The self-service device loan revolution
A new survey has revealed that almost half of UK universities have now automated their laptop or tablet loan service both in and outside the library.
29 Jun 2017
Is manually loaning laptops or tablets to students a thing of the past? A recent survey carried out by LapSafe® Products has revealed that 44% of UK universities have now automated their laptop/tablet loan service within or outside the university libraries.
Of those, 87% have selected to deploy the Diplomat™LMS, a dynamic self-service, multi-bay locker system designed to loan devices.
The popular Diplomat™LMS stores, charges and deploys laptops, Chromebooks, Microsoft Surface or tablets such as iPads in self-service locker bays. The innovative lockers allow users to borrow fully charged devices for set periods of time and make device loans easy to manage.
The automated service allows students to borrow devices whether staff are present or not.
The Diplomat™LMS also allows a ‘mix and match’ of devices or the opportunity to borrow a charging locker space (BYOD). IT technicians have the option to update or re-image all the devices from a chosen location, saving both time and money.
A popular service
So why is this service so popular? Feedback has revealed that the main reason is to allow students access to devices outside of normal library opening and that providing a 24 x 7 x 365 access to devices is important. Annual student satisfaction surveys show that students want more access to this type of service.
According to the research, the average loans provided by each UK university site per month is approximately 3,000 loans. One site is currently transacting 16,000 loans per month! To date, LapSafe® Diplomat™ installations are providing approximately 100,000 loans per month across UK universities, and this figure is set to rise dramatically by the end of 2017.