Those screens throughout your business? They’re more than pixel displays. They’re attention engines.
If your concept of digital signage was ever limited to a single message monitor, it’s time to expand that thinking. Today’s digital signage software is a collection of technologies that are entertaining, informative, dynamic, and immersive.
In one recent example, a tourist business in the Southwest found their traditional signs to be ineffective at holding attention. A technology solution featuring interactive digital signage demonstrated the diverse ways that information can be brought to life, educating and informing consumers through a vibrant mix of HD videos, text and audio. The result was a 30% increase in visitor engagement at the attraction.
From wallboard to kiosk, from reception to the warehouse floor, your signage boards can spotlight the real time information that controls density and safe occupancy within rooms and workspaces within business settings. They can communicate personalized productivity goals that encourage teams to excel. They’re ready to get an audience of employees and customers to take note of a special event, share positive experiences on social media, and utilize digital maps for wayfinding to specific locations across your workplace.
Simply put, content that grabs attention is a game changer. How will your digital signage transform words, images, video, and animations to influence and activate your customers and your employees?
As many industries consider that very question, they’re turning to workplace experience platforms for the answer. These powerful solutions feature integrated content management systems (CMS) that go beyond one-way, one-time broadcasting, with publishing systems that create personalized and relevant communications targeted to make the most impact with individuals for differing situations.
Employee Communications
There’s a reason 56% of internal communication teams are considering an increased use of digital signage for employee communications within their organizations. From wayfinding and hotdesking to performance metrics displayed in common areas or desktops, today’s digital signage solutions alleviate miscommunication, aid in safety and drive performance to new levels.
Digital Signage for Education
Higher learning meets higher engagement with screens that display world news targeted to integrate with key lesson plans and campus initiatives. University digital signage screens in the teacher’s lounge carry messages earmarked for educators, while hallway interactive kiosks feature class info, wayfinding, and self-enrollment. Digital Signage near lecture halls update with class schedules, cancelations and alerts that keep students up to date with the latest information and assignments. A multimedia Hall of Fame, displayed in common areas, promotes athletes, achievements and live sporting event video feeds to enhance team spirit. A full 73% of educational institutions consider digital signage as crucial for their future student and faculty communications.
Healthcare Digital Signage
To create a better patient experience, some clinics and ERs are using half of a digital sign for health tips and the other half for a queue management system. For patients, this helps to cut perceived wait time by up to 35 percent — a significant difference in an environment where wait times add to stress and anxiety. 75 percent of people viewing a digital sign in a hospital can recall at least one message, a powerful fact that can be leveraged to improve healthcare awareness, adherence and follow-up.
Near-future enhancements to digital signage can transmit secure patient data from an emergency team to multiple displays — from staff computers, to nurse and doctor smartphones — sharing the most pertinent information about a patient in milliseconds, on the right screen and ready to save lives.
Warehouse Signage
Typical internal communication channels have a tough time in the manufacturing and distribution environments: most employees can’t use a mobile device while on the job and lack access to email, the space is too loud for announcements, and shift managers occupied with machinery and deadlines don’t have time for carefully planned employee communications. Visually based warehouse signage can inform and engage across the manufacturing floor “at a glance.” As soon as they arrive on site, employees are updated for their shift with informational videos, company announcements, bottlenecks, critical issues in the production line and safety alerts. Warehouse digital signage reduces workplace injury by 20%. Simply seeing company announcements and social media posts promotes the “in the know” sense of community that improves morale and leads to less turnover and higher productivity.
Inspirations for the Future of Your Workplace
Organizing and presenting your content through the CMS in a workplace experience platform is easy and automated, enabling your internal communications teams to target messaging by time-of-day, day-of-week, weather, current events — or whatever parameter aligns with your interest or goals. If your organization doesn’t support centralized employee communications model, then the same effect can be implemented in a decentralized manner, by empowering ambassadors across your locations to run their own workplace communication initiatives.
