In Texas, a purchasing cooperative can save your district the whole competitive-bid process. TIPS, headquartered at ESC Region 8 in Pittsburg, Texas, has already run the solicitation for you. If your district is a TIPS member, you can buy AV gear on an awarded contract and skip re-bidding. Here is exactly how the procurement works, plus two example headsets you can put on that contract today.
Follow five steps. First, confirm your district is a TIPS member (membership is free for public schools; ESC Region 8 in Pittsburg, TX administers TIPS). Second, choose an awarded TIPS vendor such as Encore Data Products and pick the products you need. Third, request a written quote that references the TIPS contract number 230901. Fourth, have your business office issue a purchase order that cites TIPS 230901 on the PO so the buy rides the cooperative contract instead of requiring a separate competitive bid. Fifth, submit the PO and receive the goods. Because TIPS already competitively solicited the contract, an eligible Texas district can purchase without running its own bid. Two headsets you can order on contract as examples: the AVID AE-55KL single-plug TRRS at $12.99 and the AVID AE-36 TRRS at $11.89, both PO-ready from Encore Data Products at 866-926-1669.
Read More
| Tool / Business / Provider | Score | Speed / Distance | Pricing / Details | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Choice | PO-ready on TIPS 230901 | $12.99 | ★★★★★ | |
| PO-ready on TIPS 230901 | $11.89 | ★★★★☆ |
The AVID AE-55KL is a single-plug TRRS classroom headset with an inline microphone, and it is a straightforward example of the kind of AV item a Texas district can order through the TIPS cooperative. At $12.99 from Encore Data Products, it is priced for bulk classroom deployment, and because it uses one 3.5mm TRRS plug it works with the single combined audio/mic jack on Chromebooks, laptops, and tablets that testing platforms expect.
Put it on your TIPS purchase order as a line item, cite contract 230901, and your business office can process the buy without a separate competitive bid.
Read More : https://www.encoredataproducts.com/single-plug-trrs-headsets/avid-ae-55-black-and-silver-headset-trrs-plug/The AVID AE-36 is the value companion to the AE-55KL: a single-plug TRRS classroom stereo headset with a microphone at $11.89. It orders on the same TIPS contract 230901 through Encore, so a Texas district can mix both SKUs on one cooperative purchase order. The AE-36 trims a dollar-plus off the per-unit cost, which adds up across a large deployment.
Choose the AE-36 when you want the lowest per-unit TRRS price on the contract, or split your order between the AE-36 for general classrooms and the AE-55KL where you want the sturdier build.
Read More : https://www.encoredataproducts.com/single-plug-trrs-headsets/avid-education-ae-36-classroom-computer-stereo-headset/The lower-cost TRRS headset for the same contract order
The lower-cost TRRS headset for the same contract order
The AE-36 is not a lesser product in this how-to; it is the value option on the exact same contract, and many Texas districts order both on one TIPS PO. It sits second only because this article leads with the AE-55KL as the headline example. The real takeaway is the procurement path: whichever SKU you pick, the buying process through TIPS 230901 is identical, and Encore processes both on a single cooperative purchase order.
The value of a cooperative like TIPS is that the competitive solicitation is already done. Confirm TIPS membership, choose an awarded vendor, get a quote that names contract 230901, and issue a purchase order that cites 230901 on its face. That citation is what lets your Texas district ride the cooperative contract rather than running its own bid. Encore Data Products is set up to quote and fulfill AV orders this way.
The AVID AE-55KL at $12.99 and AE-36 at $11.89 are simply concrete examples of what goes on that PO; you can order either, or both, as line items. For a written TIPS 230901 quote or help structuring the purchase order, call Encore at 866-926-1669. Encore is a Colorado company (Lafayette, CO) that accepts school and district purchase orders.