With the new school year already underway, it is never too early to take a look at all the processes for managing your devices throughout the year and making sure that you get them all back. When looking at making sure your end-of-year pick goes smoothly, the first thing you want to look at is where to collect your devices. One of the most common methods is to set up a collection point at each campus. However, think about setting up collection points at a few key locations for collection. This will help make the process go more smoothly, as you will be able to focus on people at these locations instead of stretching your people out. This will also benefit the parents of the students in the district, as they will not have to worry about going to multiple locations to turn devices in. In addition to determining where your devices will be checked in, you also need to look at who will be assigned to what locations to check the devices in.
Communicate Your Collection Points
Once you have made your plan and determined who is going to be where for your pick up, you will need to decide what you want the process for the parents and students to be. Will this be a drive-thru collection, what will the traffic flow look like, what protocols will be in place for the return of devices. Make sure that you thoroughly document the procedures that you plan on using and broadcast these to everyone. This will cut down on any confusion and allow your staff to work more efficiently.
Train Your Staff
Make sure that you have decided who will be helping, and what roles that they will play in your collection process. In addition to members on your technology staff, if you have anyone not on your team assisting, it is of utmost importance to make sure that they are trained in the process that they will be performing such as accessing the damage, updating devices statuses, getting a digital signature, printing receipts, etc. When you are training both staff members and non-staff members who will be assisting in the collection, make sure that you define what each status means, how to determine what status is appropriate, does it need to be repaired, does a help ticket need to be created, and should a fee be assessed. Also, make sure that everyone knows what type of receipt that they will receive. Will it be a printed or emailed copy?
Make Sure Your Equipment Is Ready
Before you get too close to the date you plan on collecting all of your devices, make sure that you have a layout of where all the equipment you need to use for this is going to be set up. This equipment could include laptops, barcode scanners, and printers. Have all of this equipment on-site, set up, and tested well in advance of your collection day. In addition to what you will need to use, make sure that everyone knows exactly what is going to be collected(i.e. laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, or cell phones). Make sure that you have enough chargers available for everyone who is working. We recommend using barcode scanners for checking devices in as you will have to worry about lighting and such for them to work correctly.
Things to think about Post-Collection
Once you have collected all of your devices, you need to have a plan for how and where you are going to store everything. While you are planning this, keep in mind how and where the devices are going to be distributed the following school year. Figure out which of the devices need to be disposed of and update your records accordingly. For some school districts, they hand out the same devices to the same student the following year. If your district does this, make sure that you have an asset management system in place that allows you to effectively track this information. If you are looking for something to help with this, check out AssetRemix asset management and manage up to 50 devices for free.