Synchronized Timekeeping Solution

Time keeping 

Saddleback College relied on American Time’s SiteSync IQ to synchronize clocks around the campus and ensure that classes, events and meetings started on time.

Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA, sits on 110 acres of rolling hills and serves more than 26,000 students. To keep students, faculty and staff on time, it relied on a wired clock system that was installed years ago when the campus was one-third the size of what it is today. With the expanded acreage and additional buildings, the college did not have consistent or accurate synchronized time.

Without clocks that displayed the same precise time, meetings and classes often started at varying times. Or participants would unknowingly arrive too late or too early. Saddleback College sought a synchronized timekeeping solution that would keep every clock in every building on the exact same time — down to the second.

The school selected the American Time SiteSync IQ wireless clock system using CDMA (code division multiple access) to synchronize time, along with a 40-watt controller and a combination of hard-wired and battery-operated clocks.

Saddleback College’s synchronized timekeeping solution can wirelessly synchronize and control any device with a signal circuit. The CDMA sync option allows SiteSync IQ to receive a time signal from a nearby cell phone tower, so there is no outside cable or wire installation needed. Saddleback College has guaranteed signal coverage with one transmitter, 100 percent FCC compliance, and pinpoint accuracy to NIST, the official world time. The school now has approximately 450 American Time clocks across campus.

“We have one signal that feeds the entire campus and our campus is very hilly. But we’ve never had an issue with anything,” says Jerry Doolittle, lead electrician at Saddleback College. “The clocks keep up automatically with daylight saving timing changes and they free up a lot of our maintenance staff’s time. No one notices the clocks anymore and that’s a good thing.”

www.american-time.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • UT System Board of Regents Approves $108M Housing Complex

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently announced the approval of a new, $108-million housing complex at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), according to a news release. The facility will stand four stories and have a total of 456 new beds for freshmen students.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • Wisconsin District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The School District of La Crosse in La Crosse, Wis., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff of two existing schools, according to local news. Funding for the school comes from a $53-million referendum approved in 2024.