Content Still Rules at Schools
Digital signage for education campuses holds tremendous potential in higher ed, offering benefits like wayfinding directions, campus communications, and fostering a sense of community. However, the crux of its effectiveness lies in the content it displays. In the following article, we explore the importance of content in college and university settings.
Only Accurate Information is Useful
Signage content must be accurate for it to be truly helpful. If it’s out of date, or just plain wrong, it can only cause headaches. Wayfinding and building directories are at the forefront among the various content types that must be up-to-date. Imagine walking halfway across the campus only to realize that the professor had changed his office. Not only would that experience waste precious time, but it would also cause a lot of unneeded frustration when a simple edit takes seconds to make.
This is one of the reasons to deploy an easy to use CMS, enabling digital signage editors to become content experts quickly. From managing content changes to updating 3D wayfinding maps to even seemingly advanced functions like scheduling a temporary routing when needed can be updated effortlessly.
Timely Announcements
Not just accurate, but timely communication is also crucial for students and staff. To effectively keep the campus community informed, the content displayed on these signs must be up-to-date and reliable. For example, outdated event information can lead to disengagement and reduces the impact of the signs and their messaging. Simply put, students will stop paying attention when they know the information isn’t being updated.
On the other hand, fresh and informative displays, like sports or event boards, effortlessly capture the attention of passers-by, enabling students to stay in the loop about campus happenings. Digital signage for education campuses is a powerful medium to broadcast sports game scores, schedules, news, and standings, fostering a stronger sense of community. This goes further by showcasing sports highlights, updated scores, and replays during home games. Additionally, campus administrators can use the same platform to share details about extracurricular activities, charitable events, concerts, and seminars, ensuring students remain aware of essential happenings at the school.
Our CMS offers numerous benefits for administrators, including a streamlined content publishing approval workflow. Seamlessly integrating with existing hardware and various data sources relied upon by staff and students daily, the 22Miles content management system aims to deliver the ultimate student experience through compelling, accurate announcements, event schedules, facility information, and more.
Emergency Alerts
In moments of impending danger, the accuracy of the information displayed on these signs is paramount. Digital signage is highly effective in broadcasting emergency alerts and critical communication content, such as weather advisories or service outages. Up-to-date and current content enhances emergency action plans and can greatly improve student safety. When activated, emergency alerts override the existing signage content called Player Sync to ensure safety messages reach all screens, devices, or designated zones at the same time.
The good news, digital signage for education facility statistics reveal that 96% of students actively notice these displays. Timely and relevant content helps to entice both students and visitors to engage with the signs, aiming to retain the displayed messages in their minds. And messages do not have to reside solely on walls or kiosks, we know that 79% of Gen Z’ers consider their smartphones indispensable, therefore, playlists can easily be shown on mobile phones with a scan of a QR code. Ensuring mobile support is fundamental for critical communications to reach their intended audience within the campus community.
To achieve these goals, our CMS empowers administrators to remotely access signage for manual content updates or deliver real-time notifications through seamless integrations with leading emergency alert software, including RAVE, Everbridge, Alertus, and others. Utilizing rich content APIs with emergency management systems ensures swift and widespread updates. Critical communications can be disseminated through screens, kiosks, video walls, and mobile devices, distributed to each building or campus-wide through 22Miles’ centralized interface, guaranteeing effective and efficient delivery for this vital information.Accurate content is crucial for its usefulness in various aspects, such as wayfinding and emergency communications. Our robust CMS empowers easy content management, ensuring timely and relevant information for students. It allows anyone to design, develop, and update signage content without lengthy technical training or coding skills. Mobile support is essential for digital signage for education campuses, and integration with emergency alert software guarantees swift dissemination of safety messages. Overall, content accuracy remains the foundation for effective communication and a cohesive campus community.
