How do I find out what facilities are in a room?

The facilities available in rooms varies, you will be able to see  time tabling information for the room and a link to user documentation (a copy of which is in each room).

What if the equipment I need is not in the room?

Use our Online Equipment Booking form to submit your requests for portable equipment to be delivered and set up. Alternatively contact lrathire@lists.bham.ac.uk. Please book at least two working days before the start of the booking

What equipment is available to book?

Most of the equipment names in our online booking system are straightforward. Some newer items may not be so familiar - see our equipment choice page.

What software is available on lectern PCs?

See our lectern software page

We are a student society - do we need to pay?

Societies recognised by the Guild are permitted to use equipment fitted in rooms for free. LRAT will not provide any other equipment - eg portable PA kits, links between rooms.

I need to use the internet.   Is there anything special that I need to do?

You will need to make sure that the PC in the room is registered.  If you are using a laptop this will need to be registered to the HSCN point in the room.  We will only supply network connections to laptops in centrally bookable rooms. Contact LRAT for more information.  Please note that it can take up to a week to register a laptop, so allow plenty of time.

Many rooms now benefit from the University wireless service. We indicate which rooms have this connection available in our rooms pages. Please make sure that your laptop is configured first by testing it in another wireless zone.

I want to find out more about the touch-screens (Sympodiums)

Find out more about enhancing your presentations here.

I want to find out more about Audience Response Systems

Most of our PCs in teaching spaces are equipped with TurningPoint software which enables your audience to contribute by responding to questions displayed within a PowerPoint presentation. Members of the audience use a hand-held remote (pictured) to respond. These remotes are bookable in multiples of 48. Potential users should first contact Learning Development for help in creating their first session.

Our lecterns are equipped with Turning Point 2008. - compatible with Office 2007 and earlier.

More information on Turning Point here.

I need to borrow a laptop for work purposes, do I have to pay?

Usually, yes, only equipment in direct teaching of students is exempt from charging.

What resolution do the video beam projectors use?

Our standard resolution is 800 x 600. Please ensure that your presentations are designed with that resolution and no higher. Presentations designed for higher resolution monitors will not display correctly.

What DVDs will the DVD players play?

Our Samsung DVD players will now play all regions of DVDs. Unfortunately we cannot adjust the Sony DVD players which were fitted in 'pod'-type lecterns installed in 2005 and 2006. Sony players will only player region 2 DVDs or disks with no regionalisation (sometimes referred to as 'region 0'). If you think there may be a problem with playing a DVD caused by regionalisation then please contact us and we can provide an alternative player temporarily in the room.

The room doesn't have an OHP but I need to project OHP slides

All the rooms have OHPs except for some newly refurbished rooms with pods. In these rooms you should use the visualiser for projecting OHP material

What do I do if the Slide Projector jams?

Make sure that the correct setting has been chosen.   This will be 80 slides.  Also when putting a new tray on the projector ensure that the bottom plate of the tray is in the locked position.

What do the lights mean on the slide projector?

A red light on the front of the projector indicates that the projector is on, the green light on back of projector shows that it has been reset to Zero and is ready for the slide tray to be put in place.

I need a spare OHP bulb pr radio microphone batteries.  What should I do?

For bulbs, first switch to the spare bulb on the OHP.  Spare batteries should also be found in the cabinet.  If there are no spares contact LRAT who will arrange for them to be brought to you.

I've accidentally used the wrong pen on the dry wipe board.  What should I do?

Call LRAT.  We will arrange for the board to be cleaned as soon as possible.  The longer it takes to get to the board the more difficult it is to clean, therefore please inform us immediately if this should happen.

Who is responsible for cleaning the whiteboards in teaching rooms?

Teaching staff are responsible for this.  Please erase your board writing after the end of each lecture or presentation.