Rob_D

This is probably one of the more budget friendly options I've seen with normal sized keys/key-spacing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHERRY-KEYBOARD-Keyboard-Keystrokes-Experience/dp/B09N9DDX5L and then you can pair it with one of these : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Numeric-Keypad-Portable-Number-Computer-default/dp/B08LNP94GH

Some years ago I had one UPS on 2 servers and managed to connect one via the USB and the other by the serial port. Or, what about attching both UPSs to one server to monitor, and have it send a remote shutdown command to the other one when PowerChute takes it down?

If anything, that's more confusing that Norphy's list.

Merry Christmas, y'all. I hope it's been a good day and you're full of turkey*. *Or seasonal fair of your choice.

The licencing guides I've seen say: https://www.licensingschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Windows_Server_2022_Licensing_Guide-Oct-2022.pdf Based on this you have 8 virtual processors, so you need licences for 8 cores (which is the minimum per machine anyway). Whether you can get a better deal elsewhere is another question.

It looks like you need P2 licneces to use PIM, is this correct or can we also get it under one of the edu licenses?

The thing we had to consider when we did this exercise (we just has a line in the logon script write the username, pc name and date/time to a CSV), is that number of times logged into doesn't always equate to usage, as some of the "most used" computers are only logged into once a day because that user is on it all day.

I've had a play with exp-pen cable now I'm home and as far as I can tell it is doing standard usb-c display out. I wouldn't want to guarantee anything, but it looks like it might work for you.

It's a bit of a punt, but this might work. https://www.storexppen.co.uk/buy/cable.html

I suppose economies of scale, is the main argument for schools sticking with the LA. LA with the buying power of dozens of schools could potentially cut a better deal than a single school on it's own.

Do you still have to download non office attachments before you can open them? I remember having to do this with voicemail-to-email attachments to play them, rather than opening it directly like current/old Outlook can. (Yes I know it's downloading it somewhere, but the user experience is "click on the attachment and it opens") Also can you re-organize inbox folders are you stuck with alphabetical order? They were the biggest bugbears for me.

Was the same when West Sussex went to Bromcom a couple of years back. Schools could do their own thing, but it would be down to you make sure you had a way to get all necessary finance reports to county (Not entirely unfair IMO). So most went along with Bromcom. It puts me in mind of the time when we first moved away from the county WAN/internet and they said we needed to maintain a direct WAN link (at our own expense) so finance/HR reporting could be sent "securely". The SBM at the time worked out it would be cheaper to burn the reports to CD and hire a Securicore type currier to ship it across town.

We use Bodet speaker setup connected to panic buttons and SLT remote. (also used for lesson change bells and playing music on the last day of term.)

Unsurprisingly, Bromcom is way ahead in West Sussex. 62 - Arbour198 - Bromcom25 - CCS-SIMS1 - Scholar Pack

Didn't they try and reboot it a few years back with new characters but it only lasted 1 season?

Yeah they basically want "child not in lesson, but in safe place with responsible adult" code for internal reporting. But they want it to read as unauthorized absent on MCAS so the parent knows the kid wasn't where they should be. I managed to speak to someone at Bromcom who's said, they don't let schools make absent codes due to the risks of it effecting the statutory attendance figures. But they were happy enough to change it for me.

Hi all, Dose anyone know if you can create custom absence attendance code in Bromcom? When I bring up the attendance box for creating new attendance codes, the "Meaning" option is set to Present and greyed out so I can change it. Thanks.

Consider if you do want to merge all the schools into a single tenancy given MS's plans to reduce the "free" storage available to schools to 100TB per tenancy + 50gb/100gb per A3/A5 license. (unless this got scrapped and I didn't notice, in which case ignore me)

Could a one-time exception not be made to allow MFA setup in, for example the first IT lesson of the school year? (with some similar dispensation sometime in their first week for in-year starters) You'd need SLT on-side, but if everything is clearly communicated with parents and students, it's not unworkable. The flip side might be, that there's a (say) 2 week period after they first start where they can set up MFA at home, and then it's locked down. It's still a risk, but it's better than nothing.

They have options for you to buy or lease the hardware (iPad, printer, floor/desk stand, rf dongle thingy), in their "Full Package" options. As far as I've seen, the only additional costs you'd have to cover yourself would be the paper/labels for the printer. https://signinapp.com/buy

We use Bromcom for all parent communications as well. Parents either get the message through the app (if they have it) or via email.

!aloha!

We use unbranded HDMI to DP cables to the wall plate for our IWB connections (I got them through our MSP and they're just listed as "DP/HDMI cable, 2m, black"). They work fine, but we've only got 3-5m runs to the board, so I can't say how they'd handle longer runs. To be honest, we use desktops in classrooms, I just have a bunch of stuff from when we looked into laptops and hubs. Never looked at monitors with built in hubs.

Have you tried DP>HDMI adapters with the monitors? They're fairly inexpensive and we've had decent success with them.

What docking stations are you looking at. Some of the more beefy ones like this https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/dell-dock-wd19s-130w/apd/210-azbx/docks are less likely to go walkabout and could even be mounted to the underside of the desk to reduce the risk