Arizona School District Uses Tracking Software To Protect Laptops

  • May 08, 2008

Absolute Software Corp. recently announced that Dysart Unified School District, Arizona's fastest growing district, is using ComputraceComplete to manage its notebook computer population, deter theft and recover computers should they go missing.

As with a growing number of school districts across North America, Dysart Unified School District recognizes that technology will play a major role in the livelihood of its students. As a result, Dysart is moving aggressively toward making HP notebook computers an everyday learning tool for its more than 23,000 students. To track, monitor and manage more than 3,000 notebooks, Dysart Unified School District, uses Absolute Software's flagship product ComputraceComplete.

"In schools, laptops are becoming as common as textbooks, but replacing a missing textbook costs a fraction of replacing a missing computer," said John Livingston, Chairman and CEO of Absolute Software. "With Computrace, school districts can give their students the advantages of a laptop program and avoid unnecessary expense by keeping track of these valuable assets."

ComputraceComplete is an effective computer security and tracking solution. It protects both PCs and Macs, providing reliable visibility into every computer in the district -- leading to enhanced security, simplified inventorying and regulatory compliance. Should a computer go missing, the Absolute Theft Recovery Team uses information sent via Computrace to track the computer and engage local law enforcement to physically recover it and return it to the district's staff.

"Having made a major investment in new HP laptops, one of the options we had for keeping track of them was ComputraceComplete from Absolute Software," said the district's Director of Information Technology Evan Allred. "It uses the Internet to help us track each computer, where it is located, who is logging in and, should one go missing, where it has been taken. We just report the missing computer to Absolute and they work with local law enforcement to find it and recover it for us. We can also inventory our computers at any time -- which is an amazing feature for helping us with our budgets and appropriately allocating new computers to schools."

Dysart Unified School District and Absolute Software have already had a successful computer recovery.

"We were impressed with our first experience working with Absolute's recovery service," said Allred. "They literally looked after everything from the moment we let them know it was missing to the point where we could go pick it up at the Surprise (Arizona) Police Department. In the past, we wouldn't have had a chance of recovering that laptop, but the sheer speed with which it was found in this case should be a major deterrent for would-be thieves."

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