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LEARN MOREAdvancements in technology have undoubtedly improved operations for businesses across multiple sectors. However, investing in the wrong technology can adversely impact every member of an educational institution, from staff and students to IT professionals.
This is because without certified solutions, there is a level of infrastructure sprawl. With many devices to set up, manage and monitor, IT support is far from seamless and importantly, there is no transparency.
As such, faulting devices can impact a teacher trying to connect to a student learning remotely. Device failures can also mean that important meetings between department heads and the head of the school are delayed.
By opting for certified video conferencing products in your educational institution, everyone benefits. Offering a seamless approach to IT, video conferencing solutions provide unparalleled levels of visibility and consistency.
This in turn ensures that staff have access to the tools they need in order to function in the modern school environment. It ensures that school leadership has the means to effectively and efficiently meet with staff. Importantly, it also ensures that IT is always productive and practical.
With the ability to deploy products and the associated upgrades with the touch of a button, IT is able to effectively manage the whole school. This way, business critical work is never interrupted, ensuring that day-to-day operations are always optimised.
Technology has infiltrated many aspects of life and work. However, this increased reliance on technology in order to complete basic business functions has resulted in what’s known as infrastructure sprawl.
Put simply, the term infrastructure sprawl refers to the number and different types of devices in key spaces within an enterprise. Infrastructure sprawl presents as a negative as it essentially means that employees are tasked with using different devices that perform the same function.
As a result, there is no consistency to operations, something that negatively impacts the overall user experience for teachers and staff. Consequently, communication and content delivery is also hindered.
For IT, infrastructure sprawl makes the seemingly rudimentary task of deploying technology solutions increasingly complicated. This is because IT will have to deploy and manage meeting rooms of different sizes that are also equipped with different devices.
Not only does it make the role of IT within an educational institution complex, it also hinders elements of scalability. All of which works together to result in an ineffective and inefficient workplace.
By making simple tasks unnecessarily complicated, infrastructure sprawl also makes it hard for IT to offer device support in a timely fashion. Resulting in an increasing number of devices being out of commission for longer.
Importantly, infrastructure sprawl and the associated complications for IT also have broader implications. Namely, the fact that, with in-person operations being so complex, there is virtually no room for IT to offer support to remote students and staff.
While the wrong technology infrastructure can hinder both staff and IT, the right technology infrastructure can benefit every facet of an educational institution. Namely, the delivery of a consistent educational experience to students and streamlined, seamless IT support.
For teachers and students, simplifying the experience by employing the right video conferencing tools has a range of benefits. This is because certified technology makes work, under any arrangement, seamless. Something that will become key as remote learning increases.
For IT professionals, using technology that makes operations seamless is also highly important. This is because certified products for video conferencing offer a birds eye view for IT professionals. Assisting everything from classroom and meeting management to scalability of team management, certified products provide unprecedented visibility and consistency.
Visibility works to assist IT in a number of ways. For example, IT can use this increased visibility to monitor devices. This is because intuitive management devices provide IT with insights into every product, helping IT identify issues before they impact a class or meeting.
In terms of consistency, by providing teachers and students with technology that is consistent across meeting rooms and classrooms, familiarity can be gained. Meaning that a meeting, class or student presentation can begin at the touch of a button, which increases productivity.
It’s also worth noting that certified video conferencing tools are quite literally plug and play. This means that calls to support are reduced. Which ultimately helps streamline educational delivery.
Logitech’s video conferencing product suite has been designed with elevating and simplifying the role of IT professionals in mind. Products like the Sync and the Swytch actively work to address industry concerns and help bring about an increase of operational efficiency.
As a video conferencing device management software, Sync benefits both IT staff and teachers alike. In terms of IT professionals, Sync helps provide management and support at scale.
With Sync, IT can configure and update devices remotely, a capability that is not present in common legacy systems. The ability to remotely adjust settings and push firmware updates helps IT ensure that all infrastructure is performing optimally, when required.
Sync also affords IT professionals with the ability to diagnose at a distance. Being able to identify rooms or devices that need attention means that issues can be resolved before it impacts teachers needing to use a meeting room or other business critical work. Logitech’s Sync can also act as a benefactor for future proofing. While the move away from legacy systems to video conferencing solutions is characterised as costly, modern devices offer analytics. This means that IT can understand how devices and school room real estate is used in order to inform and optimise all learning settings, and enhance the delivery of content within virtual spaces.
Elevating and simplifying the role of IT also means providing flexible solutions. Logitech’s Swytch helps to connect a laptop to a room system’s AV equipment for use with any video meeting or webinar.
By eliminating the use of dongles, splitters and even HDMI cables, Swytch ensures that connecting to, or hosting a meeting is simply simple. Able to deploy video conferencing room solutions from providers like Microsoft and Zoom, while also allowing people to use meeting rooms with other video services, Swytch turns laptops into room solutions.
Offering a single connection and straightforward user experience means that IT involvement can be minimised. As such, calls to IT professionals for help with disconnected cables or unfamiliar connection points are reduced.
In the age of technology, businesses seemingly require a plethora of different devices to equip meeting rooms, work spaces and classrooms. However, these different devices – that in most cases perform the same function – can create infrastructure sprawl.
As a result, IT professionals are caught managing numerous types of devices while workers and students are resigned to dealing with different technology depending on the room they are assigned on any given day.
For IT workers, this means that performing basic job functions becomes complex. For students and educational staff, a lack of consistent devices hinders the ability to deliver and receive a consistent educational experience.
With the help of certified video conferencing solutions, all barriers to consistency and therefore, optimal operations, are removed. Streamlining IT support and elevating service delivery across every facet of education, Logitech can help optimise your education institution.
Stephen works with Logitech clients to provide unrivalled technical knowledge and support beyond just functionality. He empowers you to become a video collaboration expert in your own right. Working with Stephen ensures you can confidently use your Logitech solution to its full potential and create a consistent, user-friendly experience.
With an audio engineering background and 15 years of experience in the AV and unified communications industries, Stephen advocates for education and technology to allow increased access and equity - not just within workplaces, but for communities. He is a self-confessed nerd when it comes to camera quality and sound design - there's no project too complex for him.
Steve Harding
Pre sales technical engineer - NSW | ACT
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