word.

[jmak]

WOW.. this is incredible

 

[TABLE=width: 100%]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]SLS, 1 year non smart hardware Q11

[/TD]

[TD]£498.91

[/TD]

[TD]12

[/TD]

[TD]£5,986.92

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

For a software that was previously free. This has to be commercialism at it's very best.

It was never free. It was included in the price of the board. If you haven't paid for the board, they'd go out of business pretty quickly if they didn't charge for the software.

 

I'll definitely agree with you that it's very expensive - I'd say priced to try and persuade you to stick with their hardware.

[bigdannyb79]

as I said speak to smart - I have unlimited licenses across a 5 site MAT for way less than that . . .

 

SLS is constantly developing along with an new online platform so to continue to get the latest and greatest its reasonable to pay for it.

 

So many schools are not budging off 11.4 or whatever the last perpetual version was and its false economy as your not getting any of the benefit from the development over the last 5+ years.

[Connetix]

as I said speak to smart - I have unlimited licenses across a 5 site MAT for way less than that . . .

 

SLS is constantly developing along with an new online platform so to continue to get the latest and greatest its reasonable to pay for it.

 

So many schools are not budging off 11.4 or whatever the last perpetual version was and its false economy as your not getting any of the benefit from the development over the last 5+ years.

 

I can't seem to get a site licence, it's essentially per device, and the cheapest I got was £490 per device per year. Is the Smart Notebook express free to use ?

[mikeprice]

Although I have never tried it I was of the opinion that you received a license with every SmartBoard that you bought. In the old days it was free and perpetual.

 

hence - if you had a SmartBoard for every classroom then you could use the software in all those classrooms - but only up to that version - even if you upgraded them to another IWB make

 

Although it would get a bit grey if you sold the SmartBoards to someone else as you could be considered to have sold the included license

but if you just scrapped the boards when they stopped working then I suppose you could keep using the software that came with them

 

any opinions (other than that version of the software is very old - but if that is all you need......)

[DGardiner]

if you have smart hardware on site and a few non smart boards, enquire about a smart site licence, depending on your smart hardware % the yearly subscription is buttons... we were last quoted at £800/year

 

very pc sell them i think

[Connetix]

Although I have never tried it I was of the opinion that you received a license with every SmartBoard that you bought. In the old days it was free and perpetual.

 

hence - if you had a SmartBoard for every classroom then you could use the software in all those classrooms - but only up to that version - even if you upgraded them to another IWB make

 

Although it would get a bit grey if you sold the SmartBoards to someone else as you could be considered to have sold the included license

but if you just scrapped the boards when they stopped working then I suppose you could keep using the software that came with them

 

any opinions (other than that version of the software is very old - but if that is all you need......)

 

That's what I thought, but that clearly is wrong, and the smart smart software (the old version) isn't licenced to be used on 3rd party boards. If the smart express doesn't need to be licensed, then that could be a way forward on the 3rd party boards.

 

I think as long as the schools have proof of purchase for the old boards, they can use smart 11.4 to create the lessons, and use smart express on the boards.. that could be a way forward. From next year they can budget an additional £490 per board for the SMART licence.

[localzuk]

I had this discussion with SMART a while back. The license covering our 25 rooms here would've been £11k a year, and that was after talking to them about it. No option for a site license.

 

I asked for a price for 1 x 1 year license for a non-SMART device last week and the price I got was around £900 per year.

 

Due to this, I'm investigating alternatives - such as ProWise Presenter. Does all the same stuff, opens Notebook files, and there's a free version...

[StevieM]

We purchased a 4-year site licence from @VeryPC for <£1000 just a few months ago. This covers all our Smart and non-Smart boards.

[localzuk]

We purchased a 4-year site licence from @VeryPC for <£1000 just a few months ago. This covers all our Smart and non-Smart boards.

How?! I've spoken to SMART multiple times and they don't offer this at all, if you have non-SMART devices, you have to pay more.

[StevieM]

Most of our boards are Smart, but we do have some that aren't. We had to give a percentage when we ordered, as well as the number of pupils in the school. Get on to @VeryPC_Colin_M and he'll give you the details.

[RichCowell]

How?! I've spoken to SMART multiple times and they don't offer this at all, if you have non-SMART devices, you have to pay more.

 

For the newer SMART Learning Suite (SLS) it's based on the ratio of SMART : Non-SMART devices... If you've got 75%+ SMART devices, you get the cheaper price.

 

If you've got 45%-75% SMART it's the higher price... The information I've had doesn't mention anything about schools with less than 45% SMART - probably assuming you wouldn't want it then, unless you're just moving to SMART...

Edited July 10, 2018 by RichCowell

[atcoates]

How?! I've spoken to SMART multiple times and they don't offer this at all, if you have non-SMART devices, you have to pay more.

 

If I follow the link in our agreement email it takes me to this page that does reference being able to use the software on any device.

 

Notebook Site License (not applicable to SLS):

 

Unlimited activations within the Site.

In order to qualify for this license, licensee organization must obtain the license based on the total number of Classrooms within the Site.

May be used in school or at home.

May be used on student devices.

May be used on any hardware, SMART or other.

One year of Maintenance for all installations of the software within the Site is included with the purchase of this license. In the event the number of rooms within the Site increases (as calculated on the anniversary of obtaining the SMART Notebook Site license, licensee organization must purchase the additional licenses (based on the differential in licensing fees) for such number of rooms in order to use the software in such additional rooms and to continue to qualify for the SMART Notebook Advantage Maintenance Site License.

 

https://home.smarttech.com/legal/legal-notice

[localzuk]

For the newer SMART Learning Suite (SLS) it's based on the ratio of SMART : Non-SMART devices... If you've got 75%+ SMART devices, you get the cheaper price.

If you've got 45%-75% SMART it's the higher price... The information I've had doesn't mention anything about schools with less than 45% SMART - probably assuming you wouldn't want it then, unless you're just moving to SMART...

We have 0% SMART in one school, and 5% SMART in another... When we moved to non-SMART gear, they offered a simple licensing model - we paid £9k for 3 years covering the 5% school. They scrapped this scheme after about 15 months...

[RichCowell]

Yep - that's gone now as far as I know - the ANME worked closely with SMART in the 12 months to April and they sent quite a bit of information over...

 

You can use the very basic features of SLS for free - but it has the watermark on the documents, and requires users to create a free account and sign in - so you don't need to subscribe unless you want to use more of it.

[atcoates]

It wasn't cost effective to go for non smart boards and buy the software. Smart are always going to make you pay a premium if you don't buy their boards. Teachers love the software though!

[localzuk]

Yep - that's gone now as far as I know - the ANME worked closely with SMART in the 12 months to April and they sent quite a bit of information over...

You can use the very basic features of SLS for free - but it has the watermark on the documents, and requires users to create a free account and sign in - so you don't need to subscribe unless you want to use more of it.

SMART have shot themselves in the foot with this attitude - we are simply going to be abandoning their products as they are more obsessed with getting people to use their interactive screens than keep long term customers who are happy to pay a sensible price for the software. Their pricing for SMART SLS for non-SMART users is higher than the entire MS licensing we pay. Its higher even than Adobe licensing.

[chrisakak9]

I've just bought a 3 year site licence for smart 17.1 for about £1,500 (states 30 seats and we do have about 18 smartboards)

[chrisakak9]

FYI if you install newer screen you will have issues with 11.4 freezing and not allowing pens to function.

we have 2 E70 touchscreens and they do not like 11.4 at all even with the updated drivers moving to 17.1 sorted that.