The 550-acre campus at the Middle Tennessee State University required a method to reduce the service call volume to a more manageable level in its AV equipped learning spaces, creating a custom solution for its TouchLink Pro touchpanels.
MTSU’s AV control system programmers created an AV user interface for the university’s Extron TouchLink Pro touchpanels, helping classroom users help themselves with routine AV system operation and minor troubleshooting.
Extron’s Global Configurator Professional and GUI Designer software were used to create the helpful UI, reducing service call load in the process. The self-help interface guides users through routine AV system configuration of each reach and customises the guidance accordingly. Touchpanel on-screen hardware status displays allow the self-help interface to perform semi-automated interactive troubleshooting sequences for common issues that can be fixed on-site by users, such as disconnected cables or forgetting to turn on an AV source device.
Users can learn more about the AV system operation by playing an animated help guide video, displayed on the touchpanel. A set of system configuration touchscreens adds tools used by MTSU’s tech support personnel and third-party AV system integrators for in-depth AV system troubleshooting and new system commissioning.
James Copeland, director of classroom technology client services, MTSU, commented: “Previously, instructors would often call us out to the classrooms for issues as simple as a blank screen caused by a PC or document camera that wasn’t turned on.
“Now, the touchpanel prompts them with ‘Please Power-on the PC’, and when the system then detects an active signal, the touchscreen confirms with ‘PC Signal Detected’. Something this simple has reduced such time-consuming service calls to zero.”