About ACT

Meet Our Team

From left to right: Sam Baker, Ray Alton, Robert Pohl, Will Salazar, John Sheffield, Dana Trivelli, Mary Kemple, Mike Lee, Denise Williamson, Brandon Booth, Rob Raino, Eric Pagano, Angel Ortiz.

Introducing Advanced Classroom Technologies

In 1999, two brothers began working with Puget Sound school districts to support structured cabling projects funded by Erate. The company, then known as Ernst Communications, had a reputation for solving the toughest challenges in classroom connectivity. While in this work, they began to see that teachers and their students needed better ways to utilize their newly connected classroom computer. This was the era of the SMARTboard, a classroom technology that revolutionized how teachers prepared lessons and transformed how students would interact and engage with information. It was at this pivotal moment that the brothers were approached by the Northshore School District to install an ActivBoard from a small UK-based technology company called Promethean as part of a technology exploration pilot. Northshore knew Ernst’s reputation for solving tough installation challenges and they needed a team that could install the ActivBoard without damaging classroom infrastructure (just in case the technology didn’t deliver).

The brothers took on the project and saw firsthand the power of the ActivBoard to transform the learning experience for students. With leaders in the Northshore School District, they witnessed how teachers shifted their pedagogy and watched the excitement as students were asked to utilize new tools to explore their world from the ActivBoard. It was at this time the brothers shifted gears to become fully vested in the work of digital transformation in schools and they needed a new name to represent their newfound focus. Ernst Communications became Advanced Classroom Technologies (ACT). From classroom to classroom, from one school to the next, ACT delivered digital transformation to school districts by providing consultative sales, bespoke installation services, and ongoing technical support for educators in the Pacific Northwest.

Our Future

For the past 20 years, ACT has remained dedicated to serving educators in Washington State while expanding operations to support school districts in Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, and Alaska. As we prepare for our next twenty years, Advanced Classroom Technologies has taken on new leadership and a team of investing partners who are committed to making a long-lasting impact on the lives of students. Now led by CEO John Sheffield and a board of advisors which includes ACT’s original founder, ACT is poised to enhance its service offerings to educators. Our mission remains the same, our people remain focused; we will build and continue to “Empower today’s teachers with tomorrow’s technologies.”

At Advanced Classroom Technologies, we believe that strong relationships are built on trust, backed by quality work and products. We hire the best talent, develop partnerships with the leading education-focused brands, and collaborate with people that share our passion for education. At ACT, we work with schools to ensure that teachers have the knowledge to use technology effectively while simultaneously providing on-site, same-day service. We make instruction our highest priority so that there’s little chance that the student learning experience is interrupted by a technical glitch.

We are proud of our work in the Puget Sound region, knowing that with our school partners, we’ve changed the education experience of more than a million students and the thousands of educators who teach them.

Sales Team

Advanced Classroom Technologies has account executives providing consultative support to school leaders. Our job is to help school leaders navigate the many choices, work with teachers to evaluate the best tools, and then deploy the solution quickly to classrooms. By streamlining processes, from research and evaluation to sales and installation, we ensure that students see, hear, and feel the impact in their classrooms. Our sales team is responsible for working with the school leader to coordinate all aspects of the classroom transformation. We work carefully to identify what is needed, detailing specifications through Scope of Work documentation and manage the project through delivery, installation, professional development, and ongoing support.

Project Management Team

Project management is a function of our sales team. Advanced Classroom Technologies prides itself on its customer relationships. We believe that the best work is accomplished when schools have a single contact to work through the design, purchase, installation, training, and ongoing service phases of the project. If additional support is needed, Jimmy Williamson, owner and founder is available to ensure that all work is delivered on-time and to your district’s specifications.

Should your district choose to partner with ACT, we are prepared to develop a full project plan, with detailed scope of work for each campus. During this phase of the project we anticipate meeting with many your district stakeholders including students and their families, teaching staff, school and district instructional leaders, technology team, facilities staff and leadership, and members of the executive cabinet and school board. By ensuring that there are many voices, we safeguard the success of this project.

Installation Team

The install team is led by our Installation Manager, Ray Alton, with his team of field techs operating from our Arlington, WA headquarters. The Install Manager works directly with school and district leadership to identify mutually agreeable dates and times for installation, with usual installations occurring in evenings and weekends during the school year. The Installation Manager is responsible for the overall quality of the installation and ensures that the technology deployed meets specification. Our installation manager is also responsible for ensuring that asset management data is exchanged with the appropriate department at your district. With installation complete, having verified that we’ve met customer expectations, the project is then handed to our Service & Support team.

Service & Support Team

The service and support team is distributed across our network of Service Centers. Led by Dana Trivelli, this team is responsible for engaging with the manufacturer on our customer’s behalf when problems develop. The Service Center works closely with our field techs to coordinate RMAs and other warranty-related services.

