bclarke

Hi Nick. I got it running last night after following another thread about certificates and https, now comes the rest of the config. Looking forward to trying all the features and will be just what we need here. The booking system is a nice bonus too and will enable me to move away from the sharepoint setup I was using. Thanks again for your help, I may be in touch again soon. Ben

Thanks for a swift reply Nick, much appreciated. I have tried your suggestion, tabbing or clicking in the next box but it happens as soon as I click away. Also, the general page is showing a red cross next to "services activated". Not sure if that's relevant. On the AD page I have base settings with a red cross but the Active Directory User List OU bit with a green tick.

Hi I am having some difficulty finishing the configuration. When I browse to the setup page and enter the AD username and password, I get this: Server Error in '/hap' Application. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. Stack Trace: [NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.] HAP.Web.Setup.Save_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) +77 System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +153 System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +3690 Any other changes made save perfectly. I would appreciate any help. Looks like a great system. Thanks Ben

We are currently looking at changing our phone system. I have installed the 3CX system for testing after seeing a review about it and it seems to work really well so far. I am getting some more phones as well as some wifi phones for testing to see how it all performs in different parts of the network. Has anyone had any experience or are currently running 3CX as their phone system? I would love to hear whether it's up to the job in the real world. I am also interested in whether you changed completely to a VOIP SIP trunk, stayed with ISDN or something else. Many thanks Ben

I have been investigating the possibility of iPads for our school. We are just about to complete our state of the art music building and the main teaching room needs to be multifunctional, so lessons before lunch, possibly composing or practical of some element, then pack everything away for a large rehearsal during lunch, then setup again for more practical lessons. As you can imagine, a room trying to be everything to everyone is getting quite difficult. Until the iPad came along. We could switch the iPad on within 30 seconds, as opposed to the 5-10 minutes for a laptop, it would last all day on one charge, whereas a laptop needs constant charging throughout the day even if you go for a higher capacity battery, this means more lessons using technology. The Apps available for music are amazing and a lot cheaper than trying to do the same thing on a laptop. Let's not forget, we are teaching concepts here not technique to the lower school (years 7-9), so getting their finger technique correct on a piano or guitar isn't as important as getting them to understand the capability of instruments and how they make music, or harmonies etc. We could install so many types of instruments on an iPad that we would not normally have in the building and it still takes up the same space as a laptop. Every student in the class could understand the concept of a guitar, harmonica, drums, piano and even bagpipes without having to buy or store them. This opens up a lot of possiblities. Granted, iPads can be quirky at network browsing, printing etc, but there are apps available for all of that too. A laptop with Sebelius and a keyboard attached just doesn't cut it for me in this scenario and the laptops will end not being used. We are installing desktops with Sebelius and music keyboards in a dedicated GCSE/A Level room so these students can compose in the usual way, but I can even see these students using the iPads to go off to a quiet part of the building to figure out that tricky melody for their composition rather than slogging it out in front of a computer. I have made a comparison of laptops and iPads to put to Governors, and iPads win in costs hands down and the prices are for the 32gb model, cases, screen protectors, trollies and all required apps (even apps for other depts such as Brushes).

I have been looking at some sort of video calling for my boarding school. I have problems with giving out skype as I can't control who students talk to, it could be anyone. I found a system called BigAnt which is an internal IM server, video calling and VOIP system. The trial version will run with 10 concurrent licenses but it has some neat features if you purchase extra licenses such as the document server which allows you to create a file structure and share documents through it. The system logs chat messages and call times etc so you can monitor usage. Permission setups are brilliant, and you can prevent users seeing other users, so parents or friends of boarders cannot see other students to chat to. I did find though that the video chat had a problem with my ISA server and despite opening the correct ports on the firewall I couldn't get an external client to video chat with an internal client, but I have recently purchased as Smoothwall device and it works perfectly now so it must have been my config on ISA which was playing up. I have spent quite a while looking at IM systems, this one beats all others. Support is great too. Skype would be brilliant if only they would make an internal server which I could setup and run how I would want it. BigAnt is a very good alternative. Hope this helps. Ben

I had a big problem with Proxy sites in the past, then bought a Bloxx system which blocks all proxy sites (not cheap though). It's a reliable and very intelligent system and has totally stopped students using proxies. I also monitor what students are doing using AB Tutor, the best on the market as licensing is very cheap and per tutor not per computer. With both of these solutions, a good usage policy and discipline procedure it works very well.