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Video Signage: Emergency Alert Messages Can Save Lives |
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The Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard a Detroit-bound airliner once again places into focus the importance of communicating warnings in times of emergencies.
It's easy to get complacent and drift from day to day without paying much attention to potential threats until an incident out of the blue slaps us across the face and demands we sit up and pay attention.
For many, the actions of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the man U.S. authorities say attempted to detonate an explosive device in his underwear, aboard Delta Airlines Flight 253 are such a wakeup call. The failed Christmas Day bombing came at a time when most people were focused on gathering for cherished family time and taking part in long-held holiday traditions. But with one news flash, those priorities, at least for a moment, were redirected into thoughts of safety and security.
Personally, beyond the typical reaction of most Americans to word of the failed effort, I could not help but think of the important role digital signage can play in delivering emergency alert messages.
Certainly, I'm not so wrapped up in digital signage that I think there's a place for 42in LCD panels and a digital signage network aboard an airliner. That's just silly. But what does come to mind is how businesses, educational institutions, stadiums and arenas, casinos, government agencies, the military and many others have taken steps to ensure emergency messaging via their digital signage networks as a component of their overall strategy for responding to a threat.
Consider these circumstances:
* Severe weather: Thunderstorms, tornados and other severe weather events can strike with little warning. In 2008, 125 people lost their lives in the United States due to tornados. Those in public places may have had a better chance of survival with adequate warning via digital signage.
* Fire: Public facilities with existing digital signage networks can add emergency fire information, such as escape routes, for use in the event of a blaze. The same signs also can deliver specific, vital communications from rescue workers to people in different parts of a building.
* Armed intrusion: Sadly, students and teachers periodically have been in the crosshairs of shooters at high schools and universities in the United States. Digital signage can warn of an intrusion and possibly direct people out of harms way.
* Military contingencies: Military bases with digital signage networks can tie the command structure into personnel scattered around the base via the signs as a supplement and backup to traditional military communications channels.
In each of these circumstances, digital signage can be used to convey important warnings, instructions on where to go, where not to go and what to do. Additionally, conveying emergency information via digital signs serves the needs of the hearing impaired and deaf. With digital signs, emergency alerts and messaging can be communicated quickly and effectively to those who otherwise might not realize a dangerous situation is unfolding.
For those businesses and institutions with existing digital signage networks in place, all that's needed to accommodate communicating during an emergency is a little forethought and planning. Often, a safety officer working for an organization will identify possible contingencies and the types of messages needed during such events. Canned digital signage slides with escape route maps, directions on where to proceed in a severe storm and other information can be prepared in advance and called up at a moment's notice when needed.
A digital signage network also can be built to allow authorized personnel in a public safety center, such as a campus police office, or even located anywhere with an Internet connection and password-protected access to take control of the network and create and display specific instructions on the fly.
The Christmas Day bombing attempt is a highly visible reminder that emergencies can occur at any moment. Responding to an emergency with vital information can mean the difference between life and death. Digital signage is an effective means to do just that.
About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Signage Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology: Digital Signage Blog - LinkedIN - Twitter - Newsletter
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Digital Signs: Offering More Than Advertising |
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Timeliness of messages and availability of your intended audience may be the most fundamental reasons digital signage is effective.
Two of the most basic reasons digital signage makes sense as a communications medium are its timeliness and availability.
In terms of timeliness, short of actually telling someone something face to face in a place of business, there may be no way to communicate more quickly with your co-workers, employees or customers than digital signage.
With digital signage, the time between actually conceiving a message and delivering it can be measured in seconds in many instances. When used properly, tapping into this extraordinary advantage means digital signage content will be fresh and relevant, both key factors in attracting and holding the attention of an audience.
When it comes to availability, digital signage may even have face-to-face communications in a business setting beat. Because the location of digital signs should be strategically chosen before a single message is ever created, they can be located where they are most available to their audience. For example, imagine a lunch room in a manufacturing plant, a break area in a mechanics shop, suspended from a ceiling above a production line. Each of these locations makes communicating some messages to employees much easier than finding an employee or group of workers and having face-to-face conversations.
Taken together, the timeliness of digital signage message and their availability to employees can be leveraged to improve productivity, enhance safety performance and even to boost sales.
