CHILDCARE Sage: Professional Childcare Management Software

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ChildCare Sage
Professional Childcare Management Software
"The Only Professional and Affordable Solution"

(301) 537-4754

Childcare Sage Recommendations

Over the years, many centers have asked us where to purchase touch-screen monitors, door strike keypads, door strikes, netbooks, computers and other hardware and software. This page has suggestions and a recommended list of hardware, software and accessories that our research has turned up. Most of these recommendations focus on the timeclock functionality in our software.

Many centers want a clean and uncluttered look to the timeclock. If your center has a lot of space or a counter or reception area, the simplest solution is to setup a desktop in that area. You can use a USB keypad (about $10-$15) to make signing in/out simpler. If your entrance is cramped, or you want to put the timeclock into a hallway, we suggest mounting a touchscreen monitor, or a touch-screen all-in-one computer to the wall. If you choose a wall that has a room behind it, you can simply run the wires to the touchscreen monitor through the wall and put the computer box in the room on the other side. If you don't have a room on the other side of the wall, we suggest either an all-in-one touchscreen computer, or a touchscreen monitor connected to a nettop (a computer the size of a book that can be mounted on the wall.)

For all-in-one computers, a good combination of size and price is the Asus ET1611PUT-B008E (about $480.) For a nettop, there are many choices, including the Acer RL70-UR10P (about $320.) Both options will work well. The drawbacks with the all-in-one is that it is more fragile, larger, thicker, and heavier than the touch screen monitor. In terms of price, the combination of the touchscreen monitor + nettop is about the same price as the all-in-one listed above.

Touch Screen Monitor: Instead of using a keyboard, keypad or mouse, centers can use a touchscreen monitor with our timeclock. The monitor can be hung on a wall for a clean, elegant and small-footprint look. Most touchscreen monitors on the market cost over $400. We found a 15" monitor that works well with our timeclock for only $163 from www.monoprice.com. Touch-Screen Monitor To use the monitor, install this driver

Outside Door Lock Keypad: Some centers want to combine their front door access control with a timeclock. If your door leads to the street, there are 3 problems with this: 1) the timeclock has to be weather proof, 2) if the weather is bad, parents will not wait in line to check in (the first person will open the door and everyone else will follow them in,) and 3) if a person forgets something in their car and want to come back in, they don't want to sign in/out, they just want to open the door.

Because of this, we recommend a programmable electronic lock for the front door and our software timeclock on a computer (or netbook) once they come in. We did extensive research to find an outside keypad that is simple, foolproof and programmable. Most programmable keypads on the market cost over $750. This one is about $460( $338 for the keypad and $129 for the programming software and cables) and comes from www.gokeyless.com. Digital Keypad + Software

Electric Door Strike: To have an electric door at the center, you must have an electric door strike that is installed into the door frame of your entrance door. At retail, the electric door strikes cost between $120 and $250. We have found many new in box electric door strikes on ebay for between $35 and $70. Simply search for "electric door strike." Before you order the door strike, make sure it is the correct type, voltage, etc. In terms of brand, Adams Rite, Folger Adam, Rutherford, Trine, etc.

Childcare Sage™
Rockville, MD USA

Have questions? Contact us at support@bandisoftware.com or call (301) 537-4754