RTS picks up the #2 spot in the 2012 InAVation awards!
Second in EMEA only to a 3.1 million square foot, multi-million dollar fit out for United Arab Emirates University, the immersive learning environment delivered by RTS for Marsh Academy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYxyYZHUBQw) went on to collect the only Highly Commended award of the evening at the industry’s annual InAVation Awards.
We were grateful for the hat tip by one judge towards our focus on our client’s requirements, deep hardware and software customisation abilities as well as a determination to get the job done to our own exacting standard.
Congratulations to the whole team that delivered Marsh Academy’s Maths Learning Stage. We’ll be turning our attention to setting the standard for 2013 shortly.
Wanted: IT superhero.
POSITION TITLE: Support Lead Role
REPORTS TO: Director of Information Technology
THE HIGHLIGHTS
We’re looking for someone who is up for a varied work life where no two days are likely to be the same. Our perfect candidate will be able to rapidly skill themselves up on new technologies, won’t have a problem managing fundamental problems and certainly won’t mind the occasional big hairy issue that takes patience to work through.
Unlike some technical roles, we won’t keep you locked up in the office with a headset on. In fact, we’ll give you the tools you need to work effectively, wherever the role takes you. You’ll meet a variety of people whilst you’re out and about – from the chap that cleans the office through to the CEO. That means you definitely need to have had experience in communicating, co-operating, and successfully supporting lots of different people each with their own wants and needs.
We’re looking for someone with extensive experience in the field of creating, implementing and maintaining technology that has enabled users to improve the way they operate in their day-to-day work. We need someone who knows the importance of good communication and creating lasting relationships. We’re offering the right candidate the opportunity to develop their knowledge and experience as well as playing a healthy part in contributing to the success of a growing team.
In everything we do, we recognise that technology is a tool to assist organisational growth – our clients’ and our own. It’s essential that every member of our team understands this so we are always putting our clients’ and therefore our own success first.
Are you the next IT superhero to join our team?
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Energy & Utility Skills implements Microsoft Lync
We’re proud to work with an organisation like Energy & Utility Skills, with their visionary approach to how technology can positively transform the way their organisation works. We’ve worked with their internal IT team to deliver a number of projects, augmenting their existing capabilities.
After working together to define the requirements for the replacement of their legacy telephone system we entered product selection. MIcrosoft® Lync™ not only met Energy & Utility Skills’ existing telephony requirements but offered some exciting new collaboration possibilities, especially for their remote workers.
Following a successful proof of concept deployment we worked to align the full rollout of Lync, including legacy telephony integration via both ISDN and analogue lines with a hardware refresh that included training staff on the new wave of Microsoft products.
Tim Balcon, Chief Executive said:
“I was really pleased with the professional way that RTS has approached this project and their ability to deliver both phases of the project on-time and to budget.
RTS has provided us with a unified solution that has given our organisation far greater capabilities and flexibility than a standard telephone system replacement ever could.
The benefits to EU Skills have been immense, in terms of our productivity and connectivity to our workers. I would recommend Lync to any organisation and also RTS as a go-to Partner, in order to implement it.”
You can read the full case study that was presented to the International Association of Microsoft Partners this November in our Unified Communications service section.
Microsoft and Lync are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Marsh Academy gets a new Maths Learning Stage
Marsh Academy is situated in New Romney, Kent and is sponsored by both Microsoft and Tonbridge School. The school has an outstanding vision for how learning can be enhanced through the use of technology and RTS are proud to be associated with their latest project, the Maths Learning Stage (MLS2).
The Maths Learning Stage is a fully immersive learning space which features a 55” master touch panel with customised interface, additional 7” panel and push-button control in each classroom as well as multiple learning zones, high fidelity sound system, projectors, wall mounted panels and input plates for students and teachers to connect their mobile devices to displays.
We invite you to take a look around:
We’re Harborne Primary’s Local Heros
On Friday 29th May RTS Technology Solutions were invited to Harborne Primary School for a special May Day celebration to thank all the people who have helped the school get back up and running after a fire almost devastated the entire school building.
