district core membership services
Our member districts consist of the 22 public school districts located in Montgomery County. Each member district contributes to a core membership fund to support the essential leadership functions of the Office of Technology Services. Many of these services are also offered as a fee-based service to non-member schools and organizations.
Each year, the membership services are reviewed and updated to better meet district needs. As a result, all infrastructure including PAIUnet and the regional wide area network became a membership service. This change allows us to build and maintain our infrastructure to support all of our service offerings. Many of these services are also offered as a fee-based service to non-member schools and organizations.
advisory council coordination
The Office of Technology Services hosts onsite meetings for county technology directors for the purpose of providing a communication link between the districts, MCIU, and state. In addition, we provide special events and activities on specialized products or topics.
Consortium Purchase Coordination
MCIU is constantly looking for ways to offer joint purchasing opportunities to our local school entities. Through these efforts, school districts will be able to benefit from cost savings. We will coordinate county-wide offers from technology vendors to leverage purchasing power. These include hardware, software, and services. Current consortium pricing is available for PowerSchool, Level Data, Zoom, Schoology, Canvas, CloudLock, Lenovo computers, and many more.
consultation & leadership
Through the district core contributions, MCIU provides ongoing consultation and leadership in the area of technology. Our staff can assist with the technology planning process and may serve on planning committees at district’s request. The director and other technology administrators are readily available to support local school district initiatives, as needed.
E-rate
(Consortium Applications and Consulting)
E-rate is a federal program that discounts telecommunications and Internet services for schools and libraries. TIS provides E-rate services for all consortium and grant applications. Once the E-rate application is approved, reimbursements are distributed back to your district. Applications are submitted for Internet, RWAN, and PAIUnet services.
grant writing for technology work
MCIU will spearhead efforts to obtain technology grants that meet the needs of our school districts and the mission of the MCIU. Consortium grant applications that benefit the county are included in membership services.
internet service
Every district in Montgomery County receives 1GB or 10GB Point To Point connection (provisioned by 3rd party provider) between MCIU Data Center and District Data Center. In addition, each district receives 1GB of Internet Transit Services. MCIU staff install on premise network equipment to provide network “hand-off” to Districts core network in collaboration with District staff. Additional internet bandwidth is available as a fee for service.
paiunet membership
Every district in Montgomery County is connected to the PAIUnet statewide network. As a result, voice, video, and data services can be shared securely over this private network with any school or IU in Pennsylvania.
RWAN Connectivity
Every district in Montgomery County is connected to the Regional Wide Area Network by a fiber backbone. This network allows high-speed access to voice, video, and data services that can be shared between districts. As part of this service, MCIU provides:
- Cloud Domain Name Services (DNS)
- Technical support relating to supporting and monitoring (24×7) Internet traffic to clients on-premise connection
- MCIU will provide at no additional cost either primary or secondary Domain Name Services as well as public IP addresses for school or district use (justification required on address requests greater than 16).
- Graphical Internet traffic statistics via a MCIU provided portal for purposes of bandwidth monitoring and capacity planning.
- Basic level Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection
Advanced switch replacement at school district on-premise location in the event of a outage.
technology planning
All districts must include technology as part of their strategic plan. MCIU can assist your district with the technology planning process. Our staff is also available to serve on planning committees.
user group coordination
Special interest support groups are established for sharing and problem-solving. Meetings may take place in person or virtually. PowerSchool, Cybersecurity, Networking user groups are offered regularly. Please contact us if you are interested in developing a technology-related user group.
vendor workshops
Through partnerships with technology vendors, MCIU offers seminars and workshops on a variety of topics. Vendors participate in council meetings only at the specific request of the group.
zoom rooms
Every district receives one Zoom license and a shared webinar 500 room to use for virtual board meetings and events.
Technology Council
The Office of Technology Services hosts onsite meetings for county technology directors for the purpose of providing a communication link between the districts, MCIU, and state.
