Michelle Knox, Sales Account Manager at LapSafe, has over twenty years’ experience supplying products and services to the education sector. She has worked directly for LapSafe for two years but previously worked for IT resellers who have supplied education with LapSafe’s products.

We asked Michelle what challenges she feels the education sector has faced over this last year and what challenges are yet to come…

Tell us a bit about LapSafe.

For over two decades LapSafe has led the way in mobile ICT secure storage and charging solutions.  They don’t just manufacture storage and charging trolleys for devices such as laptops, Chromebooks and tablets; they specialise in providing products and solutions that bring together the latest ICT technology in safe and innovative ways.

Since introducing the first ever laptop storage and charging trolley within the marketplace, LapSafe have continued to design and develop their range to stay abreast with the fast pace of change within the world of technology and education. LapSafe are leaders within the education sector and beyond for self-service device loan lockers with more than 70% of UK colleges and universities using LapSafe Diplomat self-service lockers.

How challenging has it been in education during 2021?

During the last twelve months I have seen an increased demand for more and more digital devices to be made available to students. The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the need for more technology and we have seen schools IT strategies advance by several years.

The demand highlighted the need for more devices for both staff and students.  The Department for Education provided education with support to meet the increased demand for technology with its ‘Get help with technology programme’ during the pandemic.

IT Managers had to quickly adapt their infostructure to support e-learning and more devices were made available to students.

Now that students have returned to the classroom, managing large pools of assets, such as laptops, Chromebooks and tablets has brought on many challenges; keeping software up-to-date; keeping them fully charged; loaning devices and keeping track of the asset as they return to the classroom.

How has LapSafe helped?

LapSafe have a range of solutions tailored to suit every need and budget.  They offer both static and mobile solutions for storing and charging multiple devices.  All devices can be charged in the cabinets simultaneously and they can also be networked to allow devices to be updated from a remote location.

Popular with higher education and universities, LapSafe offer a range of intelligent self-service lockers which loans devices to students without the need for staff intervention.

During the pandemic the demand for easy device management in the form of storage and charging solutions went up dramatically.  As LapSafe’s products are manufactured in the UK, they have kept up with supply when other manufacturers experienced difficulties.

LapSafe also has its own fleet of delivery drivers who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure products were delivered within the constraints of the pandemic.

Question ‘Will you be going to Bett 2022?

The Bett Show has always been a great showcase event for LapSafe, where new products and services are launched to both end users and IT resellers.  LapSafe has over 350+ resellers promoting and selling their product range.

Bett 2021 was cancelled due to the pandemic so we are really looking forward to launching our new products range in January 2022.

For me this is an opportunity to meet with end users, showcase our product range and learn all about their challenges and experiences over the last year.  At the last Bett Show in 2020, we launched our new ClassBuddy Locker range, a charging locker with a small footprint which has been really popular this year with schools and colleges.  Read the Great Abington Primary School case study to see how they have utilised these new lockers.

What do you think the future holds?

I feel that flexible learning is here to stay.  Students need the ability to borrow a device when they are on-site but also need to work remotely. Although, things are improving, we are not over the pandemic yet and who knows whether there will be future lockdowns.

Students and teachers need quick access to fully charged devices; IT technicians need easy device management and self-service is the future.

As a company LapSafe adapted quickly during the pandemic to ensure that their customers’ needs were met.  They even launched a UV-C station that can sanitise a laptop or similar in 15 seconds and this will be on show at Bett 2022, stand SB51.

For more information on products available from LapSafe visit www.lapsafe.com.