DavR

Is that for in-person meetings or Teams calls? I seem to recall we were looking for something for in-person meetings a while back, but everything we found was designed for minuting video calls.

That makes sense, the confidentiality issue is something we'll definitely need to enforce. So do you allow all data including confidential into Copilot / Gemini, after ensuring they're configured not to share it?

We're just in the process of creating our policies on AI use in school, and that will include which AI tools are going to be our recommended tools, and which are not. From a poll we ran just before Christmas, we found that at the moment, most people who are using AI are using ChatGPT. We have the licensing for entry level Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, but I'm just wondering whether it's worth our time getting these tools set up and tested, when so far most people have gone to ChatGPT. I'm sure we've all been there before and put a lot of time and effort into a technically better product, only for users to go with the "buzz word" product of the day! As a third option, our Headteacher is also keen on Teach Mate, a school specific AI tool. This would be an extra cost, but, it has a lot of school tasks built in to it. If we bought into that, then we'd very much be pushing our staff to use it. What AI tools are your staff using? Have you allowed them to use popular tools of their choice such as ChatGPT, or, have you sought to lead behaviour towards specific school approved tools, and if so which ones?

I was just going to reply and say actually - the above method with the reg key is probably quicker if you're just adding the new certs to the Secure Boot active DB. As you say though, this doesn't add the certs to the default DB, this still needs a manufacturers firmware update. So you will lose those certs again if someone does a BIOS reset. Not that people do, but, CMOS batteries do fail, which would cause that same loss. I'm wary of doing it that way myself. Hyper-V - we've tried a firmware update on the host, but it doesn't update the guests. I guess it's whatever Hyper-V "virtual BIOS/firmware" it serves to guest OS that needs an upgrade, and that we're still waiting for.

Just gonna throw this on here, because I haven't seen it widely reported anywhere else yet and it was driving me nuts.... Hyper-V guests do NOT support the certificate upgrade yet. For the certificate upgrade to complete, you need to upgrade the virtual device firmware first, but the ability to update this firmware hasn't been released yet. It IS possible to create a brand new Hyper-V 2nd Gen guest, and as long as you've updated the host first, this should be created with the new certificates. But upgrading the certs on existing Hyper-V VMs doesn't seem to be available yet.

Looking at the Dell "supported" list for these updates, looks like only our most recent desktops will be getting the certificate update for BIOS (Optiplex 7010 SFF). What are we thinking is the best strategy for unsupported devices - let the certs lapse and leave it at that, or, should we be actively going round disabling Secure Boot?

Oof, bad luck. Not seeing anything on ours yet - Win 11 Enterprise 24H2 - it's staying shut off. Mind if ask which version you're seeing it on?

Do we mean the Copilot chatbot built into Microsoft Edge browser? I've just been reading around, and it looks like with recent versions of Edge, they've changed which settings control that. However, there are new GP templates that allow you to turn it off in Edge browser. You need to update your ADMX files for Edge, then the new setting is Admin Templates | Microsoft Edge "Control whether Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat shows in the Microsoft Edge for Business toolbar". This takes effect from Edge version 139. It replaces "Show Hubs Sidebar" which is now deprecated as of Edge version 141. I can't find a good GPO reference, but this one covers the InTune settings, which are basically the same controls - https://blog-en.topedia.com/2025/09/new-intune-policy-to-disable-the-copilot-chat-button-in-edge-for-business/

Just had a quick look, and it looks like there is a migrate MDM option..... but only if you're on iOS 26 or later 😕 https://documentation.meraki.com/Platform_Management/SM_-_Endpoint_Management/Product_Information/Meraki_Systems_Manager_EOL_Migration I might just take the chance to gather everything in one holiday and start from scratch, we haven't got a huge estate.

What are the device restrictions like in InTune versus Meraki? I set up all my device rules in Meraki years ago, it'll be fun transferring those over. Like @Cat_Jam148 we're on LGfL licensing, it'll be interesting to see what they'll come up with as an alternative. I suspect they'll do a bulk license deal with someone else.

@psydii is right that there is a certain amount of management and careful working to be done around how you achieve what the new teacher has requested. However, on a purely practical note, we achieved similar to what your teacher was asking for using an app called Feem. It has an iOS app, and a Windows app. To collect files from the class, the teacher opens their app on the Windows device. The students then open the iOS app and send their files to the teacher. This can only be done whilst the relevant apps are opened by both parties, reducing the risk safeguarding concern. It can be a bit fiddly, but it does what we need it to do. No Air Drop, no cables. The main restriction is that it does need to be on the same VLAN, I don't think it crosses LANs nicely.

Take advice from your electrician and/or site manager, but, you may be able to resolve this by switching the breaker for that circuit from a Type B to a Type C. The Type C allows for a far greater inrush current, taking account of that initial power-on surge, whilst also still allowing a decent protection for the circuit from shorts etc. I had to get this done when commissioning a new IT suite once. There were isolators for the suite, but, every time you switched those isolators on, the surge of 30 PCs taking initial power tripped the breaker.

Do you have a desktop or laptop connected to the Interactive Display? We used to screen share to Windows desktops from iPads using AirServer Universal software, which I think is still available. I don't think anyone really uses it any more, but I keep it available just in case. It may be you can use either Samsung Screenshare from the tablet, or get a third party app such as Chrome browser to cast from there.

