Hugh Baird College is a college and university center situated in Liverpool, Merseyside. Comprising of four campuses, it is one of the largest providers of education and training in the area.

John Billington, Director of Faculties and Technical Services said “We have been using a range of IPS Ltd systems for over two years now.

They consist of i-Card, i-Pay, i-Access, i-Kiosk and i-Till.

The systems have been integrated to our MIS system, Pro Solution, so that they extract the data from it. Our MIS system is now heart of the College.

The benefits from this has meant that no person is able to enter College premises without being on a current course, meaning they will not be able to access the college building if their course date has expired or they have previously withdrawn from the course.

As all the IPS Ltd systems are synchronised with each other, our students receive a variety of key benefits in using these systems. They can top-up their ID Cards to pay for items in the catering outlets, either online or using our facial recognition kiosks and can even use their ID Cards in the College libraries.

Having self-service systems in place has meant that queue time is reduced for a range of departments, including; catering, reception and student services, meaning with the current pandemic there is no need for large amounts of students to be in one area.

Our staff find them easy to use and they can function around the systems in no time at all. Catering Managers are able to add on new items and meal deals without having to be at a till; the till Operators are able serve the customers and see what money they have on their ID Cards and also see their photo to ensure that the right person is using the right card. Most importantly our Finance department can see the overview of all revenue and individual reports for our catering departments, our external catering outlets and even our kiosks.

For my own perspective I have been heavily involved with many IPS Ltd activities, from being a guest speaker at their User Groups and showcasing the IPS Ltd products to representatives from other colleges.

Overall, IPS Ltd continues to provide our college with new innovative technology to enforce our policies and procedures to a much stronger level, giving us the reassurance and confidence to be able to focus our attentions at a higher level of capability.”

John Billington
Director of Facilities & Technical Services