“The Lone Star College system has hundreds of mediated classrooms across twelve campuses. Managing all of these classrooms was becoming very costly due to projector lamp failures caused by projectors not being turned off. At the North Harris campus we were looking for a solution to help us manage all of the video projectors and reduce energy consumption. Additionally, we were looking for a solution to handle our digital media players.
A local vendor told us about a solution from a company, here in Texas, called TEKVOX. They offered us an audio video solution called TekPatrol Green Solution. A TEKVOX representative visited our site and demonstrated their new system to our IT group and demonstrated to us how easy it was to setup and most importantly, how the configuration of the system did not require a programmer. One feature that really got our attention was how the TEKVOX system could control lights and power to the system through an interface (an occupancy sensor), that would automatically shut down the video equipment when the sensor did not detect movement in a room after a pre-determined amount of time. We found that this drastically reduced our lamp cost.
Another nice feature of the TekPatrol Green Solution is their comprehensive software package called TekManager. TekManager allows us to program, view, control, and monitor our entire system without having to do a lot of expensive software setup. All this can be performed remotely as well. TekManager can even write to a SQL database and generate reports that helped us ensure that regular maintenance was being performed on a set schedule.
To solve our digital media needs TEKVOX introduced their TEK CMC 3 Classroom Media Center. This solution allows for the display of VGA, HDMI, Component, and Video signals to a projector. The system included a presentation switcher, TekMonitor, an occupancy sensor, and two lighting power packs. This solution allows the instructor to easily operate the system from an eight button keypad mounted on the instructor lectern. By incorporating two lighting power packs, the TekMonitor is able to automatically control the lights and shutdown the video projector when people leave the room. The lights are split into two zones, a front and a rear zone. When people enter the room, both zones are turned on by the TekMonitor. If the video projector is turned on, the front lights are turned off making it easier for the students to see the screen. By turning off the lights when the projector is on, this feature nullifies the additional electrical load needed for the projector. Not only does this system save energy, but it also increases the life of the projection system.”
Butch Juelg
Executive Director, Technology Services
Lone Star College System
(Original press release can be found here).