Harmony Elementary School, a public school serving students from grades one through five, has installed 60 FSR Flex-LT200 control systems and 60 IT-AS411-S8 audio switchers/amplifiers in all of its classrooms, media center, conference room and cafeteria. The Flex-LT200 enables teachers and staff at the school to control each room’s DVD player, projector, laptop integration, audio sources and other devices from a touch LCD screen. The IT-AS411-S8 units deliver audio from these sources to each classroom’s speaker system.
In addition to traditional classroom instruction, Harmony Elementary uses DVD players, projection screens, computers and other electronic devices to teach its students. Prior to implementing the FSR Flex-LT200s, teachers and administrative staff operated each device with several handheld remote controls, often forcing them to spend valuable classroom time hunting for the correct remote, finding the correct audio source for a device or managing the operation of multiple devices at the same time. The Flex-LT200, which can sit on a desk or be mounted into a wall, allows them to control all these devices from its touch LCD screen. Users can also control the Flex-LT200 from a wireless tablet.
“Using the Flex-Able configuration utility, we were able to program each Flex-LT200 to control all the tasks the school needed to perform with its electronic devices,” says Todd Maynard, partner, TechOptics, the systems integrator and distributor that performed the installation of the FSR units at the school. "We created the room control design using the configuration utility and loaded it directly into each room’s Flex-LT200, so that it would appear on the devices’ touch panel. It was very easy; a simple drag-and-drop functionality that someone without any knowledge of programming could create. This way, school employees can access all the control buttons they need from one unit.”
A built-in scheduler automatically shuts off displays that are not in use and can deliver an alert if there is an issue in the room, such as an elevated lamp life that needs attention. Additionally, the Flex controller has an optional motion sensor that controls system power if a room stays vacant for a period of time.
FSR’s IT-AS411 Series are 4 x 1 audio switchers with a microphone/line-level input for a voice lift system or direct microphone input. All models in the series have four switched program audio inputs and an independently controlled microphone or line-level input that is mixed with the selected active program audio. All models also have balanced or unbalanced audio input and output capability. DIP switches are provided to set the voice input level to microphone or line, adjust microphone sensitivity, set phantom power and select mono or stereo operation. The IT-AS411-S8 also has a 25-Watt amplifier built into the unit for powering the speakers.