On the 28th April a fire broke out during school hours in the loft area of the Junior School. More than 60 fire fighters tackled the blaze which threatened to destroy the school building which has stood on the site for over 100 years. Thanks to the quick actions of the emergency services the fire was contained to the Junior half of the building. However, once the fire had been put out the difficult task of reorganising and reimplementing school life began.
After losing access to half of the school building a place had to be found to teach years 3-6. As well as a new home for the school office and a new staff room. After much consideration Harborne Hall, a local hotel and conferencing centre was approached to act as a temporary home for the Junior School and some of the associated administrative staff. They accepted.
We are currently working on connecting Harborne Hall to the main school through a high speed point-to-point wireless link over 800m to provide a seamless IT experience between the two sites. Temporary cabling has been donated to provide connectivity throughout the damaged building and we have also installed a new access control solution to secure the main site, as the main entrance and school office have had to be moved whilst rebuilding works take place.
Our time has been donated to help Caroline White the Network Manager get the school back to a running state as quickly as possible. To say thank you RTS were treated to a special assembly in the Infant School Hall along with representatives from the emergency services and other local businesses and groups (all beautifully presented using the audio visual solution we installed last Easter!)
We’re flattered to have been presented with our award:
We’ve moved to Birmingham Science Park!
It’s all change at RTS as we leave the leafy suburbs of Solihull and move operations to a new office at Birmingham Science Park (BSP-A) in the heart of the city. We are all thrilled with the new space and excited by the opportunity to work collaboratively with other local businesses.
BSP-A’s strategy is focused on a service offering for founders of new technology ventures as well as more established businesses. The main focus is on providing an interactive supportive environment where innovators can interface with like-minded people. Their Digital Agenda is seen as a catalyst for the future development of Birmingham – something we’re keen to get involved with.
There’s more about Birmingham Science Park here: http://www.bsp-a.com/
With Café Resource just across the corridor feel free to swing by and catch up with us over a coffee!
Our new address:
RTS Technology Solutions
Birmingham Science Park Aston
Faraday Wharf
Holt Street
Birmingham
B7 4BB
There are no excuses – with excellent access to major motorways, Birmingham’s mainline railway services at New Street station a 15 minute walk away and if you’re an international jet-setter, we’re only 30 minutes from Birmingham International Airport.
Look forward to seeing you soon.
RTS Sleep Rough for Charity
As many of you are aware the UK saw its coldest December in over 120 years in 2010. It was also the chilliest individual calendar month since February 1986, with temperatures dropping as low as -21.1C in the Scottish Highlands. The heavy snowfalls across the UK caused massive disruption to road, rail and air travel as the nation shivered in freezing conditions.
While most of us were able to cope in our centrally heated homes, with family and friends during the Christmas break, do many of us think about those less fortunate – especially those sleeping rough? Official figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government for England alone are that on average 498 people sleep rough each night, with 248 of those in London.
This month the RTS team will take part in the YMCA Sleep Easy event. The aim is simple: spend a night challenging oneself to sleep rough, raising money to help change lives of vulnerable young people. A Sleep Easy event is a sponsored sleep out in the open on one of the coldest nights of the year where participants have only a cardboard box for protection (and a sleeping bag for warmth if they’ve brought their own!) It’s meant to be challenging but fun, as participants take the chance to support their local YMCA. All the money raised goes directly to local YMCA projects, impacting the local community and helping disadvantaged young people build a future.
The whole RTS team will be heading down to the YMCA Clifton Road Youth Centre in Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 29th January 2011 from 7pm to 7am the next morning. There will be a BBQ in the evening, hot drinks available during the night, and breakfast in the morning, as well as plenty of activities and games to keep us warm.
In standard RTS style, the RTS sound system will be out in force with resident DJ’s Aidwon and Ga-Raj bringing the tunes to the party. Feel free to head down and support this great cause. We realise January is a hard month for us all but if you are able to dig deep:
Sponsor us here: : http://bit.ly/RTS_Sleep_Easy
You can also find more information and even register online if you’d like to get involved at http://www.events.ymca.org.uk/sleepeasy
AMITPRO Presentation – Why IT Partners need to know about Audio-visual (AV) Technology
AMITPRO is the Association of Midlands IT Professionals, a peer group of which RTS have been members of for just under a year now. The group is a fantastic opportunity for likeminded technology professionals to come together once a month to share best practices, marketplace developments, vendor presentations and even a beer or two afterwards.
