Classroom Technology Running Smoothly with Epson Professional Pro Z Series Projectors

When Marko Jarymovych, IT technical director at The Wharton School, the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, drew up the plans to convert all audiovisual classrooms to HD-compatible projectors, he took care to budget in the expected numbers for service and maintenance.

But much to the surprise of Wharton Computing’s Public Technology group, the school barely touched the allocated dollars toward its projector upkeep after two years.

The eighty Epson PowerLite® Pro Z Series projectors that Wharton installed throughout the school have had an astoundingly low failure rate. As a result, Jarymovych’s department has been able to curtail major anticipated costs, dramatically reduce staff time, and work more efficiently on support issues.

“Epson, which has a long-standing relationship with us, understood that our focus was not only on the hardware, but also on the projectors’ many uses and how we manage the service, maintenance and duty cycles of the projectors,” said Jarymovych.

Technology failures are unacceptable at the Wharton School, the world’s first collegiate business school, founded in 1881 in Philadelphia, PA Wharton’s technology plays a key role in educating 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students, and 9,000 in executive education programs. It also helps fuel the research of its 250 faculty members and the school’s ongoing relationships with businesses and business leaders worldwide.

Reliable Technology

Headed by senior director David Siedell, Wharton Computing’s Public Technology group provides technology and support for the school’s 100 classrooms, 70 group study rooms, and 20 conference rooms. Classroom technology includes dual video screens with projection equipment, cameras for videoconferencing and recording/archiving of classroom sessions, custom-designed Wharton Lecterns with touch-screen controls, a facility-wide network control system, and wireless microphones.

Since the upgrade to standardize all classrooms, the PowerLite Pro Z Series projectors are regularly used from early morning until midnight. An unremitting wave, Wharton business students file in and out of each room for lectures, collaborative learning, guest speakers, panel discussions, meetings, and special events.

Wharton’s fleet of Epson projectors provides classrooms and lecture halls with 6,000 lumens color light output and 6,000 lumens of white light output1, full high-definition, WUXGA resolution, 3LCD 3-chip technology, and dual lamps. The projectors are hard at work in the main facility, Jon M. Huntsman Hall; the Steinberg Conference Center on the Philadelphia campus; and at Hills Brothers Plaza, the new Wharton San Francisco building.

New Operational Efficiencies

Despite the tough regimen, Jarymovych discovered that the PowerLite Pro Z Series projectors were still performing at a startlingly low failure rate. “Our projector technology investment was clearly bringing new efficiencies to our operation,” he said.

Since installing the new projectors, Jarymovych insisted on energy-efficient measures such as setting the projectors at low ECO Mode, monitoring them regularly, and following a recommended duty cycle. “One of our smartest moves was to standardize to a projector with a dual lamp system, lamps with up to 3500-hour lamp life2, higher efficiency filters, and liquid cooled lamps,” said Jarymovych.

Dual Lamp System

Wharton’s switch from a single to dual projector lamp system welcomed a key operational efficiency. Although the school outsources projector maintenance to Cenero, an audiovisual solutions provider and Epson Pro AV reseller in Malvern, PA, it still keeps a spare inventory of lamps, projectors, and lenses on hand for quick in-house fixes.

“Today we have a lot more confidence that instructors will not run into projector problems,” said Jarymovych. “If one lamp should fail, there’s another lamp waiting to prevent emergency lamp changes.” The Epson projectors have reduced staff time spent changing lamps between classes.

Model for Service and Support

Wharton’s Public Technology group met the challenge to keep the school’s classroom technology functioning smoothly. The projector upgrade also met the University of Pennsylvania’s sustainability guidelines for energy efficiency and waste reduction, as well as Wharton’s analog-to-HD digital transition initiatives.

“The management of the quality and longevity of our Epson projectors is a model for technology service and support at Wharton,” said Jarymovych. “With a strong support system in place, we’ve managed to maximize our budget while maintaining our projectors in a more efficient way.”