Weston College’s Journey With Smart Lockers.

Weston College provides over five hundred device loaning bays to students across campus. Initially introducing LapSafe®’s self-service lockers in 2016, Weston have grown their self-service offering to be one of LapSafe®’s largest sites. 

LapSafe® visited Weston College to discuss the growth of their self-service lockers (smart lockers) and the positive impact they have had on costs, sustainability, and timesaving. Across the campus it was clear that the smart lockers are loved by students and are frequently used for device loans. 

Weston College have been on an impressive journey when it comes to device management, around fifteen years ago the college decided that students could borrow all kinds of equipment from the library. Each campus featured a hub, known as ‘Library Plus,’ which allowed the college to have a more integrated approach to IT Management. 

Device management began with manual loaning, which was an expensive process in terms of time and meant staff had to always be available to staff the Tech Desk. Not only this, but Weston also found that devices would go missing or get damaged. 

In 2016, Weston College ordered their first set of LapSafe® Diplomat™ Self-Service Smart Lockers, and over the years they have grown this service to 504 device loaning bays making them one of LapSafe®’s largest college customers. 

Weston College was impressed with the costs that LapSafe® could save them, using desktop PCs wasted a lot of energy due to them being left on when not in use. The LapSafe® smart lockers combat this issue by switching off power when devices reach maximum charge. 

Another benefit that Weston College experienced from introducing the robust lockers was the accountability provided. As loss of devices was an issue, they were impressed by the security and traceability functionality that the lockers provided. 

“Introducing self-service was a massive benefit to us. There is less staff involvement in terms of admin, they are self-sufficient, once students are familiar with how it works, they do not need to find staff for assistance.” 

Looking towards the future, Weston College is not planning to stop here. They are aiming for further growth which includes making full use of LapSafe®’s new ONARKEN® software which will give them full granular control over their IT equipment. The new software allows staff to have even more control and provide more loaning options. “The drop off and collect functions will really help. The Library Plus and Learning Technologists are not always available, laptops can be pre booked to be made available outside of the staffed help desk hours” 

The smart lockers reduce energy and running costs which is a huge attraction, along with additional functionality that the new software provides. 

Contact our sales team today on 0800 130 3456. Alternatively to find out more about the functionality of our smart lockers email  [email protected]