ADVERTORIAL
A Timetable for change T
eachers and administrators who struggle with the complexities of managing the school timetable can now look forward to an easier workload. Bromcom have launched a new feature in their Management Information System (MIS), the fully integrated ‘Cloud wTimeTable’, supported by AI, that promises to offer groundbreaking benefits for schools.
First unveiled at Bromcom’s annual Shard event in London, on June 12th, Cloud wTimeTable is already being used by customers who subscribe to Bromcom’s ‘One Stop Shop’ MIS offering, and is available on request to all users. As the name implies, the feature is fully cloud-based, meaning it is accessible from any device with website access – a timetable innovation that Bromcom is the first in the MIS sector to offer.
The new timetable solution is designed to help schools move away from outdated import processes and manual timetabling. Easy to set up using a Project Wizard, it includes a whole host of benefits for users, including:
• Seamless integration with Bromcom MIS, embedded as web based module • Drag and drop functionality, offering significant speed and ease of use • Hybrid or manual operation, allowing users to maintain control where needed and to save time with automated processes and tasks
• Auto-scheduling – ability to create timetables based on specific rules, criteria, and relationships indicated by users
• Conflict checking, allowing clashes, blank sessions, and other potential errors to be flagged for easy correction
• Multiple timetable versions, enabling users to save time when creating new versions of timetables.
Integrated AI support
But perhaps the most significant development – and one that could be a genuine game-changer for schools – is a new advancement that has been made to Bromcom’s integrated Artificial Intelligence tool, Bromcom AI. Users will be able to use this to run timetable queries, and receive automated responses based on school data held in the system. Questions like: ‘Which teachers teach year 10 on Friday’, or: List all the teachers who teach English, or: ‘Which teachers are unavailable to cover in the month of December?’ will be able to be answered by Bromcom AI.
Cloud wTimeTable training is currently being scheduled for Bromcom customers, to ensure MIS users are able to take full advantage of the new feature. Future developments are also in the pipeline, and Bromcom users can expect to see a number of additional benefits in due course. These include adding subsidiary subjects to Relationships, and providing shared access, which will allow multiple staff to edit timetable models (standard Timetable providers typically restrict users or computers used).
These developments ensure Bromcom continues to lead the way in MIS advancements for schools, MATs and local authorities.
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www.education-today.co.uk June 2024
As AI functionality develops, MIS users can expect to see future enhancements that transform timetabling, including financial analysis, for example. Providing instant insight into the cost of curriculum hours in specific departments, or the impact of staff absence on cover costs, would be invaluable. AI could even help plan a fully costed curriculum ahead of implementing a new timetable.
Bromcom’s Chief Technology Officer, Hus Guryel, explains the thinking behind the new Timetable offering: “We are always looking for ways to make life easier for our MIS customers. Providing a new Timetable feature which helps staff automate the scheduling process will save them time and simplify what is often a complex and lengthy process. At the same time, developments we have made to Bromcom AI have been designed to complement this module. AI has enormous potential to facilitate the lives of MIS users, and providing them with the option to run timetable queries is just the latest example of how we are using technology to support schools. We are planned to integrate more AI workflows into the module in coming months.”
An intuitive solution
Corinium Education Trust switched to Bromcom from their previous cloud-MIS provider last year, because they wanted access to the additional integrated functionality that Bromcom offers. Deer Park School is one of the Corinium schools that is taking full advantage of the move, and their Head, Richard Clutterbuck, explains how they are reaping benefits from the new Timetable feature: “The issues we inherited from our previous provider are now being ironed out for our next timetable. We took our curriculum model and plugged it in and it’s been very straightforward. It’s working well and it’s intuitive.”
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