I am familiar with one factory manager who regularly updates production figures on the company's digital signage network to inform his workforce about how well they are doing in meeting production targets. Given the ability of digital signage systems to tap into databases, it is possible for this manager to keep groups of workers apprised of their performance as data is updated in the database the company uses to track production.
Similarly, in some sales settings, digital signage is an effective way to encourage production, recognize performance and reward success in a public way that taps into the competitive nature of many sales people.
Customer service and support, too, can benefit from the addition of digital signs to help employees at a single glance keep track of wait times, percentage of problems resolved, open tickets and even customer satisfaction.
Businesses should also consider tapping into the timeliness and availability digital signage offers when it comes to safety. Not only can digital signage networks offer admonitions aimed at keeping the workplace safe, they also can be used to remind employees of their ongoing safety record.
Equally important in that regard is the ability of digital signs to offer timely emergency messaging to a workforce spread out through a factory or corporate campus. Potentially lifesaving warnings and emergency information can be communicated in seconds during severe storms and tornados and when other hazards may occur. Modern digital signage can even tap into public address systems to mirror an audible warning with visual emergency information. This can go a long way to meeting various disability requirements in work or public places.
There are many reasons digital signage makes sense as a communications medium, but none may be more fundamental than its ability to serve up timely information -be it production figures, customer service wait times or even warnings of a threatening storm- where that information is most available.
About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Signage Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology: Digital Signage Blog - LinkedIN - Twitter - Newsletter
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Content Advice: Content May Be King, But Who’s Doing The Coronation? Part III |
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Content is king, so the saying goes. And while "it's good to be the king," as funnyman Mel Brooks famously observed in "History of the World Part I," achieving that status can be complicated and treacherous.
In the kingdom of digital signage, things aren't much different. Creating fresh, compelling content worthy of regal status, is no simple task. Large businesses often turn to outside creative agencies or full-time in-house creative resources to build the graphics, text, video and effects that capture viewer interest and hold attention.
Small businesses, too, recognize the benefits of digital signage but often lack the time, money and personnel to create fresh content on an ongoing basis. Fortunately, with a little planning and creativity, it's possible to sidestep these impediments and create a fresh stream of digital signage content on an ongoing basis.
In my preceding column on this topic, I laid out in detail five tactics businesses can employ to reduce the expense of content creation, including: the use of templates; relying on digital signage software with automatic data import capability; leveraging existing creative resources; integrating RSS feeds into digital signs; and taking advantage of cable or off-air TV reception. Here, I explain five more powerful tactics that can be of help in reducing the strain of creating fresh digital signage content.
Tactic 6: Consider offering internships to graphics arts students from local community colleges and universities. Both paid and non-paid internships are a staple of the college experience, and local colleges and universities offering graphics arts programs are filled with students looking for a chance to let their talent shine. Often, institutions will have requirements for companies offering internships to ensure their students are properly supervised and receive a quality experience. But for a small business with a marketing manager who's able to invest the time to direct a student, offering an internship to a graphics arts student to create fresh digital signage content can be a winner. Â
Tactic 7: Select digital signage software carefully. How difficult is it to use? Does the software use a timeline or Web browser-type interface? Companies with limited time to devote to digital signage content creation should carefully evaluate how easy content creation software is to use. Additionally, remember digital signage software tasks often fall into a handful of major categories, including: content creation, scheduling and management. Sometimes there's an overlap among these categories. Be sure to consider the learning curve and ease of use for each.
Tactic 8: Leverage existing maps, architectural drawings and other non-promotional information. The good news for small and large businesses alike is they're probably sitting on a mountain of existing material that can be repurposed for use as digital signage content. Often these resources will need to be reworked to fulfill a specific requirement for digital signage use -something most business people don't have the time or talent to do. However, a graphics arts intern should be able to make quick work of repurposing these sorts of resources as digital signage content.
Tactic 9: Subscribe to a data services for news tickers, sports scores, weather conditions, stock data and more. Cable news channels aren't the only media entities that can crawl text across their screens. Businesses employing digital signage also have access to these resources. Best of all, unlike cable news channels that seek to offer a broad range of news headlines, businesses can subscribe to feeds that more narrowly match their areas of endeavor. Doing so will make the digital signage content relevant and elevate the stature of the business in the minds of those viewing the signs.
