New interactive whiteboard will attract higher education market

Reflex has announced it is to incorporate a new range of interactive whiteboards from VTRON into its solutions.

VTRON Interactive Displays Boards (IDBs) provide a one stop solution which adds interactivity and energy to any learning environment, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of communication.

The VTRON comprises of a range of high brightness, industrial quality interactive display screens, designed with humans in mind so they are simple and easy to operate. They have already been successfully applied in many markets across the world, including education, government, corporates and the military.

Students will benefit from their highly precise touch positioning and response, intelligent recognition for finger writing and palm erasing, and built in recording and playback software. The IDBs also include wireless access as standard and come with the option of an inbuilt PC, making them a very competitive alternative to the traditional interactive whiteboard.

The range has models with screen sizes up to 70 inch diagonal. With the option to be installed or mobile they come with an optional height adjustable wall mount or floor stand which can be altered for the comfort to the user.

Roland Dreesden, our MD, said "Interactive whiteboards have historically been enthusiastically embraced by the state education sector but to date, have not been widely considered by university customers. The design and functionality of the VTRON IDBs make them ideal for customers in this area and I expect to see them being specified in increasing numbers over the coming year."

See the VTRON board for yourself at Reflex's office. We have been appointed as the official southern demonstration site for the VTRON products, meaning that any customer can visit us and see the boards in action.

To arrange a booking to see the VTRON in action at the Reflex demonstration facilities please contact us on: 01189 313611

New AV Install Makes Life Easier For Lambeth Tutors

Lambeth College in Clapham is rightly proud of its excellent teaching facilities - it's rated as one of the best colleges in the country. Providing 21st century lecture rooms facilities is part and parcel of the college's drive for excellence.

AV requirements
Lambeth College was already well into a programme of reviewing the audio visual facilities in all of its classrooms, including a number of temporary rooms.

Reflex first worked with the College in 2006 on equipping a number of classrooms with AV equipment. When the College were ready to roll out this programme to a further 30 classrooms, they went out to tender. Reflex was successful in being awarded the new contract in 2008.

The brief was for a range of solutions for a variety of classroom situations, and a key need to provide a Project Manager to oversee the whole process.

An additional requirement was to provide a lightweight dry wipe 'overboard' to the Interactive Whiteboard installation.

The aim of the College was to achieve a consistent quality of equipment in each room, and to ensure a commonality of user interface, so that lecturers could walk into any classroom and feel immediately comfortable with the equipment they were faced with.

The Solution
The basic installation in each of the classrooms comprised a projector and SMART Interactive Whiteboard. The mounting of the projectors varied according to the physical restrictions within the different rooms and Reflex used their experience to suggest the best solution for each environment

The installations were augmented with a control system with inputs for PC, laptop, and DVD/VCR, along with an equipment rack to house the additional equipment securely and neatly.

To address the need for a lightweight overboard, Reflex, devised a bespoke solution tailored for each individual environment in partnership with a key manufacturer. This meant that teachers could easily manoeuvre between Interactive Whiteboard and normal dry wipe board during a lecture, accessing whichever tool they needed with one simple action.

Whilst the installations themselves were quite straightforward, the project demanded a high degree of flexibility from Reflex. Timescales were challenging and many of the rooms were in use whilst the installation project was carried out. Additionally, building work meant that contractors were on site. Reflex did a lot of the work outside of normal working hours to minimise disruption to the College and worked around third parties who also needed access to the rooms to complete the building work.

Summary
The project was carried out successfully with efficient working practices being the key to the smooth implementation. The College was very pleased with the result, being particularly impressed with the quality of the work and the project management. This resulted in a commitment to a one year maintenance programme with Reflex.

According to Graeme Hill, the College's Head of IT, "The project preparation and roll out went extremely smoothly, mainly down to the excellent coordination between the College IT staff and the Reflex Project manager. Individual plans were provided to the College of each installation, and these were presented well before the projected install dates to allow for discussion and changes to be made.

