North Yorkshire County Council
AV/Multimedia Provision for ICT Department
Project Start Date: September 2000
Project Completion Date: Continuing Rollover Contract
Project Valuation: £400,000 per annum
Location: North Yorkshire
We work alongside the ICT department of North Yorkshire County Council supplying and installing various AV/Multimedia products to over 400 schools over a large regional area.
Hedley Solutions supply and install a number of high end of the market solutions including Smart, Promethean, NEC, Epson and Avermedia to name but a few.
We have not always supplied hardware under this contract. Originally in 2000 we supplied labour only to complete these installation with all hardware been supplied by North Yorkshire County Council. We completed minor works for approximately 1 day a week totalling a turnover of about £100.00 per week. In 2003 we arranged with NYCC ICT that it would be more beneficial for both parties if Hedley Solutions started supplying hardware and from this point we have developed this contract to our position today, servicing many of the 400 schools and a turnover of approximately £400,000.00 per year.
A large majority of schools look to Hedley Solutions and Schools ICT to provide a viable interactive classroom solution that fulfils all the needs and expectations of the Teaching staff and children. We work alongside the school with design and planning right through to installation, training, handover, final accounts/invoicing, post installation support and servicing.
Works we generally complete to schools under this project are – the supply and installation of a Smartboard interactive whiteboard, the installation of a ceiling mounted Multimedia projector, installation of speaker/amplifier bundles with any associated works that the school has requested i.e. power outlets (we are an NICEIC registered company), specialised AV equipment such as document cameras, slates and voting systems etc.
All the works as detailed above are completed by Hedley Solutions directly employed engineers, qualified and trained to manufacturers requirements, who arrive at site in Hedley Solutions Fleet vehicles fully sign written and have passed all police criminal records CRB checks, a qualification that all our engineers posses.
As a number of the schools that we deal with have asbestos containing materials in their structures, it is at the utmost importance that we engineer a design so that we can achieve client’s requirements even where asbestos is present. All our engineers have received asbestos awareness training and follow North Yorkshire guidelines throughout the term of the project and if asbestos is found at point of survey (Pre installation) then we use a specialist asbestos removal company to complete the required works for us, under the instruction of our engineers.
We are also at the forefront of new technologies and are currently offering them into schools – i.e. Video Conferencing and digital signage.
Hedley Solutions are an authorised Polycom reseller (Polycom are a renowned world leader in this field). From a single point to a multipoint solution using IP (Via broadband) or ISDN, Hedley Solutions and Polycom can meet all Video Conferencing needs.
The Solutions we have provided to a number of North Yorkshire schools give pupils in rural areas the opportunity to interact, face to face with other local pupils or pupils in Europe or just as easily across the globe. This conferencing system also allows schools to perform lessons using just one teacher reaching out to a number of audiences. This idea is effectively being used for the teaching of foreign languages across a number of schools.
Another new project that we are rolling out to schools at the moment is a digital signage package named PADS (Public Area Display System). This software system can be utilised on existing hardware or new LCD/plasma screens that Hedley Solutions can supply and install. This system is designed to incorporate any type of multimedia content, including scrolling text, video, live news feeds or real time data into a visually appealing display which can be used to welcome visitors, inform pupils of school news, display pictures/videos of recent school visits/out door activities or events etc.