The Solution: Computer Lab Management System
Implementation of a professional quality and fully integrated Computer Lab
Management System can significantly increase the efficiency, security, and costeffectiveness
of a computer lab operation. Such a system should consist of the
following interrelated parts:
- Workstation access control, user sign-in and security. Lab assistants
should be able to register users assigned to workstations in the database,
remotely lock and unlock workstations, maintain waitlists, validate users
against an Alert List, and evaluate the occupancy of all the remotely located
laboratory rooms. Management must be able to view current room occupancy,
waitlist, and computer availability, analyze access logs in order to detect
violators and if necessary, add them to the Alert List.
- Maintenance automation. Lab assistants and technicians must be able to
maintain issue logs for each workstation, employees must be able to
collaborate on issues, and workstations that are out of order must be marked
as unavailable so lab assistants cannot assign users to them.
- Management decision support. Managers must be able to query and
analyze information about room occupancy, waitlists, workstation availability,
and cost of maintenance in order to make informed scheduling, hiring,
budgeting, purchasing and other decisions.
At present, the only commercially available full-featured Computer Lab
Management System is VeraLab developed by VeraLab Inc.
VERALAB - Integrated Lab Management System from VeraLab Inc.
VeraLab is a web-based application for managing computer labs that is designed
to provide the staff with all the tools needed to perform their major tasks. The
picture below illustrates the range of computer lab processes managed by
VeraLab.
Figure 1. VeraLab addresses all major business processes in a computer
lab.
Access Control and Security
Lab assistants sign in/out individual users at a Counter Station by swiping a
school ID card through a card reader and selecting a machine from the list of
available workstations. This is done in a Lab Assistant Dashboard module. If the
user is on the Alert List, the lab assistant is notified during the user sign-in
process.
The entire room can be marked as reserved for a class. The system can prevent
or not prevent outside users from signing in during the class, depending on the
instructorÂ’s wishes or lab policies.
Unoccupied workstations in the room can be locked. Locking/unlocking of
workstations may be performed from the central server together with user sign-in
or manually on-demand.
If there are no available workstations in the room, the lab assistant can look up
other roomsÂ’ availability status and transfer incoming users to a different room.
Alternatively, users can be put on a waitlist with specified queuing criteria such
as 'waiting for any workstation in the room,' 'waiting for a particular type of
workstation,' or 'waiting for a particular workstation.'
Managers can view the status of each room from the Manager Dashboard. Since
the system is built using web-based technologies, managers do not need to be
present at the office to supervise activities in the lab.
If a user performed a malicious activity in the past, managers can identify the
user by analyzing the access log and add the user to the Alert List.
Figure 2. Access control and security. Lab assistants assign users to
workstations, restrict access to workstations by locking, manage waitlists,
and verify users against the Alert List. Managers view the lab status and
update Alert Lists.
Combined together, access control and security will transform the computer lab
into a well-organized orderly production line requiring minimum human intervention
and featuring maximum level of security. To find out more on security, please
read the white paper
Establishing a Secure Lab Environment.
