For years, I have seen too many private schools peddling on the campus network billing system. These schools often have limited budgets and want to use a powerful system that either buys overly complex systems or buys unstable products cheaply, and then has to re-purchase them for nothing and waste money and time.
First, private schools are highly mobile, with new students and seniors graduating every semester, and account management is a heavy workload. Second, private schools are more cost-controlled, hoping that the billing system will help to save school bandwidth costs.
Based on these characteristics, private schools should focus on several aspects in selecting their models. First, whether the system supports bulk account management, is able to interface with the school ' s teaching systems and achieve automatic opening and write-off of accounts. Second, whether the system has smart bandwidth management functions that allow dynamic adaptation to actual usage and avoid bandwidth waste. Third, whether it provides a sound reporting function that allows managers to have a clear understanding of web usage and data support for decision-making.
I was in contact with a private college in 2019.
The school, which was a very low-cost system for saving money, used a lot of problems. Most seriously, the system is unstable, often blocked, and students cannot access the Internet to complain. The head of the school’s information centre has been criticized several times by the principal and has had to retender for new systems.
And they found us, and we re-selected them and deployed the right system. In the selection process, we focused on stability and ease of use of the system, taking into account cost factors. A product with a high value for money was eventually selected that met both school needs and budget constraints.
The system is running very steady when it's online.
The head of the school’s information centre said that they could now focus more on teaching support than on processing network failures. This case shows that the choice is not about price, but about system performance, stability, and after-sales services.
For private schools, choosing a school network billing system is like buying cars, not just for naked car prices, but also for fuel consumption, maintenance, insurance, etc. A good billing system should help schools to become more efficient in their management and lower operating costs rather than becoming a burden.
Technical selection
We recommend that private schools prioritize cloud platform programs. Cloud platform programs have many advantages: they do not need expensive hardware equipment, specialized personnel to transport them, and no concern about system upgrades and maintenance.
The first is data security, and schools need to ensure that all data are stored on domestic servers in accordance with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations. Second, they need to rely on the Internet, which may affect the normal use of the system if there is a problem with the school’s outer network connection.
Except for the technology.
Private schools also need to focus on training of personnel. Many schools, after purchasing the system, find that staff are not using it, which prevents them from performing their full functions. So we suggest that when buying the system, schools should consider the cost of training and select suppliers who provide improved training services.
Some bad-good providers set traps in contracts, such as hiding fees, limiting system functionality, and avoiding after-sale service responsibilities.
In general, private schools are expected to adhere to the principles of practicality, stability, and economy when selecting a school network system, avoiding blind pursuit of high-end functions and the need for cheap purchases of inferior products. Only by choosing their own systems can they truly play the role of a system that supports teaching and management in schools.