Executive Summary
At Chigwell School, inconsistent classroom setups and discontinued dongles were slowing down lessons and frustrating teachers. The IT team needed a solution that could unify the experience across a mixed stack without heavy investment costs, such as a complete IFP refresh.
With Vivi, they found more than a Microsoft Windows Display Adapter replacement. The rollout delivered consistency in every classroom, central management capability, and instant teacher adoption. Digital signage now powers daily announcements schoolwide, and teachers are free to move, share, and deliver lessons in new ways, all on one platform.
“Our teachers took to it instantly. They really seem to like it. The fact they can just grab the laptop and teach from anywhere in the classroom.. Plus, it makes us look good — like wizards!”
Garreth Hendley, IT Manager, Chigwell School
Challenge
Chigwell’s classrooms had become a patchwork of different adapters and displays from Promethean to BenQ at the front of the class, to discontinued Microsoft dongles, and a variety of others for connecting to said displays. The inconsistency meant delays to lesson starts, lost learning time, and frustrated teachers as they moved between rooms and different classrooms setups. As Garreth put it:
“Consistency was a big thing for a lot of staff. There were some rooms you connected with a cable, some were using proprietary software on the board, some still had Microsoft Display adapters. It was a bit complicated and confusing for staff to connect.”
Solution
Chigwell turned to Vivi to unify its classrooms and go beyond simple screen sharing. What started as a search for a dongle replacement quickly became a way to modernise every display, add digital signage, and bring consistency school-wide, boosting the campus culture along with the teaching and learning experience.
Impact
Vivi has been transformative at Chigwell, both the teachers and the IT team are feeling the positive impact of a unified system that works with the existing technology in every room. Teachers picked it up immediately and IT could manage everything remotely.
Consistent, Equitable Teaching Experiences
From inconsistent classroom setups to one reliable, cross-platform solution that unified teaching, boosted community, simplified management, and streamlined communication in every classroom.
IT Manager Garreth Hendley, explains below:
“Consistency across the board, I think, is the biggest winner. Teachers don’t have to find a cable or figure out how or what software to use to connect. You walk into the room, if the Vivi box is on, it tells you exactly what you need to do to join the classroom. Our users picked it up easily.”
Effective Communication to Build Community
Vivi’s impact at Chigwell goes beyond screen sharing, with built-in features like digital signage, announcements, emergency alerts, and cross-platform flexibility.
“One of the big things was digital signage. Vivi can turn all 85 of the screens on our site into one campus-wide communication hub. That just made sense to us.
We do something here called call-over notices, the morning announcements that go out to the pupils. We push those to all the boards through Vivi during Form time. It gets set up and scheduled the day before. That went over quite nicely.”
Teacher Empowerment & Flexibility
At Chigwell, a priority is for teachers to be able to move around the room, rather than being stuck behind a desk. Vivi has empowered teachers to evolve with new classroom dynamics and teaching strategies.
“Our Head really appreciated the fact that you can control everything that you need, all from your laptop, standing anywhere in the classroom.”
Teachers have embraced the flexibility to move freely and share content in ways that fit their lessons.
“Our Maths teachers love that they can write formulas and graphs, on the board like they would teach normally, and it’s already in One Note ready for the kids to review.”
Simple Implementation & IT Management
Vivi’s central management makes IT support simple, instant, and more efficient than ever.
“Central management is a huge benefit . The fact that we can do most of what we need to do remotely is a big plus. We can update firmware and change settings through the console without leaving our seat.”
The deployment was straightforward, even for a small team— install was done in no time and with no need to contact Vivi’s support team.
“Plug it in, tick a box there, , connect to the wifi and it’s done. We installed in record time — a week or two for 85 devices with just two technicians. They loved how easy it was to install.”
For Chigwell, Vivi became an option to not just replace dongles. They were getting more value, more effective teaching, and a better campus-wide experience all in one system.
“It wasn’t just another different version of a Microsoft dongle, or what you can find with loads of off-brand options online. The fact that you also get digital signage and emergency alerts ticked more boxes for us.”
