Merthyr Tydfil College Smart Locker Experience

LapSafe® Marketing Executive, Elliot Bibby, met up with Merthyr Tydfil College’s Learning Resources Co-ordinator, Erika Neck, to discuss their success story of implementing the Diplomat™ Pro Smart Locker.

Customer Profile

Merthyr Tydfil College is a further education institute located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Offering a variety of courses and a flexible range of study options, the college welcomes hundreds of students each year.

Challenges

In previous years, the college would have two methods of loaning devices to students; via storage & charging trolleys within a classroom, for students to access their course, and by manually handing devices out from behind a desk in the library, for students to use within the library only.

Whilst the storage and charging trolleys provided the college with compact and secure charging, they didn’t provide them with device monitoring, management, and maintenance.

The manual process within the library proved to be time-consuming and inefficient for both librarians and students. This method also meant there was no way of monitoring the charge level of each device, so the college would often need to loan AC adaptors too.

As device storage, charging, and monitoring were limited, it meant device availability was also limited, only being able to facilitate a small number of students on a first-come-first basis.

Accountability for the devices became a real issue within the college, devices would often go missing with their whereabouts never resolved, or devices would become damaged with faults unmonitored. Every year the college would service their devices and purchase new ones, creating a costly and unsustainable approach.

Solutions

After the initial COVID-19 impact, the college realised they could offer a more efficient service by automating the laptop loaning process. The college’s Head of IT turned to LapSafe® as a solution for streamlining device loaning, whilst supporting staff and their assets at the same time.

The college soon implemented the Diplomat™ Pro, an all-in-one self-service Smart Locker. Allowing students to easily access devices, 24/7, without staff interaction. This automated service provided librarians with time to work face-to-face with the students and fulfil other pivotal tasks.

LapSafe®’s Diplomat™ Pro Smart Lockers host a range of features; whilst keeping assets secure, this solution provides eco-friendly charging, remote device management and maintenance, comprehensive reports, and full audit trails. The Diplomat™ Pro charges devices in the lockers and always deploys the best-charged device, eliminating the need for the college to also loan AC adaptors. Students and staff have confidence that when they borrow a device it is ready to use, allowing productivity to continue.

Results

The laptop loaning service went from being an extremely labour-intensive process to being completely automated, only requiring the students to bring their ID cards to access the lockers. The college has been able to grow its offering without worrying about how to manage the extra devices.

“The benefits have been twofold, the students have enjoyed having a level of autonomy in getting devices for themselves, and it encourages them to always have their student ID cards with them. Staff have benefited by always having access to devices for their classwork, and the library staff benefit with their time freed up to support learner enquiries at the desk rather than continuously issuing laptops.”

“The changes have been positive for teaching staff in freeing them up from worrying about getting devices for their lessons and having enough provision for sessions. Students know it is their responsibility to get a device before they go to class if they are needed and return the devices at the end of their session. The Smart Lockers are simple and easy to use, and students feel confident in using them. There has been very little training required to show students how to borrow items from the lockers. The self-service lockers have proved very popular amongst the students and staff like the freedom of a locker being placed centrally for their convenience”.

“There are two LapSafe® Smart Locker installations within the college, one in the library and one in an open-access zone. Students and staff can borrow a device from the lockers and use it within the college.

Library staff can monitor the availability and usage of the devices. If devices are not returned, go missing or not plugged back into charge they are alerted and can now manage the situation quickly and easily.”

Future

“We are looking at increasing our locker and laptop provision in the future. We have been incredibly pleased with how easy it was to install the equipment. It is remarkably quick and simple to monitor the usage as well. We have found the LapSafe® team to be very responsive with their customer service and resolve any problems, in most cases, the same day.”

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