Carroll County Finds a Better Web Filter, and Gets a Whole Lot More
School / District: Carroll County
State: Georgia
District Size: 15,000 students
Solution: Total Traffic Control
Focus: Mobile/Desktop filtering, Support, Training
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Overview
In order to ensure student safety, staff productivity, and CIPA compliance, schools need an
Internet filter to block inappropriate content. But over-blocking limits the educational power of
the Internet, while under-blocking opens up security risks. Facing the need for a more flexible
and more powerful content filter for their 4,500 workstations across 26 locations, Carroll County
Schools began a comprehensive search for a new solution. They discovered Total Traffic Control,
which delivered the feature-packed content filter they needed—plus bandwidth management,
security management, and email management, all backed by exceptional training and support.
Challenges
When Carroll County outgrew their current content filter and began looking for a replacement, both
the strength of the new solution and the cost-effectiveness were primary concerns. After previewing
several products for two-four weeks each, they settled on Lightspeed Total Traffic Control.
J.J. McDermott, network administrator for Carroll County Schools, and the rest of the team have
been very pleased with the improvements over their old content filtering solution. “The solution
we used previously was only IP-based, and had only 14 categories. The Web Access Manager
database in Total Traffic Control uses a combination of URL, IP, and domain names and breaks
the database out into about 120 categories. The granularity of the Lightspeed database helps
ensure that we aren’t over-blocking, but nor are we under-filtering,” McDermott says.
Solution
This granular and comprehensive filtering solution helps Carroll County Schools enforce
AUPs, block non-essential web sites, and ensure CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act)
compliance. It has also saved McDermott valuable time. “I’m amazed with the rapid response
time Lightspeed delivers with requests to unblock sites. Often, by the time I even see that
a teacher has submitted a site for review, Lightspeed has already responded to the query.
This saves me significant time, and frees me from the hassle of constant requests.”
Mobile users are another concern McDermott has to deal with, not only because he has to monitor their
use of school computers but also because he has the difficult job of keeping computers running even
after they are taken off the network and exposed to potentially damaging content. The Guide Mobile
Filter, a feature of Web Access Manager and Total Traffic Control, extends policies and protection to
computers when they are off the network. “We had a problem where laptops would be returned with
pop-ups and other issues. Unlike antivirus programs, the Guide Mobile Filter prevents users from
accessing known bad sites, such as those that might infect the computer with spyware, to begin
with. The Guide Mobile Filter is a preventative and proactive solution for us, which keeps our laptop
computers running and our mobile users safe—and makes our jobs as system administrators easier.”
“Total Traffic Control initially won us over because of content filtering and mobile user filtering,”
shares J.J. McDermott, System Administrator for Carroll County Schools. “But it has also
saved us money: when budgets got tight, we started using the Security Manager component
of Total Traffic Control for antivirus protection. It worked well for us, and saved a line item on
the budget. The entire suite of products, including spam blocking, desktop security, filtering
and mobile filtering is every bit as good as the other products out there AND it’s more cost
effective because it’s a single, consolidated solution with a single price per workstation.”
Conclusion
Carroll County chose Total Traffic Control for the comprehensive and flexible filtering it provides
for users, both on and off the network—and reduced expenses with the comprehensive
solution it provides for security, bandwidth management, spam management, and more.
For McDermott, the exceptional training and support from Lightspeed Systems has been
a strong reflection of Lightspeed’s commitment to education and its customers.
“I have been very happy with the Lightspeed support,” McDermott shares. “I’ve never had them say
‘That’s not our problem.’ Whatever problem I call in with, they take ownership and follow through to
the end. In my case, a couple of times, that has even meant making product updates.” McDermott
was also very pleased with the Administrator Certification training he received in Bakersfield. “I went
to the training wondering how they were going to fill a week, and assumed that after a day they’d
be repeating themselves. But the training was very well laid out and full of interesting information.
Lightspeed has such a diverse group of people who are so knowledgeable in different areas.”
About Total Traffic Control
Monitor, manage, filter, and secure your school’s network with a single solution
Total Traffic Control is the complete solution for managing your school network’s usage, health,
and security. With this comprehensive solution you can monitor user activity, ensure Acceptable
Use Policies are being followed (on email, the Web, or the desktop—both on the network
and off), reduce dangerous and costly security threats, ensure school resources are utilized
safely and effectively, and easily view and share critical information with custom reports.
About Lightspeed
Lightspeed Systems Inc., founded in 2000, develops comprehensive network security and management
solutions for the education market. We are committed to helping schools operate their networks
effectively and efficiently, so educators can provide safe online teaching and learning environments.
Our software is used in more than 1,000 school districts in the United States, the United Kingdom,
and Australia to protect more than 5 million students. For the past two years, Lightspeed Systems
has been recognized on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies.