University School Clocks - Optimize for the Entire Campus

Many college campuses throughout the US and all over the world are historical landmarks. In other words, they've been around quite a while. Countless universities have existed for centuries, while many schools built in the early 1900's and on are slowly aging as well. While this aspect might give a romanticism or nostalgic feel to the campus, it also means that very commonly, these older institutions are without various updated technologies. It's safe to say that every one of these schools has upgraded their computers and software-the immediate needs for students. However, some of the forgotten yet extremely crucial components of a college or university are sometimes left unattended, such as the school clock timing system. When the clock system is not updated, standalone quartz clocks from Walmart are sometimes used in their absence, which can lead to some detrimental results.

In an environment where organization is key in delivering the end product, students' educations are hindered when this key ingredient is not present. For example, organization is one of the largest components of class registration each semester. If there is no organization, students are bumped out of courses that are crucial for their graduation. Similar to the case of class registration, without that element of organization that a synchronized school clock system brings to a university, students' educations are at stake. Let's say a student has been racking their brain studying for an exam in the library. The time on the clock on the wall tells the student she has more than 20 minutes before the exam starts, so she gets her last few minutes of cramming under her belt. As she packs up to leave, allowing five minutes to get to class, she turns and sees the clock in the hallway outside is displaying a time 10 minutes faster than the clock she was using while studying. Unfortunately, she was receiving her time from the incorrect, standalone clock the entire time and is now late for her exam. Without matching time displays throughout the campus, these things can occur quite frequently.

One of the major challenges in keeping matching time displays throughout a university is having a matching time display between one end of the campus to the other. This can prove difficult with standalone, quartz clocks that are sometimes spread over a mile apart on larger campuses. It seems the farther distance the clocks range, the less likely they'll have matching times. However, with synchronized school clocks, PoE specifically, each clock has the ability to communicate over the university's Ethernet network. This means that the clock all the way in the art building on the edge of the campus will receive time over the network from the same source as the clock on the complete opposite side in the business school-making sure both time displays are exactly the same.

Without argument, synchronized school clocks provide a better learning environment for students when it comes to organization and the simple task of needing to be somewhere on-time. However, when older universities decide to put off the uprooting of the old, standalone clock routine that everyone appears to be used to, they are only aiding the problem. The longer these issues arise from unsynchronized clocks, the more students are jeopardized in their educational careers. The installation of school clocks into any university will help leverage student to the point of success, and avoid these mishaps outlined above.

Justin Salmasi is a Marketing Intern at The Sapling Company

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Repeaters in School Clocks - How to Get a Signal Into Every Room

Wireless clock systems offer a major benefit to schools and all other facilities out there-cost effectiveness. Without a need for running wires throughout the building, as well as being able to work in conjunction with existing clock systems, the wireless clock is an improvement on efficiency when it comes down to the budget. However, when using a wireless system to address each school clock in the building, things can get complicated. Trying to hit each and every clock in the building with the signal, especially in a building of 500 + rooms with heavy concrete or rebar in the walls can cause few clocks here and there to miss the signal from the main transmitter and therefore won't receive accurate time updates. Quick-fix remedies have surfaced over the years, such as the use of repeaters (another module that carries the signal farther from the main transmitter). However, these devices can get expensive when a building requires several of them to properly run the system. To avoid this issue and maintain that cost-effective aspect of the wireless clock system, schools must use clocks that come with built-in repeaters-a technology that only certain manufactures have successfully created.

The built-in repeater is essentially like the repeater described above, where it takes the signal and launches it farther than the main transmitter could initially carry it. But when the repeater is literally "built in" to the clock, this eliminates the need to purchase the actual accessory item, and therefore maintains the cost effectiveness of the wireless system. Aside from its efficiency with cost, the built-in repeaters help with the overall efficiency of the system as well. When each clock is repeating the signal, the clocks throughout the entire building are essentially communicating with each other. For instance, when the clock closest to the main transmitter first receives the initial signal, that clock will also release the signal to other clocks in its radius. As every school clock in the building is receiving and re-transmitting the signal around them, each clock ends up receiving the time correction from multiple sources, which creates something called a mesh network.

The mesh network is created through each clock's ability to accept and re-transmit a signal. As every clock performs this task, the coverage of the signal increases immensely. Each clock's ability to catch a signal from any point of the building is maximized. The mesh network also allows for an essentially unlimited amount of clocks. No more are the days of limiting how many clocks you can run on one system. With the mesh network, as long as each clock stays within the signal of another clock, the amount of clocks that can be run on the system is almost limitless.

With a wireless school clock system, schools and entire districts can reap the benefits of a cost efficient system. While the initial price of some wireless systems might be temptingly low, the cost can rise exponentially when the clocks do not have built-in repeaters. After installation, some clocks may not receive the signal in those hard to reach places. This is when the added cost of repeaters, their installation, and the headaches that come with having to add more devices to a system that should already be up and running gets bundled into the final deal. To avoid this, finding a manufacturer that offers the benefit of built-in repeaters is crucial.

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