It pays to be economical with XMA

Printing became faster, easier and more efficient at Our Lady’s Catholic High School – thanks to IT provider XMA.

Many schools now face a stark reality; they must improve standards and save money every year. So when it comes to IT, many schools face a problem. Inevitably, computers, laptops, printers and networks make a sizeable dent in precious budgets but can still become outdated very quickly. Consequently, making the most efficient choices has become a major part of classroom life.

That was the situation facing the Our Lady’s Catholic High School’s network manager Roy Morden. The secondary school specialises in mathematics and computing and is therefore considerably further ahead of the IT game than others.

Roy says: “In some ways I’m surprised IT is not yet a mandatory subject like Maths and English. Students use computers for everything here.”

“We are the leading school in the North of England for virtual learning environments. Teachers ensure a lot of the curriculum is delivered online so all our pupils have to do is log on to the VLE to access learning immediately.”

The school is ahead of Government targets for the number of computers available per pupil and, consequently, one of Roy’s major tasks was to ensure the system was working as effectively – and efficiently as possible. He therefore turned to IT provider XMA to help him implement a cost effective printing solution for the thousands of pages students print every month.

Meeting the school’s needs – the most efficient way

According to Roy, the school has implemented 16 network printers within the last two and a half years. With XMA’s help he has concentrated solely on Kyocera printers because he believes them to be the most cost effective.

He says: ”We pay a little bit more for the Kyocera printer but if I compare it to other printers and run them side by side then ours would print out more copies for the toner that we put in.”

“Obviously if you do volume printing as we do then the higher the volume the more you save. Our printers work much more economically than others I’ve used before. I wouldn’t change back now.”

Roy chose a networked solution because he believed it would make it easier for the printers to be accessed by the 400 work stations used by the school’s students. Pupils can log on from anywhere in the building and share access to the closest printers. He also included a high-speed Colour A3 printer in the solution so the students in the Design and Technology department could print out GCSE coursework.

He adds: “As far as the cost of consumables and the running costs go, there’s nothing that can come anywhere close to our printers.”

An excellent service

Roy has also included three years onsite warranty with the printers and says he has been very happy with the support he has received from XMA. He says: “The service that I receive from XMA is excellent.”

“When we first talked about one of the colour laser printers I needed, they were so popular they weren’t available anywhere. XMA staff showed me one as a demonstration and let me keep it so I didn’t have to suffer any delay.”

“The company is well-known in Lancashire because they have been supplying laptops to schools in this area for some time. I know I can trust XMA and we’ve built up very good links.”

A good working relationship

Roy has had an ongoing relationship with XMA for eight years and one of the reasons he gives for returning to the company again and again is because he knows he will be given good advice. He says: “It’s a long standing relationship that I’ve built up, particularly with my account manager Nathan, XMA’s Kyocera Print Specialist.”

“If I’ve got a sales enquiry, I can go to him. If I’ve got a technical enquiry, I can call him as well. The company has a technical team but, sometimes, it’s good just to be able to speak to one person and know they will do their best to help you.”

“We’ve got a really good working relationship. It helps that I can go everywhere else and no one can better him on price and that’s good for me too.”

“XMA is always at the top of the list whenever I need any new equipment.”