Wireless Clocks to the Rescue at the Little Falls Community Middle School

The wired clock system from 1962 had been a nagging problem at the Little Falls Community Middle School. Expensive repairs and replacements were the norm for this rural Minnesota school district. According to Principal Swenson, “Daylight Saving Time was a big deal to me and downright stressful. Our wired clocks would be wrong for an entire day after the change. NOT fun!”

So when their outdated clock system “fried” two weeks before the first day of school last fall, they said good riddance and called a systems integrator for advice.

“The wired clock system had served its purpose. We discovered it would not have been cost effective to replace the head end so we decided to buy a complete new wireless clock system. Since the original manufacturer didn’t support our clocks anymore, it was time to upgrade” said Swenson.

Because he had knowledge of the current network equipment at the Community Middle School, Mike Zawatzke from All State Communications suggested a wireless clock system from American Time “It was a tight deadline, but I finished installing the wireless system clocks the day before school started. That says a lot about the product and the manufacturer. The best thing about SiteSync IQ is how easy it is to program and change the bell schedule. Anyone can feel comfortable using it.”

Swenson changes the bell schedule using an Internet connection. “Remote Connect is wonderful. In our old system, it was really time-consuming to switch from schedule to schedule. Now I do it with a click of a button. There was no software to purchase. I just go online and make the schedule changes.”

Mark Diehl, IT Director, worked with Zawatzke to install and program the 10 watt SiteSync IQ wireless clock system. Diehl appreciates the simplicity of the wireless clocks, the reduction in support time, not to mention the free school logo added to the clock dial. “The new clocks are much easier to read and the building logo gives an extra special touch to the building.”

Download the Little Falls Community Middle School Case Study