I tend to go to three suppliers and ask for three different technologies when I'm in that scenario. Which is annoying when you've already chosen the brand you want, or you're brand loyal for a reason, e.g., interoperability. I'll be honest, if I want a certain brand or model, sometimes I'll get the supplier who has historically been the cheapest to quote for that, and then treat the other two quotes as box ticking. It's gaming the system, but in the face of uncompetitive behaviour from the other side, what can you do.

It wouldn't be the first time 😂 Looking at the adapters we have for our Chromebooks, they're rated 45W. Even assuming they're running at full power, 45W on 230V should only be 0.2A per charger, so 6A total for a trolley of 30. If you were using 65W chargers, almost 0.3A each, so closer to 9A per trolley. Not a huge amount, but more than I'd trust multiples of on a 13 amp four way extension lead. Hypothetically not a big problem for a fixed mains circuit at 30A or similar. But I defer to @Andrew_C's point on earth leakage, though.

My understanding is that this is recommendation for older technologies, which would continue to draw power even what batteries were full. It was to prevent overcharging, as well as present some economies. With more intelligent charging these days, devices should stop drawing power when the battery is full. Should, being the operative word. Either way, I leave ours available all day and night, charge on demand, because then things can charge between lessons. No point having the things if a device dies at lunchtime and you can't recharge it. EDIT - misread your question, sorry. I was replying about putting two trolleys on one 4-way extension (now deleted). Two trolleys of four plugs total, into one four gang wall socket? That would depend on what else is on that mains circuit, and what the breaker is rated to. Theoretical maximum of the trolleys is 13A x 4 = 52A, but even with trolleys, it's rare they'll be drawing the full 13A. I'd take my chances and plug in all four using the sockets available. If it's too much, the breaker will trip, and you'll know why. Another consideration could be power-on surge, depending on how well designed the trolleys are. When powering on that circuit from the breaker, four high-draw devices could cause a power-on surge and trip the breaker again. To prevent this, a lot of trolleys are designed to power up in stages.

1. Get an extended warranty wherever possible, but otherwise, repair in house. Chromebooks are very repairable, if you can get the parts, although with CPU, RAM, storage and external ports all on the motherboard, if any of those go, the unit is pretty much dead. 2. No specific stock level, but we have 120 Chromebooks in the school, and I try to always have some replacements in stock for when something is unrepairable. 3. We are not 1:1. We're primary and have a trolley per year group in KS2, which puts us at something like 1:4. 4. Not 1:1 5. Not 1:1 6. We did run a scheme where selected disadvantaged students were offered a Chromebook for home use, but that was based on a specific batch of devices the DfE provided during COVID. It's an offer we're rolling back on these days, I think we've only got maybe three or four still out there. Primary I don't think warrants 1:1 devices just yet (IMO) but I think when you hit secondary, it's the ideal if the budget can stomach it, and if every department is amenable / can be made amenable to providing work in Google Classroom / Workspace.

If it helps @synaesthesia, your suffering has achieved something - I was meaning to go back and test this and see if it's an issue, it obviously is, so you've saved me a job 😂 Not very encouraging about a fix time, though, if this is still a fault four months later. I don't know how well this would fit your processes, but if you've got Apple Configurator, you can setup a blueprint in that to answer all the silly little questions, and save yourself that hassle at least. That's what I did when I had to reset a batch of iPad Air Mk1s over the summer.

I can't comment on Unifi kit specifically, but, we've just done a new wifi network with Cambium, which is a similar level. I did compare a lot of other kit in the process, and regarding your PoE question, most WiFi6/7 APs I saw will run happily at full power on PoE+ (and, anecdotally, CAT5 and above legacy cabling). The PoE++ requirement is for if they'll be powering downlevel devices on a second ethernet or USB port, ie, doing PoE passthrough. Obviously, it varies per manufacturer, but that was the general rule.

I wonder if the setting "Configure whether a user always has a default profile automatically signed in with their work or school account" makes a difference? We don't have that set, might be something to play with.

If you're using InTune, there's a custom detection script available on the MS deployment page. I'm not sure whether it can discriminate between different versions, though. If you're installing with a startup script, we use the following if exist command to check for a specific version: If exist "%PROGRAMFILES%\WindowsApps\MSTeams_25212.2204.3869.2204_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\ms-teams.exe"

Yup, +1.

Moving on from ActivInspire is a huge challenge. Staff have got years, sometimes decades, of material and experience on ActivInspire, and frankly, none of the web based packages I've seen come anywhere close to competing. Promethean bought out Explain Everything just a bit too late, after people had already been too underwhelmed by ClassFlow. If you were starting from scratch, you'd maybe use PowerPoint or Google Slides, but I think we'll be supporting ActivInspire for a long while yet. I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has moved on, though!

Probably not much help, but can confirm that it's the same behaviour trying to open flipchart files using the SharePoint web UI for us, too. Open, opens it as if were a folder. Open in app, opens a second instance of OneDrive that does nothing helpful. Pretty much all of our lot are using CDM to open flipcharts, it's another factor in our keeping to use it, and I can't see another way of working with flipcharts that live on SharePoint.

They did this with the Office 365 Android app a while back..... I'm using it to access and open office docs, it's got F-All to do with MS CoPilot, surely, that's a separate product.