For years, Bennett Liles, Audio Visual Technician for Clayton State University in Morrow, GA, was inundated with calls for help with classroom AV systems. According to Liles, most of the calls were a result of user errors. For example, instructors had to make sure they had the projectors switched to the right input using the infrared remote, and then they had to select their source on a hardware switcher.
"Even though I laminated half a page of instructions to each podium top, there were always calls involving the projector on the wrong input or the wrong source selected on the hardware," Liles says.
Those problems are memories now, because in August 2006, Atlanta Soundworks, the university's integrator, installed five Extron MLC 226 IP Enhanced MediaLink® Controllers with IP Link. The university was impressed with the reliability of MediaLink for controlling classroom AV equipment, and support calls to Liles from Extron-equipped classrooms became almost nonexistent. Soon after that initial installation, Liles replaced troublesome equipment with ten MLC 104 IP Plus MediaLink Controllers in other classrooms.
Today, the university uses MediaLink controllers and switchers in one-third of its classrooms. Some of these classrooms use MLC 226 IP controllers, while others use both MLS 100A MediaLink switchers and MLC 104 IP Plus controllers. "With Extron equipment, control and switching just can't get any simpler," Liles says. "Even my most technologically challenged faculty have no problems using it. And since the system is networked, I've saved inches of shoe leather because I'm not walking from classroom to classroom responding to calls for help."
Liles uses Free GlobalViewer®, a free, configurable Web-based AV resource application, to remotely monitor and manage campus AV resources at Clayton State's main location and another site 27 miles away in Peachtree City. "GlobalViewer and networked Extron equipment allow me to remotely monitor classrooms and make the most efficient use of our limited support resources. And as the sole AV tech for the entire campus, the Extron systems save me a huge amount of time."
The Installation Process
Liles has the MediaLink installation process down to a science. Cables are prepared, panels are configured, and IP addresses are assigned ahead of time, so classrooms remain available for instruction for as long as possible during the installation. Liles is so impressed with Extron that he expects to replace all old systems with Extron equipment by 2010.
Support Calls Nearly Eliminated
Liles is thrilled with the reliability of Extron equipment, which has resulted in fewer calls for support. "I have been installing MLS 100A MediaLink Switchers and the MLC 104 IP Plus AAP MediaLink Controllers with Architectural Adapter Plates in classrooms for two semesters now," Liles says. "Each time I get one of these into a classroom, the trouble calls drop to near zero. In the past six months, I've had only two support calls in classrooms with Extron equipment, and those calls were for projector lamp-related issues."
Dave Gill, Sales Engineer at Atlanta Soundworks, adds that Extron products are the preferred solution because of their "ease of operation for untrained professors." They provide easy control of screens, projectors, lights, and volume, he says. "Using the systems is so intuitive that professors no longer need assistance."
Shipping and Support
In addition to the high marks given for ease-of-use and equipment reliability, Liles praises Extron's speedy shipping and quick responses from its toll-free technical support team. "I have never had any problems obtaining products, and there has never been a backorder," he says. "Extron wins by a mile in toll-free technical support and shipping time."
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