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LaundryAlert System Makes Laundry Duties Easier
Melissa Tyler
9/25/06
Campus
Campus
- Page 1 of 1
Finding an available washing machine and dryer is just a mouse click away. Students residing in the Howard Plaza Towers no longer have to deal with the inconvenience of discovering that there are no available washers or dryers only after lugging sacks of dirty laundry down the hall, thanks to the assistance of the website www.laundryalert.com.
LaundryAlert is an online monitoring system that notifies residents using central laundry rooms of the availability of dormitory washing and drying machines. The website indicates the number of machines that are in use and that are available on each floor of the East and West Towers.
The LaundryAlert system was implemented in the Towers this summer in order to assist students with their laundry tasks.
“Howard students can access the website from their units or anywhere on campus and still get their laundry chores done,” the Towers Building Manager Larry Frelow said.
According to Frelow, the fee for washing and drying laundry in the Towers was raised from 25 cents as a result of the laundry monitoring system, painting and machine upgrades in the laundry rooms.
Saidiya Chipe, a sophomore dance major, prefers to do without the monitoring system and laundry room upgrades.
“The system is convenient, but it’s taking more of my money,” Chipe said. “When it comes to money or convenience, money is more important.”
Chipe added that the laundry alert website was inaccurate by 30 minutes the first time she used it. She still thinks the system has the potential to be useful for the common busy Howard student by indicating when a machine is in use, although the time remaining may be off.
According to the LaundryAlert website, the monitoring system automatically refreshes every 45 seconds, but it is not 100 percent accurate.
The estimated time remaining section of the site provides the approximate number of minutes before a specific load of laundry is finished, but the website admits that there have been glitches with this feature. Recently, the time remaining feature coincided with the machine status section that indicates if a machine is in use or available at a given time. As a result of this problem, the status column may indicate that a machine is in use, but the time remaining will be blank.
Through the website, students can request to receive information regarding when laundry is done or when a certain number of machines are vacant by e-mail, phone or cell phone depending on the type of technology the laundry unit has. According to the website, notifications are on a first come basis and are for a set period of time established by the building’s laundry route operator.
The people waiting column of the website indicates that someone else requested to be notified when a certain amount of machines are available, but the LaundryAlert website does not guarantee machines will be available by the time that student arrives because another student user can walk in and use the machines.
Several other campuses in the United States are beginning to use the LaundryAlert system as well, explained Frelow. Each college has a separate page within the LaundryAlert website that can be accessed by typing in the correct password. The Howard password can be given to students from Student Assistants and other Towers employees.
There are three pages on each college laundry alert site. The first page gives the status of all the machines in the building connected to the network. The second page provides detailed information about washers and dryers in specific laundry units on specific floors. The third page is where users can request e-mail or phone alerts.
For additional information about the Towers LaundryAlert system, visit www.laundryalert.com or email LaundryAlert@aol.com, sales@WincResearch.com.
The student assistant of the West Towers seventh floor Lakeshia Legette said, “Students should take advantage of this monitoring system, since they already have to pay for it.”
LaundryAlert is an online monitoring system that notifies residents using central laundry rooms of the availability of dormitory washing and drying machines. The website indicates the number of machines that are in use and that are available on each floor of the East and West Towers.
The LaundryAlert system was implemented in the Towers this summer in order to assist students with their laundry tasks.
“Howard students can access the website from their units or anywhere on campus and still get their laundry chores done,” the Towers Building Manager Larry Frelow said.
According to Frelow, the fee for washing and drying laundry in the Towers was raised from 25 cents as a result of the laundry monitoring system, painting and machine upgrades in the laundry rooms.
Saidiya Chipe, a sophomore dance major, prefers to do without the monitoring system and laundry room upgrades.
“The system is convenient, but it’s taking more of my money,” Chipe said. “When it comes to money or convenience, money is more important.”
Chipe added that the laundry alert website was inaccurate by 30 minutes the first time she used it. She still thinks the system has the potential to be useful for the common busy Howard student by indicating when a machine is in use, although the time remaining may be off.
According to the LaundryAlert website, the monitoring system automatically refreshes every 45 seconds, but it is not 100 percent accurate.
The estimated time remaining section of the site provides the approximate number of minutes before a specific load of laundry is finished, but the website admits that there have been glitches with this feature. Recently, the time remaining feature coincided with the machine status section that indicates if a machine is in use or available at a given time. As a result of this problem, the status column may indicate that a machine is in use, but the time remaining will be blank.
Through the website, students can request to receive information regarding when laundry is done or when a certain number of machines are vacant by e-mail, phone or cell phone depending on the type of technology the laundry unit has. According to the website, notifications are on a first come basis and are for a set period of time established by the building’s laundry route operator.
The people waiting column of the website indicates that someone else requested to be notified when a certain amount of machines are available, but the LaundryAlert website does not guarantee machines will be available by the time that student arrives because another student user can walk in and use the machines.
Several other campuses in the United States are beginning to use the LaundryAlert system as well, explained Frelow. Each college has a separate page within the LaundryAlert website that can be accessed by typing in the correct password. The Howard password can be given to students from Student Assistants and other Towers employees.
There are three pages on each college laundry alert site. The first page gives the status of all the machines in the building connected to the network. The second page provides detailed information about washers and dryers in specific laundry units on specific floors. The third page is where users can request e-mail or phone alerts.
For additional information about the Towers LaundryAlert system, visit www.laundryalert.com or email LaundryAlert@aol.com, sales@WincResearch.com.
The student assistant of the West Towers seventh floor Lakeshia Legette said, “Students should take advantage of this monitoring system, since they already have to pay for it.”
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