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Digital Signage

Signing Up

4/1/2007

By Matt Villano

After a lengthy RFP process, in 2006 the school discovered digital signage from NEC. Lombardi worked with the vendor to determine exactly how many displays he’d need to distribute across the campus to make the investment worthwhile. Ultimately, Bryant installed 50 LCD screens in academic hallways, the library café, classrooms, and labs. Lombardi says he likes the technology because it satisfies fire marshals and students alike. He adds that from his perspective as well, the signage has proven a satisfying solution.

“We’ve improved communications and streamlined our workflow process because everything is digital,” he reports. “We’ve cut down on the amount of time it takes to put a message out, and we’re reaching a greater number of people.”

The system operates on software from Access TV. A web-based interface allows authorized registered users (certain students, faculty, and staff members) to input information about upcoming events into templates. Each division of users is assigned an administrator who must approve the content before it is scheduled for publication. Once the content is approved, it moves into the live presentation queue. Depending on the time of year, the queue is refreshed every day, or even every hour. Either way, the message runs for a predetermined period of time; then it is dropped from the queue.

It’s difficult to quantify results of a technology implementation such as this one, but since the rollout of the digital displays, Bryant has experienced a marked increase in the amount of communication pieces being created electronically, compared to what had been created in print. Lombardi notes there are other benefits, too, such as the way the technology has inspired creativity: The digital signage solution allows students and faculty to incorporate computer graphics, music, and multimedia. Some students even have created 30- and 60- second public service announcements (PSAs) that air as commercials, periodically throughout the day.

Countering Ineffective E-Mail

Elsewhere, schools such as the Community College of Southern Nevada and the University of Massachusetts-Boston are using digital signage to achieve similar results. At CCSN, for example, administrators turned to digital signage in 2005 after a 10-year-old strategy of sending announcements to students via e-mail finally disintegrated. Because so many of the college’s students commute and change residences (and ISPs), CIO Shah Ardalan says there was no way for the school to make sure it had the right e-mail addresses. As a result, many critical communications about campus events went undelivered.

To reverse this trend, the college spent $150,000 on a digital signage system jointly supplied by NEC, VBrick, and Cisco. The system consists of 60 displays installed across campus, with each board rotating roughly 60 messages a day. Ardalan says that in addition to seeing these messages all over campus, students now receive the information in a timely fashion, which even enables them to modify their schedules around certain events. He adds that over the next few months, as the school opens a number of new buildings, the digital signage network should grow exponentially.