broc Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 How do your staff stay in contact with technicians & network manager in school? Do you use simple facilities, like email, telephones on the desk, or have you more advanced technologies, like DECT phones, WiFi phones, use smartphones, Skype, tablets etc etc? I am looking at replacing a phone system & got prices for Wifi handsets, they come out at around £500 each by the time you have paid for licences, handsets etc. It seems like a lot so I wondered if there were better/cheaper ways of keeping in contaact with staff as they move around the school?
X-13 Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 How do your staff stay in contact with technicians & network manager in school? They don't. 1
HMCTech Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Physical activity aka walking and using voice. Failing that we have a desk phone each, a school mobile each and email and helpdesk on the mobiles. 1
localzuk Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Helpdesk (via email), or more urgent things by phone or coming and talking to us. Stopping us in the corridor is a no-no, as we simply end up missing things. 1
jamesfed Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Emails/Phone - we have Lync 2010 as our phone system and have set it up so that any calls to our DDI get sent onto our mobiles as well. 1
jamesfed Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Blackberry, they can email or call me I get emails on my Windows Phone as well
K.C.Leblanc Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Helpdesk, Deskphones and EMail. Me and the IT manager have school mobiles. I also use a netbook around the school. One thing we find helps make things more manageable is that we don't have our own phone extensions. It stops users trying to direct problems at particular members of the team or trying to report them several times to different people. 1
sidewinder Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Mobile, email, verbally School is too small for a helpdesk, and also small enough that being stopped in the corridor is not too much of a problem (even so, staff usually offer to email what they've just asked, because they know I forget!) 1
EvLPhenom Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 We get stopped in the corridor but i will always tell them to email me becuase 9 times out of 10 i will forget, some of the staff know this well though now.
broc Posted June 20, 2012 Author Posted June 20, 2012 Thanks for all who responded. WiFi phones seemed a good idea until I saw the price. I think we will stick to the way we do things now, much the same as everyone else does
Gardinho Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 We use school issued mobiles now, but basic walky talky did the job in my last school. Cheap too!
Gibbo Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 If you've got a site-wide wireless network 3CX for Android is pretty good: Free VoIP Phone Software for Windows, Android, iPhone
john Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Licensed Two Way Radios work for me and my techy to talk to each other, we don't let others grab us on them yet as we want everything through the helpdesk which emails me and I have coverage of either mobile data or the wireless so can get them no issues. I am however looking at Lync for expanding this as Lync could be a good tool for teaching and learning as well for example working together collaboratively so its good dual justification IMHO.
jamesfed Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Licensed Two Way Radios work for me and my techy to talk to each other, we don't let others grab us on them yet as we want everything through the helpdesk which emails me and I have coverage of either mobile data or the wireless so can get them no issues. I am however looking at Lync for expanding this as Lync could be a good tool for teaching and learning as well for example working together collaboratively so its good dual justification IMHO. Lync is worth its weight in gold IMO - just the ability to call people from a software client without having to hunt for extension numbers has been a key selling point for most of our staff. Don't think the site team appreciate me setting it up so it forwards calls right onto their mobiles though
bondbill2k2 Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Phones mobile on desk and mobile, helpdesk on our sharepoint LG, emails, notes, in person both at our office and in the corridor and on rare occasions still letters in pigeon holes then later complains why we didn't deal with the problem quickly!
Jamman960 Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Currenly use Email/Helpdesk and I have a DECT phone instead of a desk phone which works site wide - currenlty on an Aastra system
dgsmith Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Primarily, office phones and we do have our own extensions but only to provide 2 physically separate lines - only the office know the individual extension and for everyone else there is a single number which rings both and is the most commonly used method of communication. Email is a close second, for those either without a phone in their room or where they have so much to say they'd rather write it down! A helpdesk is something we need to do really.. going to be a massive culture change for everyone as we still, to an extent, get stopped on corridors! ..and sometimes the brave meet us face to face in the office(!)
andyturpie Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 A quad pack of cobra walkie talkies £80 quid from Maplins. Helpdesk ticket system, phones and mobiles..
Gibbo Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 There's a danger in using too much technology and having too many methods available. I think the best solution is the online helpdesk, desk telephone and personal call. Anyone who does the latter two are forced to stand and wait while you put it into the helpdesk system!
twin--turbo Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 We were trialining sip clients on our mobiles untill we found out that there is some sort of bug that is causing SLOW pings (up to 2s in some cases) between the Meru Wifi and handheld devices. Meru have had it on their helpdesk for a month and been on the controler a number of times to look at it. The Sip Clients were connecting to our Cisco Phone system and if they were out of range would forward to the mobile number. We use ASUS transformers to access helpdesk and e-mail... And the Phone. And if a member of staff asks us something "PUT IT ON THE HELP DESK - AND WE WILL LOOK AT IT" Rob
jonnykewell1 Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 we keep in touch via job logging on spiceworks, E-mail, school voip system or just face to face in the office.
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