DrBeaker

Thought Morisson's were interested as well?

Yeah either serial number or asset tag is the other one. However we've had times where they've pulled the asset tags off, pulled off or scratched out the label with serial number so we have no idea/info on the unit.

Next time I'd just use serial number to be honest.

I'd understand it.... IF.... All of our IT suites keyboards and mice weren't EXACTLY the same Dell ones on every single computer in every single IT suite. We still get that same. I cable-tie them and then they pull the slack out just to plug it in the front! WHY???

OMG Jealous!!!

Could you put a rubber grommet on the cable at all? Do you have any pics of the cover/setup at all?

Yep...just look at the 'hidden costs' schools have with reconfiguring the crappy spec DfE laptops as an example of rising costs.

Looked for years to no avail I'm afraid. We even looked at some washable Logitech keyboards but that didn't work. We tried cheap ones, that caused weird issues. Tried Logitechs which were a bit better but more costly. It's a major sore point with a lot of people working IT in schools as there's no accountability for staff or students for damage to equipment. Frankly myself given up trying in all of the educational roles I've worked in. Even when we had CCTV evidence of intentional damage nothing was done about it. I just replace damaged equipment when it's logged, tally the cost for that room and send it onto SLT to address.

Would you say that's down to legitimate interest e.g. in risk mitigation/reduction, actual knowledgeable SLT/Management etc? Some schools are light years ahead of others.

Sadly until something happens I don't think they will take IT or Cyber security seriously. Just my 2 cents. A lot of tech in schools is simply a sticking plaster on top of an older sticking plaster, bodging a solution. There's no interest and no investment in equipment despite IT being proactive and trying to make them aware and educate them. e.g. If you left your front door unlocked on your house, got burgled and told the insurance you couldn't be bothered to lock your front door - they'd void your claim. Pretty simply really. Sad to be in an industry that's supposed to be cutting-edge but they don't want to spend proper money to fix things.

Advice/Brainstorming - If you had the chance to setup your IT office from scratch / begin again - What would you do and how would you set it up? * Benches, * Network sockets, * Mains sockets etc * Access etc Need some advice and from people's own experience/wishlist etc.

We had some Lenovo APU laptops purchased few years ago. Not impressed with speed. One died just after the year of RTB warranty. It was beyond economical repair.

Bear in mind your time to repair these isn't free either.

Found similar with a recent request. Have to prove eligibility Then get access. Then download GB's worth of installers - which all seem to download at 2GB each and all linked together (Christ are we back in the 90s with spanned zip files) Then find it doesn't work. What...a...faff.

Yeah I can't see this working out very well for ESS in the long-term. Seems a very petty way to get back at schools not wanting to lock in a 3-year contract for my 2 cents. Christ Capita weren't brilliant but never tried this crap.

Boy how true this is.

Tell them to take it up with the site team directly if it's them who's implemented it. IT aren't accountable if it was done by other teams. Take photos and add them to the ticket with a reference to every single occurrence the issue was caused by timers. Then report to SLT the impact and make them do their jobs of leading and managing.

Always had this debate at other places. Got told "don't write 'essay's in the resolution notes." by the management. Apparently a really complex issue that we might need to refer back to at some point in the future (GOD FORBID I made life easier for a colleague either) "fixed" was good enough of a resolution. Then we actually needed to see what the resolution was for a previous incident or run reports off - guess what they all said? Good idea that. I already talk to myself, so as a team of one I'd be chatting to myself lol

Tickets (incidents) are one thing. Generally it's ... Issue > Fix it > Resolution notes > close ticket. Problem tickets (Problems/cause of multple incidents) is another. This could involve regular updates to SLT etc, phone calls with MSPs, vendors etc. Projects are another entire different thing. I have some small projects and some very large, expensive, multi-year projects. Some costing under £100 to some costing over £20K or more and multiple people involved. All get documented differently to be honest. I'd love an easier solution. Stuff I need to test/look into as part of one of the above might get documented into a Word doc with running notes etc. I also use a Kanban board daily/weekly which shows where the issues are blocked (and surprise, surprise ... it ain't with IT) I do similar with notepad files or Word documents.

Exactly this - it's a RISK of not IF but WHEN they fail. What will they do WHEN they fail? That's a BUSINESS issue, not an IT issue. By not replacing them, they've accepted the risk and and admitted the negligence involved. Ignorance is no defense. @6Foot2 we had similar. Get calls from the canteen - X isn't working. Well, contact the cashless catering company then, that's what we pay support for. I don't get paid for it, get a bonus etc or cashback if I solve the problem with THEIR system. ESPECIALLY annoying when the cashless catering company has the gall to tell the canteen staff "Get your IT support to look at it, it's only a PC, get your IT team to connect a monitor to it" - No mate, that's your bloody job, that's why the school is paying YOUR company for YOUR support. All factors you need to consider.

So it's still appalling I see then at Groupcall. My last couple of times have not been at all positive. If I remember the actua last one correctly - I'm still waiting for a callback from them, for an issue, from a user who left 6x months ago. Thank God we've using Wonde for a lot more stuff now. It's a lot better looking and easier to use too. They're actually proactive as well when things aren't working at their end. Have excellent service from them.

Helpdesk ticket, added to inbuilt calendar of shared/personal calendar. Issue, added to inbuilt calendar of shared/personal calendar. Anything else, added to calender. Yet to fail me. Simple, effective and works.

Cunninghams - Not particularly helpful LiveRegister - Not helpful. Very surly support team/staff/helpdesk. Fob you off. Will attempt to make your IT troubleshoot issues with THEIR system. No mate, that's what we're paying YOUR COMPANY for. Software is crap. "Till" equipment is something I'm sure we could have built ourselves and consists of an external USB Numberpad and a USB fingerprint reader. Data that only syncs ONCE every 24x hours.

Shush... [emoji12] I have told the correct people who need to address it. It's down to them now.

Did the same on a 500 series myself, but that was on Windows 7. Didn't use them with 8/8.1 or 10 so not sure anymore.