Reflex also supply us with a maintenance contract for all the installs they have undertaken, which gives us access to on-going support as well as regular preventative maintenance visits.

We are very pleased with the service provided by Reflex, particularly their ability to tailor their products to suit our specific requirements."

Strong trade relationships contribute to production of 1000th Teammate

Reflex MD Roland Dreesden gives his take on conducting business when the economic outlook is less than positive.

"I believe the key to a robust company is in building long term relationships. Never is this truer than in times of a potential recession."

"With our university customers, we have always looked to build long term partnerships and offer commitment, communication and support. If the only time we talk to a university is to ask for an order we're not building a relationship. We're in regular touch even when they are not actively looking to buy anything."

"Some of our customers are suffering at the moment but we are doing all we can to support them. At Reflex we like to think that our account managers are trained to manage relationships, not just expect them to happen."

"It's equally important to build successful relationships with key suppliers" comments Dreesden. "We have built strong bonds with suppliers through account management and training. Universities can see the benefits of having support from a united team."

Finally, the relationship with our own staff is paramount. "If you don't have good relationships with your own internal team, then the customer suffers. We actively encourage a 'family' feel to working for Reflex. We want our people to enjoy the experience of working here, which in turn is reflected by the level of service that the customer receives."

Reflex celebrate new tender win

We continue to strengthen our expertise in the higher education market with the winning of a 33 room supply and installation for the University of East London.

IPTV event featured video streaming, video on demand and video over IP

10th December saw a group of both end users and AV consultants at our IPTV event held at Nomura International plc in London.

IPTV is a flexible technology that can be used to provide live and on demand TV to employees and visitors over the Intranet or Internet direct to a display or desktop.

This event addressed the principles of IPTV with practical demonstrations from key suppliers. It included a highly innovative product from TX Immerse which allows 360 degree 'virtual tours' to be produced and delivered through touch screens.

Split into two sessions, the morning session was aimed at users of the technology with presentations from AMX and Exterity. The afternoon session was aimed at the design and AV consultants with a highly technical approach to this technology. Attendees had the opportunity to speak with the manufacturers on a one to one basis and identify which solution would be best for their needs.

Anybody who missed the event but would like to see the presentations made can view them at: http://www.reflex.co.uk/
eventsDec08.html

Please call Reflex for more information about this technology.

Any Projector Lamp At The Click Of A Mouse

The days of searching for that elusive lamp for an obscure projector brand have gone with the launch of our new lamp website.

www.reflexlamps.co.uk makes sourcing lamps for any brand as easy as possible and includes a number of value added services.

Andy Brymer, Managed Services Director and Chairman of Reflex tells how the website fills a gap in the market for customers who have struggled in the past. "We have made the task of sourcing a replacement lamp simple and efficient. If a lamp blows, customers want an easy and fast way to order a new one, without ringing a reseller or trawling through the internet. We believe we have the widest range of stock of any lamp reseller, and if we receive your order prior to 2PM we will despatch it the same day."

Then there's our straightforward installation service. Reflex's trained engineers will carry out this service for a fixed price of £50+VAT. We'll deliver and install the lamp, and if there are additional lamps that need replacing at the same time it's just an extra £20 per lamp."

www.reflexlamps.co.uk also features a unique trade in service. Many organisations have a policy of holding a spare projector lamp but the downside is when the projector is upgraded, the spare lamp is obsolete. Customers using Reflex's site will find this is no longer the case. We are the first major UK AV supplier to offer a trade-in of 30% of the cost on all unused, packaged lamps returned at the time of purchasing a new one.

We've also kept in mind the current economic crisis and looked for ways to reduce costs to customers. The site features Diamond Lamps, a new lower-cost option to anyone buying replacement projector lamps with absolutely no compromise on performance and often with longer warranties.

Visit www.reflexlamps.co.uk

Sector specific website being relaunched

Our popular website designed specifically for university customers is being relaunched. Exclusively for University customers and members of the HEPCW, LUPC and SUPC this site is an example of the way in which we develop tools to support different sectors of our customer base.