Education: “Hands Up for a Lesson in Digitisation”
Remember at school, you or a cheeky classmate dodging a teacher’s flying board rubber or chalk?
Or maybe at uni you had so many books to carry round that you needed a rucksack big enough for three months interrailing.
Nowadays, of course, education is an altogether smarter, more digital business, with electronic blackboards in most school classrooms, videoconferencing cameras in college lecture theatres, and e-books downloaded from the cloud.
The same modernisation has occurred elsewhere too: the education sector is keeping pace with advancements in technology in order to respond appropriately to the demands placed on it by today’s students and their parents.
It’s likely that your old school secretary, for example, would be more than a bit bamboozled by the technological tools now at hand in a modern, well-equipped reception or office.
It’s because – like in every other corner of life – digitisation is transforming the way education is delivered; particularly the way in which everyone involved communicates with each other. Old skool (pardon the pun!) telephone systems are being replaced with cloud-powered, all-in-one-place omnichannel communication platforms that bring voice calls, emails, and messaging together onto the same screen.
Those new systems are seamlessly integrated with student records so staff taking calls from parents see personal profile information and communication history. Halls, gyms, corridors, and classrooms are connected to central public address systems easily controlled from the same easy-to-use interface. Secure doors and gates are linked too: opened and closed with just a few clicks. Even personal mobile phones belonging to key staff that are regularly away from their office desks can be integrated into the system, so they are always contactable.
Crucially, in increasing numbers, multiple neighbouring schools are being brought together by local authorities to form a single, more efficient and cost-effective trust. In those cases, legacy phone systems are able to be integrated with each other; providing a route into the trust for callers via a single number whilst simultaneously saving huge costs.
There are other smart tools being deployed in further and higher education too. For example, colleges and universities – which depend on student enrolment to support their business model – are deploying communication and collaboration platforms with slick, contact centre-style functionality. Calls are held in queues, automatically routed to the right extension, and all communication data is automatically captured and analysed to reveal how many valuable interactions were missed, the numbers to call back, and the quality of the call; such as what was said and in what tone. Universities are businesses, after all. For them, providing a high-quality communication experience is linked to their wider commercial success.
Collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex can be deployed too – connected to high-quality cameras and speakers and with screen-sharing capability – so a lecture can be delivered to students who are physically present as well as those who are learning remotely. In-built AI can provide translation, transcripts, and even sign language for those who may need it.
At Evolve IP UK, we and our network of IT Managed Service Provider partners are helping schools, colleges, and universities all over the country to leverage all of these game-changing technological advancements.
Our range of cutting-edge solutions, coupled with our expertise and experience in the sector, means institutions can communicate and collaborate so much more professionally with the communities they serve and raise the overall standard of education they deliver.
That feels like top marks for everyone!
