Digital Signage Plays Key Role in Educational Institutions
Amy Tierney, TMCnet Web Editor, has written an excellent post about the role digital signage is playing in the areas of schools and other educational institutions:
As more students embrace a technology-filled lifestyle filled cell phones, smartphones and other wireless devices, the days of reaching that audience with flyers and bulletin board posting are waning.
As a result, digital signage on campus is emerging as the hot new tool to deliver messages to students. Digital signs let schools display information in a way designed to grab people’s attention. The technology operates on a network of plasma or LCD TVs and users on the back end manage content using specialized software from the provider.
Digital signage is typically used to display upcoming events, news headlines, sporting events or scores, class schedules, and student and faculty achievements. The solution is also useful for publicizing menu board information and dynamic wayfinding.
And location is everything. Most digital signs are placed in locations where students typically congregate, such as student centers, libraries, cafeterias and administrative buildings.
For example, company officials from Omnivex, a Toronto, Ontario-based provider of software development for digital signage networks and electronic displays, said its software is used to display information in buildings and public areas at colleges including the Harvard School of Public Health, Texas A&M University and the University of Michigan, among other universities.
And the use of the technology appears to be growing.
“We are seeing an increase in digital signage deployments at educational institutions because it is a visual communications medium suited to the young audience on campuses,” Jeff Collard Omnivex president said in a statement. “Real-time content is more memorable and impactful than static or pre-recorded messages, particularly for students who have grown-up in the world of Internet, smart phones and video games.”
Yet a growing number of providers are offering services that feature an emergency alert system within the solution.
Officials with Black Box Network Services, a Lawrence, Pa.-based provider of voice 
communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, for instance, said the company’s iCOMPEL digital signage solution offers an emergency override notification feature. The tool is part of the company’s all-in-one tool iCOMPEL offering, a set of browser-based, networked digital signage media players and appliances.
“With a click of button, a screen can have a message displayed immediately to allow people to get information in a timely manner,” George A. Borden, digital signage national sales manager, forBlack Box ( News – Alert) Network Services, told TMCnet in an interview.
“For campuses, it’s a great way to get messages out there in the event of an emergency. You can capture the attention of people quickly.”
For example, users can upload a wayfinding map highlighting directions to the nearest exit in the event of a fire. Or if severe weather strikes, Black Box’s iCOMPEL service can filter in an RSS feed with weather alerts, Borden said.
One of the unique features of iCOMPEL is that users can change content on the spot. Users can access the system’s backend administration panel to make changes through wireless devices, such as theApple ( News – Alert) iPhone or other smartphone devices.
And already, Black Box is reporting an increase in adoption of its iCOMPEL solution.
“We have been seeing an uptick at colleges,” Borden said of company sales. “It’s definitely more than it was three months ago.”
Recently, New Mexico State University adopted Black Box’s iCOMPEL system to replace its previous digital signage network. The school wanted to upgrade existing monitors with LCD screens and implement a solution with the override notification feature, Borden said. The new network is slated to be in place this fall, he said.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
