St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf Increases Security and Expands Remote Support

St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf has provided students with purposeful, equitable and engaging experiences for over 150 years. Located in the Bronx, New York, the school creates an inclusive learning environment for hearing and non-hearing, verbal and non-verbal students alike.

More so than other schools, St. Joseph’s campus environment is integral to student life. So, when COVID-19 forced the school’s shift to distance learning, it was no easy feat. Technology Coordinator, Adrianne Grant, had to swiftly find a way to support teachers and staff remotely. “The experience was like drinking water from a fire hydrant!”

St. Joseph’s quickly rounded up devices to help students access live-streamed classes and coursework from home. Once the school acquired laptops, tablets and Chromebooks, Grant knew she needed to find a way to remotely access those devices and fix issues fast.

Grant wanted to ensure the staff at St. Joseph's felt supported during this uncertain, challenging time. “I wanted them to know that if they started drowning, we could extend a hand and provide support,” she said.

Grant used LogMeIn before hearing about Splashtop through Tech and Learning. She decided to try Splashtop SOS and was amazed at how easy it was to use. “LogMeIn was a little sticky sometimes whereas I found Splashtop’s interface to be just wonderful. I could get in and out of machines easily.”

Splashtop’s pricing also stood out. “Splashtop is so affordable in comparison to LogMeIn. For a school, that’s stellar! When I saw the price comparison, I couldn’t believe it. Other products are double the cost for less.”

Grant started using Splashtop to support remote staff during lockdown. “A lot of people were working from home on their own devices. “We were able to get into their computers and mobile devices to fix any problems. It enabled us to maintain a high level of support, even when we were at home.”

Beyond the initial shock of the pandemic, Splashtop became an integral tool for St. Joseph’s. Grant was so happy with Splashtop SOS, that she upgraded to Enterprise for more remote support capabilities and increased security. “Splashtop is a great third team member if you will. We have a small IT team, just me and my partner. So, it makes everything a lot easier!”

Favorite features:

On-demand remote support: to provide support to anyone, anywhere at any time. “Splashtop brought a calming effect to our school. Not only were we able to support staff remotely, but also students and parents struggling with technology at home. It’s easy for the end user, even if they aren’t tech-savvy.”

Remote Computer Management: to push patches or updates through the my.splashtop.com console remotely. “I don’t have to run around to every machine. I see everything I need to through the console. There’s only two of us, we couldn’t possibly do everything without it.”

Device information: “The Splashtop console gives us details about the devices, like operating system and date it was last updated. I can see what was completed and what needed to get done. Just hover and it gives me the information. I don’t have to go looking for it.”

Session Logs: “I can look back after a session and see what ran, what didn’t, plus other essential information. I utilize that all the time.”

User grouping and management: “We can create groups and categorize people. If we needed to find an end-user, we know where to go.”

Customer support: Grant was impressed with Splashtop’s delightful customer service. “Your support team is very helpful and accessible. Even if I don’t get it right away, they’ll stay with me and make sure it works. I appreciate that as a tech because I want to do the same for my end-users.”

Cost savings

Because Grant saved substantially on remote access and support costs, St. Joseph’s could buy more Chromebooks and iPads for students. “We don’t have a big budget. I could cover more ground and get more done with Splashtop than I could with other products. It just made sense.”

Increased security and peace of mind

Schools in America have to be hypervigilant about security. “It's just horrifying to think that someone could infiltrate our school and harm the kids and the staff,” said Grant.

To that end, St. Joseph’s is using Splashtop to monitor security cameras. “My assistant uses Splashtop daily to diagnose and resolve problems. He also remotes into the guard house computer to check on surveillance cameras.”

During holidays or after working hours they can simply remote in, monitor the campus, and assist anyone who’s there. If necessary, they can also alert authorities to emergencies faster. They’ve caught everything from a door accidentally left open to a flooded basement after a hurricane.

“When the basement flooded after a hurricane, we were able to remote into the surveillance cameras and see the water damage. The whole lower level had flooded and there was an electrical panel underwater. With Splashtop, we could see if it was safe before we entered the building to assess further damage.” Grant added, “you wouldn’t normally think of using Splashtop in that way, but it’s worth its weight in gold for us.”

Increased cybersecurity too

It's not just the school’s physical security that Splashtop has improved, it’s also their cybersecurity.“ People don’t think about it, but schools are being targeted by ransomware too. Protecting our end users and our network is just as important as the rest of our work,” said Grant. Splashtop enables Grant and her partner to check on all school devices and make upgrades to ensure they’re as secure as possible.

St. Joseph’s “knight in shining armor"

Today Grant and her partner use Splashtop Enterprise to support around 300 devices (including iPads, Chromebooks, laptops and desktops). “We mainly use Splashtop for desktop support. If someone has a problem, we can easily diagnose it or resolve it without disrupting class.”

When staff members aren’t on campus, IT can still service their devices—even if their office is locked. Staff members also use remote access features while out of town or training new hires. “Our business manager uses Splashtop regularly now. He lives out-of-state and can remotely access files after-hours or while working from home.”

Looking back at the start of the pandemic, Grant is thankful she found Splashtop. “We look back now at everything that happened and how we’ve progressed through it, it’s surreal. I would say your product saved us during the pandemic. That’s the truth. It was our knight in shining armor.”