AMX Acquires SchoolView
AV technology maker AMX reported it has acquired SchoolView Technologies, a developer of software designed for managing various aspects of school technologies, from bell schedules and clock synchronization to streaming video and paging.
The two companies had been in a technology partnership since early 2010, offering a school control system called AMX | SchoolView, a hardware/software package that allows teachers, administrators, and IT staff to manage and control technologies throughout an entire enterprise, from computers and AV equipment to PA systems and security cameras.
AMX | SchoolView provides varying levels of access based on user type and also includes classroom-specific modules that allow teachers to control devices and stream media within their classrooms via a mobile touch panel or Web interface. Features include:
- Energy savings features like automated device shutdown across multiple campuses;
- Built-in paging support;
- The ability to supply power over Ethernet;
- Support for synchronizing clocks, bell schedules, and other systems across an existing data network;
- Access to live feeds from some types of surveillance cameras via touch panel;
- Support for sharing AV equipment, like DVD players, across a standard network when paired with AMX's video delivery feature;
- Campus digital signage control via touch panel; and
- An emergency alert feature that can, for example, turn on all projectors at a location and display an alert with text and graphics, then signal an "all clear" when appropriate.
Districts in the United States that have adopted AMX | SchoolView include Round Rock Independent School District and Franklin ISD, both in Texas.
“We have been impressed with both the quality of the products and the people at SchoolView over the past 18 months and are glad to officially welcome them to the AMX family. AMX is capitalizing on the success of this partnership with a solution that aims directly at controlling costs at a time when K-12 schools are being challenged more and more to show a true return on their investment,” said AMX President and CEO Rashid Skaf, in a statement released Tuesday. “AMX | SchoolView is the only scalable education solution set that allow schools to start with certain critical components and continue to add more later to eventually take full advantage of our ‘unified control’ solutions to manage connected technology, automation, security and energy utilization.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AMX said it plans an AMX | SchoolView technology tour in the fall.