May staff or faculty make a personal purchase through OETC?

OETC offers select hardware and software for personal purchase by students, faculty and staff at our Techhead store.

How do we indicate exactly what item we want to purchase?

When placing an order, please use our item numbers whenever possible. If there is no item number, please be sure to indicate whether the software is for Macintosh or Windows. Each page will have any additional ordering information specific to the software on that page.

How will the designated technology specialist for my school or school district place orders through OETC?

The designated purchasing staff member should fax or mail a purchase order to us. If your purchasing procedures require that you mail a copy of the purchase order after you have faxed it, please mark it as a confirmation of fax copy or note in some way that you have already faxed the order. Otherwise, the order may be double-shipped. (As well as double-charged.) We cannot accept orders over the phone.

Is there a form for the designated/authorized purchaser at my school or district to fill out to be able to purchase items online?

Yes. Authorized purchasers should download, print out, fill in, and have the appropriate person sign the K-12 Authorized Purchaser Form or the Higher Ed Authorized Purchaser Form before faxing it back to OETC at 503.625.0504. This is the only way to get your needed password so you can begin placing order online through OETC. Authorized purchasers should ensure that they have included their email address on the form or they won’t receive a password to get into the online purchasing system. Only one name and valid email address is required to get your school or district in the OETC system and able to order items.

Are there certain deadlines during the year for purchasing?

Yes, there are “End of the Year Deadlines” for all items available through OETC. Below is a list of ordering deadlines:

• May 15 – Order deadline to receive furniture, SMART boards, interactive whiteboards by June 30
• June 7 – Order deadline to receive hardware and shrinkwrapped software orders by June 30
• June 14 – Order deadline to receive media software CD and DVD orders by June 30
• June 16 – Order deadline to receive e-licensing orders by June 30

What is the normal delivery time?

Once we receive your purchase order, it can take 1-4 weeks to fill the order, depending on whether or not the reseller needs to fulfill the order. Most items are drop-shipped directly from the contractor to you. If you are concerned about a shipment you haven’t received yet, please contact us. You will need to know your purchase order number and the approximate date that the order was sent to us.

How much are shipping charges?

Please add a $5 shipping fee to software orders. License only orders do not require a shipping fee. Orders that cannot be shipped UPS Ground will incur additional charges. Orders are shipped only to the Contact Person designated in your membership agreement. Hardware shipping is on a sliding scale based on the dollar amount of the order. Alaska, Hawaii, oversized, or furniture orders are charged actual shipping charges.

What is OETC’s return policy

We cannot accept returns, except for defective items. Return Authorization required on all returns.

What is the relationship between E-RATE, SPINs, and OETC?

OETC has acquired a service provider information number (SPIN) to facilitate an OETC member’s use of the federally funded ERATE program. With OETC’s participation in the program, schools will be able to stretch their technology dollars even further by taking advantage of the discounts the OETC has secured with eligible vendors when making an ERATE purchase. The OETC SPIN is: 143022399.

New Product Announcements

When a new product is announced by a manufacturer, it takes four to six weeks for that product to be available through the education market. Please be patient and we will update the web site with new product information once they are available through OETC.

What is the 80/20 Rule or Work at Home Rights?

Several software publishers on our list allow home use according to the “80/20 Rule.” This rule states that if a school purchases a software license for a specific computer where the teacher/staff is the primary user (80%+ of the time), the teacher/staff may install the software on a home computer at no extra charge. The use of the software at home is governed by the same license agreement as at school, (i.e., it may not be used for commercial/for-profit use.)

The 80/20 Rule only applies to staff and faculty, for as long as they are employed by the qualified OETC member. Lab computers do not qualify for the 80/20 rule. The school or college is responsible for providing media for installation. Media may not be purchased from OETC by individuals. If you have questions regarding this, please contact us.

Important note: Microsoft has discontinued the 80/20 rule and replaced it with a plethora of other options, all of which are contingent upon which type of software license your institution purchased.

The easiest way to get the best software in the hands of students, staff and faculty for personal use is to utilize The Techhead Store.

What are the differences between media and licenses?

In most cases, media (CDs /disk sets) and licenses may be purchased separately. If a school is outfitting a lab they can buy a single CD to install the program on all computers and buy licenses for each computer on which they wish to install the software.

What are shrink wraps

A “shrinkwrap” is what we call a “boxed” single installation of any product (most often used for personal home use.) Included in the box is one limited-install CD, one license, documentation or manual (sometimes electronic), and technical support. This product cannot be used in conjunction with other volume products and may only be installed on one computer.

What are the differences between a shrinkwrap and a license?

A volume license is owned by the member institution for installation in classroom labs or administrative use. The license keys are assigned to OETC based on OETC’s vendor agreements and cannot be registered by the institution. Technical support is not included with volume licenses. Volume licenses cannot be purchased for personal use.

A shrink-wrap is a boxed copy of the software. The term ‘shrinkwrap’ is derived from the outer plastic covering historically used to “seal” the box. Minimally shrink wraps contain a copy of a single user license agreement, a method for installing the software (dvd, cd, or instructions for download), and a product key or serial number that can be registered by the end user. Some manufacturers opt to include installation guides or documentation. Shrink-wraps can be purchased for installation on an individual workstation within a network, however, they are not designed for multiple user usage, nor can shrink-wrap media be used in conjunction with volume licenses. Attempting to use shrink-wraps for anything other than their intended purpose is (in some cases) a violation of its license agreement, and can cause network/product instability.

What is a concurrent license?

Concurrent Use (Shared) Licenses: A shared license allows multiple users to use a product concurrently, or simultaneously. For example, if a company has a shared license for ten users, up to ten users can access at any given time, although more than ten users may have a valid login. A system administrator can monitor the number of licenses in use by querying the license server or by using the license usage reporting tool.