Tactic 10: Add video from a Webcam or weather camera. Many digital signage controllers make it easy to integrate video from a live video camera. Imagine the possibility of a retailer at a ski resort using this capability on its digital sign to show the length of lift lines or views from a mountaintop lodge. Or, those responsible for signage at an airport might wish to integrate video from a camera mounted atop the control tower to display takeoffs and landings. Like integrating off-air or cable TV, Webcams and weather cameras offer a regular source of fresh content without having to devote personnel to the task -aside from setting up the camera in the first place.
Using some or all of these tactics can reduce the burden creating fresh digital signage content places on a business. After all, businesses deciding to add digital signage are doing so to advance their success, not to create a distraction that can become an impediment to success. Any approach that can keep content fresh without taxing limited personnel and financial resources will prove in the long run to be an important element of succeeding with digital signage.
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Content Advice: Content May Be King But Who's Doing The Coronation? Part II |
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In the first part of this column I pointed out that for many small business owners -even those who understand the potential of digital signage- actually deciding to add digital signs raises a thorny issue: Who's going to create the content that feeds the sign fresh information of interest to viewers in a professional format that makes a great statement about that small business?
Fresh content is critical to the communications effort if viewers are to keep coming back to the sign for more. In media shorthand, this boils down to the often used expression: "Content is king." But if content is king, who's doing the coronation? In other words, who is creating the content that gets elevated to this regal stature? Here, I examine solutions that go beyond the obvious answer of hiring someone like a full-time graphic artist or ad agency -two steps many small business owners are likely unprepared to make. While no individual suggestion solves the entire problem, several taken together should come close.
Before reviewing the tactics, however, keep in mind that the success of any digital sign relies on having a clear understanding where the sign will be located, who's typically watching and what is trying to be accomplished. These sorts of larger, strategic issues play into selecting which of the following tactics make the most sense for creating the content that's desired without diverting too many precious company resources into feeding the insatiable content appetite of digital signs. In this column, I offer five of 10 tactics. In my next column, I'll lay out five more.
Tactic 1: Create and use eye-catching templates that can easily be populated with regularly used data. Templates reduce the complexity of creating digital signage content. They can be constructed to accommodate nearly all of the information -whether its menu items for a restaurant or special event listings in a hotel lobby- that a digital signage user needs to display. Once created, templates also minimize the time that must be devoted to the communications process because they can be used over and over again.
Additionally, one template with a certain graphical theme can be spun off into other graphically similar templates that satisfy specific communications requirements while at the same time creating a consistent visual theme that helps to reinforce the identity of the small business.
Tactic 2: Select digital signage software that automatically imports data from other business systems to relieve staff from re-keystroking data into the digital signage page. For example, a hotel might rely on management software to track reservations, meeting room bookings and other business events.
With the right digital signage software, it's possible to identify pieces of that data that could populate a digital signage template automatically without intervention by the hotel staff. For instance, meeting room booking data, such as the name of the party renting the room could populate a text field in a template built for use on a digital reader boards outside individual conference and ballrooms.
Tactic 3: Leverage existing marketing, promotional and advertising materials to minimize the amount of original content that must be created. Existing content, including company logos -both the small business's logo and those of their vendors- TV commercials, supplier video and conference video can be reused on digital signs when appropriate.
Tactic 4: Use RSS feeds to keep a stream of fresh content constantly crawling across the screen. Depending on the small business and the application, Internet RSS feeds from different sources can provide fresh, new content to attract viewers and hold their attention.
Tactic 5: Rely on a traditional television channel. Some digital signage systems are available with optional television and cable television tuners that allow TV to be imported into a digital signage layout. Integrating TV relieves much of the burden of creating a lot of fresh content. However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. The cable or satellite TV source may not allow retransmission of its programming without first paying a licensing fee. Another is possible competitive conflicts. For instance, how would the owner of a used car lot feel about unintentionally displaying the commercial of a competitor on his digital sign?
Relying on these five tactics can help small business owners create the content that gets and holds the attention of viewers without taking on a new employee or vendor. In my next column, I'll offer five more tactics that can be used to create content worth of coronation.
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