Southern Wake Academy Eliminates Wasted Time, Paper and Upgrades Their Technology with Konica Minolta

Project Overview

Southern Wake Academy is a tuition-free, independent, public charter school located in Holly Spring, North Carolina. Mike Heavey, Director of Development for Southern Wake Academy, knew that he needed to put measures into place to save the school money and save his teachers precious time during the school day. That’s when he formed a partnership with Konica Minolta.

Challenges

The academy had worn out technology that was out of service more than it was working. Mike was also receiving different bills each month depending on how much his staff was printing. It became worrisome not knowing what to expect in each bill. He needed efficient solutions that made his teachers’ days much easier and provided predictability.

Solution

“Students are using technology-based education programs, but our teachers still have items that need to be printed. With the help of Konica Minolta, teachers can send any of their print jobs to one of their 5 bizhub® 558e printers, have them sorted, stapled, hole punched and ready to pick up between classes.” And with bizhub® SECURE, which offers an enhanced set of security measures to lock down printing with password protection – Mike never has to worry that private student information is left unattended. Additionally, Southern Wake Academy utilizes Konica Minolta’s OneRate program, which means each month his bill is the same as opposed to a variable cost with overages. It’s a simplified way for him to control print-related operating costs and for teachers to print as much as they need without the academy receiving a surprise invoice at the end of the month.

Mike relies on Konica Minolta because of how reliable the MFPs are and how efficiently they help make his school run. “Before installing the 5 bizhub® 558e machines, the previous equipment experienced a ton of down time, would always break and they just simply weren’t keeping up with the demand of the school,” says Heavey.

The new machines that were installed print an extra 10 pages per minute and Konica Minolta was able to lower Southern Wake’s yearly costs by over $1,000. Southern Wake Academy now has updated technology to support an increase in students. Print flexibility, streamlined billing with OneRate and a well running school takes the pressure off of Mike Heavey so he can focus on growing enrollment!

Another way Southern Wake has upgraded technology is with the Double® 2; a telepresence robot that allows teachers and students to remotely connect to each other. The Double® 2 gives students and teachers a real, physical presence at school via a two-wheeled balancing robot with an attached iPad®.

The robot moves around the classroom to make the student feel connected to his or her peers. “Our students love it so much, they’ve even dressed it up to look more human-like,” says Heavey. This technology helps students get engaged and stay involved, even when they cannot physically be in the classroom.

Mike has future plans of using Konica Minolta’s ITS division, All Covered for VOIP solutions and to run the Academy network. He looks forward to working further with Konica Minolta as a partner in this growth and an expert in school-based technology.