uni of dundee case study
In our case study with the University of Dundee, College of Art, Science and Engineering, we speak to Derek Blackie, Senior Technician, about the numerous benefits that connect2 has brought to his institution for both staff and students...
His institution purchased connect2 to manage bookings for resources and services, plus the connect2 checkout module for the collection and return of items through the use of bar coding.
background
“Our department had a large range of facilities and services that our students were able to borrow, but the process of booking them was a nightmare!
We used a paper-based system whereby staff would mark down on a a sheet of paper what the student wanted to reserve. This was combined with our bar coding system, which rarely matched up to what was written on the paper! The process was further complicated when students wanted to book items more than one week in advance as it just wasn’t possible”.
what we were looking for
“There were many factors that lead us to begin our search for an efficient ebooking solution, and we had a number of significant issues we were looking to solve:
- We wanted to offer our students and staff the ability to more effectively manage their time – the key being to offer bookings more than one week in advance.
- We were looking to transfer to an electronic system to avoid unnecessary and inaccurate paper work.
- We wanted to ensure that our students had fair and controlled access to facilities, as we were finding that some students were dominating certain pieces of equipment.
With these needs in mind, the department unanimously agreed that a new system was vital for both staff and students”!
choosing connect2...
“There were five different areas of the business that were involved in the decision making process to ensure that all needs were considered. These included myself (Senior Technician), the IT dept, a computer specialist, course leaders and School Head.
Our Account Manager from lorensbergs came to visit us for a face-to-face demo of connect2, followed by an online demo where we were able to have further questions answered. We were also given the opportunity to try out connect2 for ourselves, where we spent a week looking into the product in more detail.
The decision to buy connect2 was not difficult at all! It was the only product on the market that met our needs and at the same time was easy to use”.
implementing the solution
“Once we had placed our order, our connect2 system was installed within 2 weeks. Caroline Lewis, the Technical Support Engineer from lorensbergs was fantastic. She trained four members of staff during the installation process to ensure that when she left, we knew what we were doing. Caroline continues to provide support when we need it... she always gets the problem solved quickly and effectively”.
seeing the benefits
“Although our staff and students were initially wary of the new processes, those concerns have now disappeared. As we had hoped, students are able to plan their time by making bookings in advance - and to allow fairer access we have restricted student access to a maximum of 14 days ahead (this can be overruled by staff if the student has a genuine need for a booking further in the future). Staff of course, can make bookings for all equipment and facilities up to a year in advance.
Our Administrators can now locate any item at any time and can track who has used it and when. Double bookings never occur anymore, plus we have the added benefit of making broken items unavailable - and letting users know this in advance.
If someone were to ask me if I would recommend connect2 I would say “if it meets the needs of your organisation, it is definitely worth the investment”.
For more information on how connect2 could work for your organisation, give us a call on 01992 415500.
To download this case study as a pdf, click here.
