02 Jun, 2022
Starpoint Central School District: Case Study Starpoint Central School District consists of Pendleton, Cambria, Lockport, Wheatfield, and Royalton and is located in the Town of Pendleton, New York. The Starpoint CSD services approximately 7,000 families over a 115 square mile area with 2,700 students. Starpoint was no stranger to the use of interactive panels. The district had been outfitted by many leading companies for years. As time went on, the faults and errors of these products became more apparent. District technology liaison, Matt Mariglia, recognized these issues ahead of time and voiced his desire to potentially switch to a better provider of these products. “We just kept hearing the name everywhere we went, Clear Touch, Clear Touch, Clear Touch. We were a bit skeptical at first, until we actually sat down and signed up for a demo. Afterwards, the Network Manager and I were just convinced. From early on, we knew this was the way to go.” The Human Touch Making a switch is never as easy as it sounds. The entire Starpoint staff was trained and familiar with the previous technologies. However, Matt knew that the district had to switch. The inefficiency of their current products was too alarming. Some of the panels the district had were prone to break easily and the turnaround time on the repairs was near “insulting”. It wasn’t until a member of the Clear Touch implementation team named Sarah Lowey showed Matt how things could be done, did he begin to think about switching. “I was so impressed with her, they (district trainers) got to know her like I got to know her. It was more than just about getting the technology in our hands and getting out of our lives. She was there to help in every way that she could, advising us on what to do with the panels (from her education experience) and it was easy to tell that she had spent time in the classroom. She knew what would eventually trip us up, she knew everything down to the power supply. It wasn’t long until the district trainers were smiling. We knew we had found the right partner.” The lasting relationship between Clear Touch and Starpoint has never ceased. Other competitors often treat their buyers as just that, nothing more. Clear Touch puts the extra effort into the experience of engaging students in the classroom. “We even tested out the helpline after hearing that there was a 98% pickup rate. We tried the same number at least five times and every time, Clear Touch answered the phone. Our experience with other companies has been the “heck with us” once the product is bought. Clear Touch has not done that. I always get answered back, and I get answered quickly. It’s an actual relationship, not just a sales relationship.” Best of the Rest Clear Touch isn’t just a reliable partner, we deliver top of the line products that change the way students interact and engage in a classroom or workspace. Awards have been earned, backing our consistency, innovation, and efficiency of our product line. Matt’s take on our products was no different. “The ease of use is easily what separates Clear Touch for me. The 6000K+ panels in particular. They run fast and they run smoothly. The Android 9 toolbar has become a personal favorite of our students. They got the hang of it early on and were even teaching the teachers at one point. The panels also run hand in hand with the software suite and the best part is that it’s free.” The documented efficiency of the Clear Touch panels wasn’t the only factor that had Matt satisfied. Our software suite and its licensing options were a major draw compared to our competitors. “Command was a big reason why we chose Clear Touch, for starters it was included, it was free. It wasn’t like a year of using it before you had to pay for it and re-budget everything. Command allows our systems analyst to manage everything from afar, both updates and power. Other included softwares have drastically helped with hybrid/remote learning. The ability to annotate and save documents is paramount. Clear Touch allows teachers to not only instruct and mark up lessons on their panel in front of kids, but then have the ability to save it and send the files off to kids who aren’t in person.” Clear Touch has based their entire working philosophy around change, adapting to the needs and wants of the user. Matt and his staff saw firsthand, their switch from an industry leading standard developer to Clear Touch has been described as nothing else than a drastic improvement. Streamlining usage and simplifying the formula so that even kindergartners can fluently operate the device, all while being safely optimized and monitored by administrators using ‘Command’. “I would recommend Clear Touch to any school district looking to put an interactive panel up on their wall. From the demo’s, the implementation, to the product themselves, Clear Touch has been everything it has been advertised to be.” More about Clear Touch Clear Touch, headquartered in Greenville, SC, is a leading US global manufacturer of interactive touch panels and accessories as well as digital signage displays and solutions for education, government, and business. Clear Digital is our sister brand that specializes in digital signage solutions. For more information, visit our websites: getcleartouch.com and getcleardigital.com