Scotch College

Technology update

The new Staff Centre incorporates a number of significant improvements to the technology infrastructure of the school.

Scotch has become one of only a handful of schools in Australia to install an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switched network. The school has been working closely with NEC Australia, who supplied the ATM switch and is helping to install and implement the system.

An ATM network provides high speed, high bandwidth networking throughout the campus. It supports voice, video and data and allows for future growth whilst meeting our current needs.

Each teacher's desk in the new Staff Room has been connected to the computer network as well as providing power. Every teacher is provided with a notebook computer and can connect to the network from his or her desk. Each teacher now has access to electronic mail and the Internet.

The upstairs floor is raised so that all the cabling runs under the floor but is easily accessible providing maximum flexibility.

Paging system

A new paging system has been installed to provide instantaneous, non-intrusive communication with teachers. Again, NEC Australia is working closely with Scotch on this part of our communications program. This system replaces the old public address system which meant every announcement was heard by every teacher.

Under the new system, each teacher has been issued with his or her own pager. Messages originate from reception in the Staff Centre and are relayed via a wireless transmitter on the roof of the Lithgow Centre. Messages are received almost instantly. They are also copied to the electronic mail system for anyone who misses a message.

The range of the transmitter covers the whole campus.

Scotch is the first school to implement a local area network based paging system. To date, it has proved very useful. However, as one teacher commented, 'you can't hide anywhere now!'.

Mr Paul Grady, NEC Australia's National Sales Manager, Systems Integration, says his company is delighted to be associated with Scotch.

'Working together, Scotch and NEC have been laying the foundation for an intelligent campus,' he says. 'NEC has been helping to provide a networking and communications infrastructure capable of meeting the schools needs well into the next millennium.

We are looking forward to further developing a long and mutually rewarding relationship with this great Australian educational institution.'