Edinburgh office unveils dino-mite entrance – with help of tech PR storytellers
FUN-LOVING tech experts at a city IT firm believe they have created Scotland’s wackiest gate entry system.
Visitors to Consider IT’s office in Leith can now access the private car park by dialling a special number – as their phone plays the instantly recognisable music from the most iconic gate opening scene in cinematic history, the Jurassic Park gate.
Stuart Gilbertson, 33, founder and MD of the firm, said: “The team here are unashamedly geeky and this is the kind of thing they really embrace and enjoy doing.
“While it’s a bit of fun it also helps us to show that there is a lot more to IT than the complicated technology and coding which non-techie people often can’t be bothered with.
“Our clients and other visitors love this. Waiting for parking gates to open is usually a few seconds of dead time, but this turns it into a mini event, a bit of a laugh and a talking point. And most people recognise the music as well!
“When they come into the offices we then show them how it all works. That gets people engaged and we find it makes them much more receptive to hearing about IT services and the kinds of conversations that otherwise might switch them off.
“We pride ourselves in taking the jargon and confusion out of IT services – and this definitely helps by showing a completely different side of what we do.”
Staff at the 10-strong firm felt the usual key fob system to operate the automated gates leading into their private car park was too dull. So they dismantled one of the fobs, connected it to a miniature Raspberry Pi computer and wrote the code to make it operate via a phone call.
That coding also makes sure that phone plays the distinctive movie tune, recreating one of the most famous gate opening scenes in Hollywood history.
In Jurassic Park, a vehicle carrying the main characters – including Jeff Goldblum – to the park for the first time approaches the imposing gates, which open automatically to a swelling crescendo of music as Goldblum’s character, Ian Malcolm, quips: “What’ve they got in there – King Kong?”
Raspberry Pi computers are tiny devices that fit in the palm of the hand, which can be connected to screens, keyboards and a host of other devices.
As well as being hugely popular for getting children engaged in learning about computing, the affordable mini computers are used extensively by developers in a vast range of functions and experiments.
Since being founded in Edinburgh 2007, Consider IT has built up a £1.2m-a-year turnover. The team has a reputation for being a “no nonsense, go to” for IT support and cybersecurity in the city.
With 70 clients across Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, its highly qualified technicians work with many of the city’s most well-known SME – including The Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards, Par Equity and the Faculty of Advocates.
One of Consider IT’s most unique offering is its fully-functioning but empty second office in Leith, which acts as a complete Disaster Recovery Suite (DR Suite) for clients. Clients can be assured they will never lose access to their data as a result of any catastrophes with their offices or their files, as they can be up and running in the DR suite within hours.
As well as providing daily support with PCs, servers and networks, Consider IT also provides a range of expert services including VOIP phone systems, cyber security and disaster recovery. The team pride themselves on their reputation for jargon-free, no-nonsense communication which clients love.
For more information about Consider IT, please visit https://www.considerit.co.uk/
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