Bedford County pilots Vivi wireless displays in three high schools, plans broader rollout

Mister Sexton, a Bedford County staff member leading the technology presentation, told the committee the district installed Vivi wireless display boxes and TVs in the three high schools to replace aging projectors and provide digital signage, streaming and emergency notification capabilities.

"Vivi is a it it's so much more than a just a streaming device. It is basically, designed specifically for education," Sexton said, describing the product as a managed, cloud-enabled platform that allows teachers to cast screens, play curated media, run digital signage and—eventually—receive district emergency alerts that will override classroom displays.

Sexton said the district began the rollout because Google's education-focused Chromecast product was discontinued and the district needed a robust, secure classroom casting system. He said the three high schools—Liberty, Jefferson Forest and Staun River (transcript: Stan River/ Stent River references)—have Vivi installed and teachers in every instructional space have access. The hardware is a small networked box that can be hardwired to avoid overloading wireless networks.

Key features Sexton highlighted include a centrally managed dashboard for IT to monitor device health and content, a digital-signage function that uses shared Google Slides, and a planned emergency-alert integration with the district's Raptor system that can turn on screens and interrupt casted content when needed. He also demonstrated a signage playlist used at Liberty High School and said the platform supports live announcements, podcast-style morning shows and classroom split-screen use.

On cost he said Vivi is subscription-based and the district negotiated a multi-year agreement (Sexton said he secured a five-year pricing arrangement) rather than a pure one-time purchase. He described the financing approach as opportunistic: placing purchases in years when routine device-replacement spending (teacher/staff computers) is lower and repurposing leftover funds to buy TVs and Vivi units rather than seeking a separate line in this year's replacement budget. Sexton said the vendor provided some free units to offset the earlier loss of Chromecast moderator functionality.

Committee members asked about parental access to slides and whether schools would publish the digital-signage content on the district website; Sexton said that each school controls whether slides are posted publicly and that the signage is stored as Google Slides which would make sharing feasible.

Sexton said middle- and elementary-school rollouts are planned as funding allows; the immediate focus was the three high schools and reducing ongoing projector maintenance costs (bulbs, filters, etc.). He also said the vendor frequently adds features and collects teacher/IT feedback for product updates.

Ending: The committee received the briefing and asked follow-up questions about budgets and expansion; no formal vote or procurement decision was made at the meeting.