Last night saw RTS’ first presentation to the group about why we feel now is the time for IT partners, as trusted business advisors, to have an understanding of Audio-visual (AV) technology. Over the course of the presentation we took the group through an overview of the AV industry, common client scenarios that we frequently see (Training rooms and Classrooms, Boardrooms, Video conferencing, Digital Signage and Audio systems) and offered our insight in to what we perceive the future of this emerging market to be.
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Fed up of juggling bookings and support tickets? Get Kahu.
Are you still struggling with Excel to manage your school resources? Do you run into issues with double booking? Do you have a separate system for tracking issues with resources?
As the size and complexity of our schools’ resource provisions continues to increase we need to create appropriate tools to manage them.
RTS developed Kahu (www.getkahu.com), an integrated online resource booking and helpdesk system that allows users to quickly and simply create, remove and edit resource bookings as well as track issues against them. Kahu helps free up valuable resources and allows staff more time to spend on things that really count.
It’s the first application available that presents users with information about potential issues with equipment or rooms before booking them; an important tool when trying to find the correct resources with which to teach expectant students.
Kahu is online, which means teachers are no longer held back by having to use one particular computer; it is accessible at any time, from anywhere with an internet connection. The tool is always up-to-date as there is no software to install, removing the need for IT staff to install and configure lots of computers, saving time and money.
Last month’s BETT show provided a great opportunity to gather some great pre-release feedback from teachers and administration staff. Their suggestions were taken back to the office, polished up and incorporated into the latest version (you can see all of the recent updates on the blog – blog.getkahu.com). A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who participated in the trial.
Check out www.getkahu.com to see how Kahu can make your school more efficient. Use the simple online ‘Kahuculator’ to discover how cheaply you can cover the whole school.
Wondering what Kahu actually means? Head over to getkahu.com to find out!
Special Agent Correspondence
We’re currently in talks with a special agent, which is very exciting. However, she’s been asking some really tough questions. So having laboured over my responses for some time I thought I’d share them with you because actually, they’re fairly fundamental to who we are.
“What do your clients look like?”
What a question! Let’s start with who we’re working with at the moment…
Everyone we work with, like us, is trying to change the world. From the firm of solicitors who stand up for the man in the street against the government and public bodies to a waste management company who are the first people in the UK to efficiently process waste using Autoclave technology through to two creative agencies, both award-winning and both jaw-droppingly awesome.
In terms of where they’re at as businesses, they tend to have gone through the baby steps of formation and normally have some idea or need advice on how technology can help them move their business forward; either through facilitating growth or by tweaking their processes / workflow to maximise productivity.
In terms of schools (when we can get through the evil tender process – more on that another time) they’re normally looking for people with deep experience in education who can offer guidance on how technology can increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning. That could be in the shape of physical spaces such as theatres, IT suites, conference rooms or indirectly behind the scenes by using virtualisation technologies to increase server availability and reduce student and staff logon times.
“What do you leave your clients with?”
We don’t leave them, we start supporting them. We work hard to nurture strong relationships with our clients and earn their trust. We’re incredibly passionate about technology, love challenges and want our clients to be delighted with what we’ve installed or set up for them and for it to make a real difference to their business or school.
What we will leave our clients with is a clear understanding of our values and who we are. We’ll have taken time to understand their requirements and design a solution that’s right for them, without being biased by the latest offer from our favoured vendor (we pride ourselves on being vendor agnostic). We’ll have also demonstrated how committed we are to delivering what we say we will, when we say we’ll do it.
By way of an example, we were recently thanked by a client for working right through the night on an IT system migration after the backup jobs took longer than expected to run. Poor planning on our part? Possibly, but we wanted to make absolutely sure we could recover from every eventuality. We also understood that communications had been sent out to all of their staff notifying them of the change and that there were subsequent pieces of work that had been planned for after we’d finished. So we powered through, got it sorted and they loved it. In fact, they loved it so much they awarded us two further projects as we walked out of the building bleary-eyed at midday the following day!
If that sounds like you and you like the sound of us, let’s have a chat…
0121 285 7222 or 020 7183 7222
