Signage is essential in a busy learning institution such as a university. Students need to be informed about everything, from lectures and seminars through to socials, sporting events and the daily cafe menu. Universities also have a duty of care to all people on site by reminding them about health and safety good practices and fire alarm drills.
With a wide range of regularly changing messages needing to be communicated at a moment’s notice, to an audience that is easily distracted with their own smartphones and conversations, digital signage can give universities the edge when it comes to effective visual communication.
The benefits of digital signs
Those institutions which are invested in integrated digital sign platforms across their estate are able to bring their communication into the modern world. These signs are efficient and ‘green’, requiring no physical production of signage assets which then either become outdated and need disposal – or end up taking up space in storage. They require nothing more than updating with digital graphic design software, and messages can be changed at a moment’s notice. With the cloud typically linked to the software used to populate these signs, universities also no longer need to hold graphic files or software on their local servers. Instead, they can be stored remotely for instant retrieval, automatic software updating and stronger disaster recovery processes.
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There is also the ease and convenience which comes with deploying a message, or series of messages, across multiple digital signs – without the physical resources and waste required with physical signs.
Better experiences
Campuses can offer a rich and engaging visitor experience. New visitors can see welcome touch-screens that help them to find maps, local contacts and answers to FAQ. Live video on demand can also be used to give talks or to share audio messages. Individual departments can be given their own digital signs from a provider such as Mood Media, and use these facilities to replace their crowded bulletin boards and the inevitable tacked up pieces of paper which otherwise cover the walls.
Those universities which are prepared to invest in this technology now will see their engagement increase, their efficiency, flexibility and message effectiveness grow, and their costs and waste diminish as expensive and unwieldy old physical signs are phased out of the messaging equation.