Case Studies
The University of St Andrew's is Scotland's premier university and the third oldest in the UK. Founded in 1413, St Andrew's is actively involved in pushing back the frontiers of knowledge and strives to offer its scholars the latest in teaching and research facilities.
The Challenges:
Provide students with 24/7 access to computers in public and unsupervised areas within 11 halls of residence.
The Constraints:
Space – Install in communal areas without the need for building alterations.
Security – equipment must be secure against theft or damage in unsupervised area 24 hours a day 7 days a week
The Solution:
102 i-desk Wall Mount integrated PC desks installed in groups of 2-3 and 4-5 across 11 different halls of residence.
“We needed to give computer access to students in communal areas throughout the halls of residence and that required a high level of security for the equipment,which also needed to tamper-proof and make best use of the limited space available. The i-desk Wall Mount desk presented us with the perfect solution with the added benefit that when not in use the desk top can fold up to conceal the monitor, keyboard and mouse giving an added level of security against theft or accidental damage. Installation was also simpler and cheaper compared to conventional PC’s because each group of i-desks are connected to a single power socket and network point with all cabling neatly routed through
trunking within the desk frame.”
Dr Malcolm Bain - IT Director, St Andrew's University
The Conclusion:
The installation comprises 102 i-desk Wall-Mount desks that are mounted to the walls of communal meeting places within the 11 different halls of residence of the campus. The i-desks are installed in small group configurations 0f 2-3 and 4-5, and are securely fixed to the walls to provide maximum security for the equipment as well as making best use of the available space. Dr Malcolm Bain, IT Director for St Andrews and the project manager, explains why i-desk was chosen for use in a student hall of residence; “We needed to provide computers in an open unsupervised environment that would be available to students 24/7 and even during holiday periods so the solution had to offer a high level of security for the equipment. It was also important to make use of the limited space available in communal areas in
the halls of residence that are often used for social functions as well.”
The i-desk delivered on all of our key requirements due to its fully integrated design that incorporates the PC processor, hard disk, zip and optical drives in a special cassette that is securely contained in the chassis frame and locked in place. This prevents removal by unauthorised persons and also provides a high degree of tamper-proofing that is not available with ordinary PCs. The flat screen monitor is also securely mounted to the frame making it virtually impossible to remove.”
The i-desk Wall-Mount design allows for the desk top to be folded up when not in use offering further protection to the monitor and PC as well as allowing the area to be used for other functions. It operates as a normal PC and is available with the latest Intel Pentium Processors running from 2.4GHz to 3.2GHz, up to 1MB of RAM, industry standard hard disk drives up to 180GB with zip and optical drives available as options.
Dr Bain concludes: “With i-desk we have given students access to computers 24/7 as well as solving the space and security problem within the halls of residence."
