PARAT Solutions: docking technology company helps new Barnes Foundation modernize

Moving from the suburbs to the city is not the only step toward modernization the new Barnes Foundation museum is taking this year.

Less publicized, if interesting, the Barnes will be adding a self-guided iPod touch tour of its works, says Peter Jauss, Director of Sales at PARAT Solutions, the company responsible for providing a key piece of behind-the-scenes technology for the initiative — docking stations that sync and charge 20 devices per unit.

Download the native audio guide application on your personal iPhone or iPod here.

If you go to the Barnes and use one of their devices, read more below about the company that is keeping them charged.

Jauss said: “In our world, we come last – usually only after the content is generated, the app is built and the devices are purchased is the question asked, “How do we keep all of these devices charged and synced?”

Jauss says the Barnes purchased 15 docking stations to support 300 iPod devices available for borrow at the museum. The Barnes also purchased 300 iPod cases that Jauss says were specially designed for the museum.

Due to the recent opening of the Philadelphia Barnes Foundation, IT Director Steve Brady wasn’t available for comment, but Jauss says the Barnes is also considering incorporating the iPad into its content offering.

That’s good news for the Berwyn-based arm of the German PARAT Solutions: the company recently launched an iPad parasync docking station for the iPad 2, which runs about $998 and holds 10 devices. Jauss says a docking station for the latest version of the iPad should be available within a few weeks.

The docking stations for both iPod and iPad are sleek and efficient, nesting the devices in narrow, neat rows making the iDevices look like they’re preparing to ship off to digital battle. Apparently, the stations are also blessed with the approval of Apple engineers, as Technically Philly reported in 2010.

Barnes isn’t the only local museum to turn to PARAT for assistance with its foray into the world of mobile content devices.

Jauss says his company is also working with the Rodin Museum, which plans to reopen in July, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in their attempts to reach a more tech-savvy generation. The Rodin intends to debut an iPod touch tour and PAFA already offers a self-guide iPod tour to visitors who don’t have or don’t want to use their own smartphones, according to Jauss.

Of course PARAT, which employs five people in Berwyn and six more in Bensalem, doesn’t just sell and supply docking stations to museums. Jauss says one of his biggest clients is Kennett Square-based Genesis Healthcare, who uses the docking stations to power iPod devices that the staff use instead of clipboards at more than 900 locations across the country. PARAT also works with Disneyland, various schools across the country, government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, corporations like JC Penney, Deloitte, Farmer’s Insurance and NBC, various hotels, and, most recently, airlines, Jauss says.

Since you may benefit from one of these devices the next time you take a tour at a local museum, but still never actually see one in use, check out the video below to see Jauss demonstrating the PARAT docking stations.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrDpg7VB3Yg]