The hardware for the site was also provided by AbNet. Here AbNet were conscious that the desktop environment is a key area in any implementation. With this in mind all of the desktops and laptops were designed to be identical. This meant that the installed applications were the same on each, so where ever the student is situated the environment is common and familiar.

The Benefits - The college now boasts a superb infrastructure fulfilling all of the requirements and more. The staff and students rely on the stability and speed of the network and internal and external e-communications are at an all time high. This is particularly important for the students boarding at the college who rely on e-comms to communicate with friends and relatives. Teachers use Bluetooth tablets which interact with their laptops and the overhead projectors in each classroom. The network administrators have full control of the network enabling them to fully monitor the system as required. In addition, the network administrators also have the peace of mind to know that their systems are being remotely monitored 24-hours a day. This means that faults can be reported, calls logged and subsequently resolved before the college is aware of an issue. The

The Principal's opinion - The principal of the college, Tony Halliwell, commented on the excellent internal communication system that now exists within the college. Tony mentioned one specific example whereby he had to find some volunteers to marshal at an open day. Tony sent out an email to the students asking whether anyone would be able to help with this and within 5 minutes he had a knock on his door from students offering their services. Even when there was difficulty with the allocation certain time slots the Principal was able to access the intranet and view the timetables of the students allowing him to email individual students and successfully man the whole event. The task took minutes when in the past this would have taken days. All in all the staff and students at the college are happy and confident that the new system provides everything it needs and more.