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Key
reasons why Cornwall College selected TokAM
"At
the basic level, it wasn't initially a supplier choice
factor," says Kirk, "but whether we should
go for an electronic solution at all. We looked hard
at going back to square one and considered the options
but at the end of the day, a computer-based system was
the only way we could achieve our objectives."
"Then
we looked around the market and decided that the Tokairo's
TokAM solution was the right way forward. It was flexible,
rugged and reliable and offered a higher degree of scalability
than other competitive systems. This was important to
us because with the college mergers and eight campuses
we provide education across the whole county."
"The
system is based on a mature proven technology, with
a substantial user base and a good track record. It
also offered a full Web Data entry solution. We could
have written a web solution ourselves, but it was easier
to buy the module. Also, the system was competitively
priced and we were satisfied that we would get good
support."
How
TokAM helped
"Overall,
TokAM provides an extremely comprehensive way of managing
attendance rapidly, accurately and easily. It significantly
reduces errors and allows us to produce management reports
that, because they are more timely, are more useful.
It cuts down on paper and resource-consuming manual
administration."
"For
example, using the Tokairo EMA Module and EMASYS Link
we are saving three days a week in administration time.
Now we can have an accurate picture of the complete
attendance situation and can compare figures across
campuses, subjects, course types, and lecturer performance
if particular classes have a problem. It makes the register
process easier for lecturers, and the students are aware
that their attendance is being closely monitored which
encourages a discipline."
"Problems
can be seen immediately and we can take instant action.
Attendance absence is often an early sign that a student
is struggling or has some other difficulty - health
or some domestic situation. With TokAM, we can do something
about it," says Kirk.
The
EMASYS module enables users to automatically process
and upload weekly payment data to EMASYS, the EMA payment
body system -
(www.dfes.gov.uk/financialhelp/ema)
It has full recognition and accreditation by the Learning
and Skills Council (www.lsc.gov.uk/National/default.htm.)
Tokairo
is the very first organisation to send and process weekly
payments via the EMASYS link. Modestly priced, the module
provides very significant time and cost savings and
gives an extremely rapid return on investment.
In
addition to savings achieved with it by Cornwall College,
other users report similar rapid return on their investment.
"It's definitely good value for money," says
Shyamal Desilva, Redbridge College's Information Systems
Analyst. "Until we started using it, I and the
EMA administrator were spending two hours a day making
the reporting decisions on TokAM, printing them out
and then inputting onto EMASYS' website.
Now it takes less than 15 minutes to make the decisions
and we just have to click the "Exchange" link
to upload them automatically. It's a great time saver,
for sure."
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