Leadership Team

John Sheffield, CEO, has spent his career growing businesses that focus on improving educational outcomes and experiences for students. A lifelong learner, coach, and educator, John spent nearly a decade helping build ESM Prep–a tutoring, test prep, college counseling, and mentorship firm focused on helping students identify and reach their college goals. In 2021, John joined ACT as CEO. John was selected in part for his vision of how ACT can deliver more engaging, effective, and safe classrooms to more schools. John is focused on expanding the service, support, quality, and capacity that ACT can provide for its teachers and students.

Rob Raino, Vice President of Operations, is responsible for all aspects of operations from product procurement to installation services. Rob began his career as an installation technician for ACT and worked his way to Vice President. He’s held nearly every position at ACT and leads the operations of the business with dedication. His high standards for installation and quality-assurance is unparalleled. Rob has a passion for the customer experience, he works tirelessly to ensure that every install exceeds customers’ expectations. Rob is a thought-leader in the industry, school districts across the Pacific Northwest seek his expertise in AV integration. He has designed classroom AV solutions for some of the largest districts in the State of Washington, Nevada, and California.

Jimmy Williamson, Founder, launched ACT after recognizing the need for high-quality, high-tech solutions to make classrooms more engaging and effective. A licensed electrical administrator, Jimmy has managed large education technology infrastructure projects in Nevada, Washington, California, and Washington. Jimmy’s dedication to customer service is a key organizing principle for how we approach our school partners everyday. Jimmy will be providing ancillary support for installation, project management, and warehouse/operations as needed.

Robert Pohl, Director of Strategy & School Success serves as ACT's thought-leader and school advocate, helping school leaders drive strategic change through technology transformation. Robert will work to inform teachers, school leaders, and ACT’s solution teams of the relative advantages and challenges of different technologies on instruction. Throughout his career, Robert has striven to create a digital learning culture for students and school staff. Most recently he served as the Executive Director of Technology and Operations in the Anacortes School District. Prior, he successfully led digital transformation efforts in Northshore, Tukwila, and the Monroe School Districts.

Will Salazar, Director of Marketing, joined Advanced Classroom Technologies in 2017 to help with the company’s rebranding project. His strong marketing background and analytical skills have helped ACT increase brand awareness throughout the territories that we serve. Will also coordinates with district communications teams to highlight the progress and success of their technology implementations. Through a mix of digital media channels and case studies, Will helps our educator customers showcase their improvements to learning outcomes through technology transformation.

Our Services

Consultation & Design

Our team of experts can help you through every step of your classroom technology makeover. From initial planning and goal setting, to on-prem site surveys having conversations with your teaching teams, we help districts design a bespoke classroom experience that students love and teachers use. Our focus is on meeting academic objectives with research-based technologies.

Project Management

Our team of project managers have the expertise and experience to help districts large and small rollout classroom technology that makes an impact without impacting precious learning time. We work with school leadership teams to identify the deliverables, milestones, and timelines to ensure that the project goes smoothly from start to finish. We work closely with head custodians, principals, technical staff to coordinate communications, delivery, installation, professional development, and training so that everything aligns “just-in-time” and according to the plans we’ve created together.

Technology Sales & Financing

Advanced Classroom Technologies aligns itself with the best brands in education innovation. Our partners are leaders in the education industry and we are proud to include their products in our custom designed classroom solutions. Our local account executives use these brands and their multitude of products to help you design and implement a classroom technology solution that perfectly fits the needs of your district, school and most importantly, your teachers. For large projects, we can help spread the upfront costs over equal annual payments through our leasing partners.

Installation & Integration

Quality, professional installation is an essential component to any technology deployment. Advanced Classroom Technologies' certified team provides schools with the assurance that their investment will be protected through flawless, professional installation. Our team of qualified installers can assist districts with interactive panel, whiteboard, display, projector, audio systems, low voltage cabling, and many other classroom installation needs. Our schedules are always customized to create the least amount of disruption to classroom instruction. Nights, weekends, and some holidays are always available. With over 20 years experience providing bespoke installation and integration services, Advanced Classroom Technologies is poised to be the best partner to support your district’s project. ACT offers multiple levels of installation and integration; Basic, Standard, Plus, and Premium.

Professional Development & Technical Training

In our commitment to instructional success, the Advanced Classroom Technologies team includes Professional Development services tailored specifically to our client’s needs. We can help develop a professional development plan that takes into consideration the needs of your teachers, district support staff, and administration. ACT partners with our manufacturers to ensure that your teachers and staff are able to use the tools to make an impact on instruction.

Technical Support

Our dedicated support staff have decades of experience in the K-12 education technology integration business. We pride ourselves on our customer service and we do everything we can to serve our client's needs. Their satisfaction is our main concern. That is why we are a reseller that provides an in-house customer support team, trained product demonstrators, and certified installers.

Warranties & Repair

All interactive flat panels come with ACT’s Bronze level service plan. This plan provides same day remote support and five-day onsite support which ensures teachers have the tools they need when they need them. ACT works directly with the manufacturer to replace defective panels and can prevent accidents and injury of schools’ technical support staff.

