The end of the school year is here, which means it's time to exhale. Those freshly emptied hallways and classrooms will bring some much-deserved peace and quiet after a long nine months, but they also provide a prime opportunity for routine maintenance.
Now is a good time for building workers to ensure everything is in working order, including looking at the facility's wired clock system. We'll walk you through a checklist to make sure your clocks are in tip-top shape.
Visual Inspection
The first step might seem like the obvious one: Go from room to room and physically check each clock. In a large facility, this will take some time, and it's understandable if you'd rather be tackling a job outside this time of year but this is the best way to get a handle on the status of the time-keeping system that serves as the heartbeat of your building.
The visual inspection includes making sure each clock is telling the correct time, but also gives you a chance to assess any physical damage and determine what new equipment you might need to order.
Assess Your Inventory
As you determine what purchases might be necessary for next year, look for any signs of vandalism or missing clocks. If you find that clocks were damaged or vanished, there are precautions you can take so that won't happen again.
Perhaps you'll see a need for wire guards, which protect clocks from intentional and incidental damage (a lot can happen with thousands of students careening through the halls day after day). If you find that clocks are missing, you might consider a lockable security bracket that will protect your clock while keeping it in place.
Budgeting
Now that you've assessed the status of your building's clock system, you have the information you need as your school's new budget year begins this summer. Also, check on what you may have budgeted for spare clocks as you assess your needs for new equipment.
This is also a good time to see what equipment needs to be sent in for repair. Clock technicians are busiest just before the beginning of the school year, so now is your opportunity to avoid any backlog and ensure a quicker turnaround time.
Check the Class Change Bells
As you look ahead to the next school year, consider whether you have any schedule changes planned that will require you to adjust bell times. Also, perform an audible check on your bell system, especially if it's tied to your master clock.
Making sure your bells are in working order means one less thing you have to do in the frenzied days of late August.
Check Your Batteries if Necessary
Some master controllers, like the SiteSync IQ, can operate both wired and wireless clocks, bells and relays to other circuits. If you have any wireless clocks, there is one more step to take as you assess the status of your time system: Check the batteries.
The battery packs from American Time's wireless clocks, for instance, should last you five years. Ideally, you would have logged the clocks' installation date so you know if it's time to change the batteries before they die.
That's it, your year-end clock assessment is complete. Now, go ahead and find a project outside and enjoy the summer while it lasts.
