bclarke

I’m looking for an IT/AV Technician to join my team. https://www.sjcr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ITAV-Technician_Sept2022.pdf

We are looking for a Performing Arts and AV Technician to join my team. An interesting and varied role to make your own. https://www.sjcr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Performing-Arts-and-AV-Technician_April_2022_4.pdf

We are seeking to appoint a Performing Arts and AV Technician to look after all aspects of AV at St Joseph’s College, Reading. This is a varied role where you will be involved in productions as well as events which involve live-streaming, sound production and lighting. https://www.sjcr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Performing-Arts-and-AV-Technician-July-2021.pdf

An exciting opportunity to join our team at Downe House as a Senior Web Developer. https://www.downehouse.net/vacancy-info.asp?id=550

https://www.totaljobs.com/job/it-helpdesk-administrator/downe-house-independent-girls-school-job79913682?entryurl=%2fjobs%2fit-helpdesk-administrator%2fin-newbury%3fradius%3d10%2379913682

Was it called Forever?

@caffrey no need to understand any of that if you sign up to a support contract with a good company as they do it all for you. It was a straightforward transition for us all in a a couple of days. We use a business broadband line for the SIP trunk. Calls are really cheap through it. I used to worry about people making long expensive calls abroad but even far flung countries are a few pence per minute to call. Happy to chat to anyone on he phone about 3CX.

3CX here too. Would recommend Tri-LAN IT for support as they are excellent. With the savings made on traditional phone system and lines there is still significant savings to be made even with a support contract. Not worth the time and trouble to maintain it myself with these savings.

Such a pity. Had a very good relationship with my account manager for years. Bought loads through them and they had good contacts with big manufacturers. Always had free next day delivery too which was always useful. Had to log on to my old Insight account today to order something instead, haven’t ordered from them for years as Misco were so good.

3CX here. Cheap to buy and run. Can recommend Tri-Lan IT to install and maintain. Great VoIP solution.

Hi So hoping someone has the same issue as me. We issued the Surface 3 (not pro) Edu bundle to all our teachers and students last year. This has been a massive success in terms of how it is used and how much everyone loves it. The problems I am seeing is with the hardware though and Microsoft don't seem to want to help with this. When we issued these it was to staff first. We put docking stations on all the teacher desks and the plan was to allow students to use docking stations too. When we did this and teachers started to dock their Surfaces we started to see issues where the Surface wouldn't display. It turns out that the pins in the display port on the Surface became bent and crumpled. It didn't and doesn't happen to everyone and sometimes it has happened to the same person more than once with different Surfaces and docking stations. I at first blamed the user of course, perhaps they were forcing the docking station shut without placing the Surface correctly to start with. They insisted they followed my instructions correctly. It still happens, and it happens to students too. So far we have been lucky that MS replaced the Surfaces under warranty, but we didn't buy the extra warranty after the first year as we decided to put a budget aside for breakages rather than pay out for insurance, so this would cover loss and damage to screens etc which we haven't seen much of. The display port issue however is different and we see this regularly. We also see issues with the power supply USB lead becoming damaged after prolonged use. Again, MS have changed our power supplies each time under warranty even though it is only the cable that is the problem. Now they won't. I have been speaking to the Education Business Development Director at Microsoft who has been sympathetic but careful not to accept liability on these two issues and he has gone higher up. He says Microsoft hasn't seen this issue before and they conclude it must be user error and them forcing it shut. I have experimented with this and it simply doesn't happen by forcing it shut. They also say that no one else has this issue, but we seem to be in the minority because they don't know any other business who use the docking stations the way we do! I am at a loss now as to how to resolve this. I guess my point to this post is this. Has anyone else seen the display port crumpled pin issue and can't necessarily explain how it happened or you can? Perhaps you use the docking station and can verify if indeed we are doing something wrong? It would be good to hear from anyone that uses the Surface 3 (not pro) to hear your experience of it. Oh and the final issue I have is one of overheating in the docking station. It is wrapped up so much that it overheats the Surface and slows the processor right down to a crawl until you undock it and let it cool down. The warmer days are worst for this as well as watching video whilst docked. I won't be buying Surfaces again and will be looking at alternatives when we refresh. I don't regret buying the Surface in many ways as they are very good devices, I just wish Microsoft would help us out with this issue. Anything from anyone will be appreciated. Ben

I am using regular TV's with an Intel Compute Stick running Windows 10 Education with a piece of free software called PresentationPoint and PowerPoint. The free software monitors a network share where the PowerPoint sits and updates the screen when the slideshow is updated. The PowerPoint can be designed as a normal slideshow with all the transitions you need. We have one screen in reception which has student notices and a promo clip for drama, the outside one has various messages from marketing and out PTA for parents and visitors. It is then really simple for users to update a PowerPoint with very little training needed.

Could it be that these drives are set to work offline in some way? Could be causing sync problems between devices.

I am using regular TV's with an Intel Compute Stick running Windows 10 Education with a piece of free software called PresentationPoint and PowerPoint. The free software monitors a network share where the PowerPoint sits and updates the screen when the slideshow is updated. Currently running it on two screens. I would prefer a more pro setup but they cost a fortune.

Ricoh here too. Used to be Xerox for many years but changed in January this year. We went through one their dealers, Reflex who are excellent. Machines rarely break down, jam etc and just keep going. Service is outstanding too. We have MiFare card readers on all machines with Equitrac to track usage but students can log in to it using network credentials without cards.