Enhanced Support Options

ACT understands that the interactive display technology we sell, install, and support is essential to teaching and learning. While highly reliable, there are times when additional service and support is needed to troubleshoot and service the technologies when they fail. From the moment the panel stops working until the time it is repaired or replaced, irretrievable instructional time is lost as teachers and students return to analog learning practices. Beyond the daily frustration it causes teachers, students suffer as they revert to activities that are less engaging and difficult to access visually. It is essential that school leaders restore the technologies used to present instruction as quickly as possible so that teachers can continue teaching effectively. In an effort to support district technical support staff in meeting their commitment to teaching and learning, ACT provides its customers the option to purchase service contracts to enhance the manufacturer’s warranty.

Our service plans allow school districts to future-proof their total cost of ownership, eliminating surprise costs, and reducing the need to hire additional support staff. Furthermore, our technicians are highly trained and certified by the manufacturer to quickly resolve problems. An ACT Service Plan provides a more timely and fully-coordinated response to issues that may develop after purchase and installation. An ACT Service Plan goes above and beyond the Manufacturer’s Warranty.

Purchasing Contracts

We strongly encourage your district to consider utilizing one of the many local purchasing contract vehicles available to them. Both the King County Directors Association (KCDA) and Oregon Education Technology Consortium (OETC) have done the hard work to secure the best pricing on behalf of their members. In most cases, these contracts allow districts to negotiate a better price than the contract price for volume purchases. Advanced Classroom Technologies is a named reseller partner for KCDA, OETC, NASPO, and PEPP-M.

Why should customers choose a service plan?

Interactive flat panels are an essential teaching tool. Teachers depend on them to display lessons and students depend on them to learn. Even though manufacturers' warranties cover replacement when something goes wrong, the warranty does not cover the time and effort of staff in troubleshooting and diagnosing the problem, requesting replacement, swapping panels, and returning the defective unit. For the customer, an ACT Service Plan avoids:

Lost Learning Time. Teachers stay focused on supporting students in their classroom rather than handling lengthy conversations with technical support operators.
Frustrated Office Staff. School staff stay focused on supporting students and their parents. They won’t receive unexpected deliveries or be asked to work with freight operators to coordinate service issues.
Angry Parent Complaints. School leaders can expect ACT to respond quickly to issues reported. They won’t be navigating complaints from teachers and students' families when technology sometimes breaks.
Overtasked Support Technicians. Your teams can make one call and expect a quick resolution. They won’t be moving heavy panels to your repair facility. They won't be managing lengthy support conversations with the manufacturer's support teams.
Accidental Damage. If a panel needs to be replaced, ACT teams have been trained to do so safely. This protects your investment from inadvertent and accidental damage if a panel move goes wrong when done by untrained school staff.
Eroded Trust. Teachers will have the tools they need when they need them. There will be minimal disruption to learning when their panel needs to be repaired. This makes the Superintendent, School Board, and other stakeholders happy.

What level of service are available for interactive flat panels?

Platinum. The platinum plan provides remote response within two (2) hours and onsite response within one (1) school day. If the panel cannot be fixed while technicians are onsite, the panel will be replaced in the same visit. There is no additional fee for onsite service.
Gold. The gold plan provides remote response within eight (8) hours and onsite response within two (2) school days. For issues requiring onsite service, there is a $100 onsite service fee.
Silver. The silver plan provides remote response within 24 hours (24) and onsite response within three (3) school days. For issues requiring onsite service, there is a $200 onsite service fee.
Bronze. The bronze plan is included with every panel purchase. It provides remote response within forty-eight (48) hours and onsite response within five (5) school days. For issues requiring onsite service, there is a $300 onsite service fee.

What does a Service Plan cover?

The level of coverage purchased determines how quickly ACT field technicians respond to the reported issue. In all circumstances, ACT’s team takes co-ownership of the repair process to ensure that problems are resolved quickly. In finding resolution, we will:

ACT staff will troubleshoot, diagnose, and fix the problem remotely or onsite as needed.
If the technology cannot be repaired to the customer’s satisfaction, ACT will swap the technology with a working unit from the customer’s swap pool. ACT will reconnect cables to district specifications and test to ensure functionality.
ACT removes the technology from the customer site, bringing it to ACT’s repair facility.
ACT will coordinate replacement with the manufacturer.
ACT will return the defective unit to the manufacturer and provide updated asset records.
ACT will place the repaired unit into the customer’s swap pool.

What level of service are available for interactive playgrounds?

Service plans for the Lu Interactive Playground are available. Due to the variability of the installed environment, prices vary and are custom quoted.

What level of service are available for other technologies sold by ACT?

ACT is committed to our customer’s satisfaction. Service plans are available for the other technologies we sell, including classroom audio, document cameras, and more. If our customers are not able to resolve the issue with the manufacturer to their satisfaction, ACT will step in. In most instances, we are able to find a win-win solution.

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