No matter your industry, digital signage provides near-unlimited opportunity for imagination and personalized employee communication. A few screen starters…
- Inform, entertain and boost morale with positive quotes from customers/alumni/leaders, curated manually or drawn from online sources
- Sync screens to stream your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds for a Social Media Wall that displays real time mentions, favorites and hashtags
- Provide and update wayfinding maps in real-time, integrated with directories and interactive tools that provide customized directions based on user input.
- Display live sales data onto physical screens and motivate sales teams with KPIs, achievements and call scripts- Share insights from your project management tool of choice to help everyone feel part of important product milestones
- Create your own news program based on industry specific sources drawn from RSS feeds that can unlock any content you like or need
- Poll your workforce for ideas, comments or tips/hacks, and to instill the habit of knowledge sharing thoughts and opinions
- Highlight challenges on screens for individuals and teams to foster collaborative solutions
- Showcase customer and employee generated content: surveys, photos, videos, articles and reviews
- Meet the Team onscreen: upload and introduce current and new employees for all to see — an especially helpful tactic to close the culture gap with hybrid, remote, and in-office employees
- Spotlight performance and skills of individuals and teams to enhance the openness of your organization and the confidence of employees
- Create calendars that share company events and work schedules, with options to see and resolve conflicts
– Prepare a comprehensive crisis comms display to quickly notify your entire staff in the event of an emergency
Innovations in Digital Signage Software
Just as the digital signage experience itself is not static, neither is the advancement in novel features and capabilities. Interactivity will continue to increase. COVID made the concept of “touch screen” less desirable, but there are numerous advances in the works (or at work) to connect the screen and the person. Gestures, voice, camera-tracking, face recognition, near field communication built into phones, and wearable sensors can all be indicators of reactions or send signals and messages that make the screen interactive. Camera integrations mean viewers can even join in on video streams themselves.
With artificial intelligence monitoring and managing digital signage campaigns can be enhanced with automation. AI can decide when or whether certain content should be shown to a specific employee or customer, based on multiple database interaction and indicators. It will be able to take inputs from sensors, analyze a person’s goal when they are in front of a screen, and make rule-based decisions on what messaging to appear in real time for that particular moment.
The best of today’s digital signage software platforms are built from the foundation of intelligent content management systems that lay the groundwork for these advances. Beginning to develop your digital signage strategy today means you’ll be ahead on delivering the customized content that’s proven to enhance satisfaction, inspire repeat engagement, and optimize operational efficiency.
Digital Signage for Safety
A perfect showcase of where digital signage is and where it’s going is its continued progress during the pandemic. This epic health crisis elevated the need for digital safety signage. As businesses sought to reduce touchpoints and improve accessibility, immersive digital displays stepped up with temperature screening and virtual receptionist devices that provided wayfinding to rooms, desks and locations marked safe based on factors like time, cleaning, and occupancy.
Even with a return to office and business currently in progress, companies and individuals will remain focused on health and hygiene. New digital signage solutions that reduce human physical interactions will continue to evolve, because safety and communication are best managed together.
The opportunities are for digital signage to serve as a guide for traffic flow, helping maintain social distancing and density occupancy. Digital safety screens will alert occupants of essential safety protocols with infotainment guidelines and support remote reservations for hoteling and hotdesking. Expect these to move beyond one-way instruction, as triggered occupancy and cleaning protocols will give organizations new data for managing safety and productivity.
Make Your Workplace Experiences Relevant
The best experiences people have — shopping, at events, working in the office — are the ones in which they are most involved. Digital Signage provides many opportunities to humanize the workplace experience. On screen digital elements can understand, connect and immerse customers and employees in surprising ways. One idea is to add a full-scale image of a relevant celebrity to a display — from a spokesperson to a CEO — and people will pose for selfies. Interactivity doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to get your people involved.
Those monitors, that kiosk, those screens throughout your organization — they’re more than expensive glowing wall decorations. Digital signage is interactive content — and therefore more attractive content. When your customers and employees engage with content, they will retain more information, and be more receptive to the actions you want them to take.
Every active experience you create with your digital signage — to touch, to navigate, to choose — makes your workplace more memorable for the future.
