Wheaton College

Centralized Control
Means Resources Well Spent

Wheaton College is a private, liberal arts institution founded in 1860 on 80 beautiful and historic acres in Wheaton, Illinois, approximately 25 miles from Chicago. Today the school, which was named by The National Review College Guide as one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the country, maintains an active enrollment of approximately 2,900 undergraduate and graduate students.

Like many colleges its size, Wheaton’s technology needs have evolved over time. As projectors, VCRs and other equipment were added to classrooms, many professors reported that the technology was difficult and cumbersome to use, which often took attention away from teaching.

Wheaton addressed these complaints by installing integrated control systems from AMX in its large to medium-sized classrooms, followed later by systems from Extron for its medium to small-sized rooms. “Professors love the control systems we’ve installed because they don’t have to think about how to operate each individual piece of equipment – everything can be operated from one point of control,” said Michael Rhoadarmer, media systems manager, Wheaton College.

Big Benefits of MeetingManager
When Rhoadarmer decided he wanted to centrally manage and monitor Wheaton’s audio/video (A/V) equipment, he selected AMX’s MeetingManager® software. “After a thorough comparison with similar software solutions,” Rhoadarmer said, “we ultimately chose MeetingManager because of the quality, reliability and support that we know AMX provides.” 

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"AMX and Extron addressed a need we had at Wheaton to centrally monitor all of our classroom A/V equipment. All it took was a simple upgrade, and now all of our classroom systems may be monitored by MeetingManager, enabling us to more effectively manage our classroom technology from one convenient location.”

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MeetingManager provides Rhoadarmer and his staff with a level of control and convenience previously unavailable. “MeetingManager enables us to keep track of what’s going on in our classrooms across campus, which not only saves me and my team considerable time, but also our faculty,” said Rhoadarmer.

As with most campuses, Wheaton’s academic buildings are spread out, and when a problem is reported, it’s difficult to get to classrooms in a timely manner. 

“Before MeetingManager, it would take some time for a technician to arrive to address a technology issue, and class time would inevitably be interrupted,” said Rhoadarmer. “Now that we have the software, it’s been nice to be able to solve problems by just looking at a Web page.”

MeetingManager has also proven invaluable for solving problems before they’re even reported. “We can now track lamp hours and replace bulbs before they burn out,” Rhoadarmer shares. Rhoadarmer and his staff are also notified when equipment is either disconnected or not functioning, enabling them to fix the issue almost immediately. “Thanks to MeetingManager, we can be very proactive with our resources,” he said.
For example, MeetingManager once reported that a switcher was burning out in a classroom right before Fall Break. “We immediately got someone on the problem and solved it while school was out of session. Neither the students nor the professor ever knew about the situation,” he said.

Enjoying Total Control
Having experienced the many benefits of MeetingManager, Rhoadarmer was excited to install RMS IP Link, a jointly developed solution enabling educational institutions, government entities and corporations to centrally monitor and manage equipment controlled by AMX and Extron systems, at Wheaton. Today, all the benefits Wheaton has experienced using MeetingManager to monitor and manage its AMX systems are now realized with its Extron equipment as well.

Rhoadarmer concludes, "AMX and Extron addressed a need we had at Wheaton to centrally monitor all of our classroom A/V equipment. All it took was a simple upgrade, and now all of our classroom systems are monitored by MeetingManager, enabling us to effectively manage our classroom technology from one convenient location. Our relationship with AMX has really enabled us to use our A/V technology resources effectively."