Colleges and universities can be overwhelming to navigate, even for the most seasoned students. To make campuses more accessible and user-friendly, many colleges and universities have implemented digital signage software as a wayfinding solution. As a result, they have seen positive impacts on student life, including improved safety, easier navigation, and more engagement.
Interactive Wayfinding
Digital signage software allows users to create an interactive experience with detailed directions around campus. Digital maps have several advantages compared to their traditional paper counterparts. They are updateable, more sustainable, and easier to view. Also, digital wayfinding provides an interactive element that isn’t possible with traditional maps. Digital wayfinding kiosks are controlled by touchscreens, cell phones, or a mouse and keyboard. Screens display animations, videos, and campus news, and events alongside navigation. Users interact with signage to find the information, directions, or content they’re most interested in viewing.
Campus Safety
Digital wayfinding systems are not only convenient for students and staff, they help provide safety for everyone on campus as well. The digital signage software powering wayfinding kiosks throughout campus integrates with alerting software like Alertus and Singlewire.
These alerting software products allow campus security to deploy emergency messaging with one click. Evacuation routes and directions to storm shelters are quickly and reliably displayed on all screens when necessary. Providing directions and context to dangerous situations is critical. Digital signage software is one of the best tools to distribute this information.
Every student or staff member has access to the campus information through the Arreya PWA feature. This allows the school to apply their Arreya channel as an app to devices without going through the Google Play Store or Apple Store. PWA or Progressive Web Apps are the future of true communications.
Customizable Messaging
Digital wayfinding solutions for colleges and universities are incredibly customizable, much more customizable than traditional signs and maps.
Digital wayfinding content can be scheduled in advance down to the minute. This means that if there is construction, an event, or a change of any kind, the change can display on screen in realtime, or it can be scheduled to change when it’s appropriate. This creates a more proactive approach to wayfinding.
Overall, digital wayfinding systems are an efficient and effective tool for navigating college campuses. They make the campus experience easier and safer for everyone. With advanced digital signage software, colleges and universities can implement powerful navigation solutions that provide students and staff with clear direction.
If you need more guidance on implementing digital signage to your campus, click here.
Paying attention is hard. Some of us may find it easier than others, but for most children and young adults in school, it can be difficult. Teachers and professors are constantly looking for new innovative ways to connect with their students, increase engagement, and make the learning experience more enjoyable for everyone. The education sector is using digital signage as a tool for increasing student engagement in the classroom, and even outside of their four walls.
More Quality Student Involvement
Learning is typically a lot more enjoyable for students when they’re able to express their own ideas and individual points of view.
Teachers use digital signage software to aid in student expression. Students create digital content, either in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Adobe Photoshop, or whatever tools they like, and then share the files with their teachers. Teachers easily upload media to digital signage software and schedule the content to play during class, or taking it a step further, they allow students to create and schedule their own digital signage content.
Live events like concerts, graduation ceremonies, and sporting events drive excitement for students, teachers, and parents alike. However, it’s not always possible for everyone to physically attend these events. Digital signage software allows schools and universities to share their live events to anyone with a modern web browser and a stable internet connection. Live streaming events on digital signage is easy with the right software. All you need to do is copy and paste your livestream link into the appropriate field.
Learn more about livestreaming on digital signage.
Keeping Students and Staff Safe
It’s important for school districts, colleges, and universities to have emergency preparedness plans in place. Regular tornado and fire drills are mandatory, along with clearly marked evacuation routes. Digital signage is excellent for displaying emergency messaging, and some software even integrates with alerting programs. Schools are able to deploy emergency messages to all of their screens simultaneously with the press of a button thanks to these integrations.
Learn more about integrating alerts into your digital signage.
Increase Engagement and Student Well-Being
Overall, digital signage software is a vital tool for schools and universities. It helps improve communication, allows for remote viewing of live events, and promotes student engagement in the classroom. In addition, the integration of alerting technologies helps schools keep staff and students safe during emergency situations. Digital signage will continue to become more prominent for the education sector in the near future. Especially as we see more demand for remote learning.
Arreya is pleased to work with the University of South Carolina on the first digital signage course. Digital signage is a powerful tool for advertising, corporate communications, and education. Students taking this course will learn about creating digital signage content, and how to properly target their messaging. They will also gain an understanding of analytics as they relate to digital signage, and how digital signage is used in the field.
“Arreya has given students in the class access to their digital signage software service, allowing them the opportunity for hands-on experience with all areas of digital signage, from design and creation to distribution and scheduling.”
says J. Scott Parker, Communications Director for the College of Information and Communications at USC
Key course benefits for students:
Learning to target messaging for a variety of audiences.
Hands-on experience creating digital signage that meets industry standards.
Webpage of work samples available for portfolio.
The mission of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications is to improve and strengthen the societal roles of the professions of journalism and mass communications through teaching, research and service. The school has a commitment to provide students with skills and practical experience in the latest communication technologies, from social media to digital signage.
Deploying Arreya Software to Students
Arreya’s user permissions make deployment extremely easy. The professor instructing the course uses the Arreya management owner role, giving him full access to all of the students’ channels. Students use the manager role, which allows them to access and edit content within their channel, but does not allow them to modify other channels. Students will be able to edit their content from any device with a stable internet connection.
Making Content Visible Outside of the Classroom
Displaying content off campus is a key goal for the course. There are a variety of ways to access Arreya content that students will learn about. Using a device enrolled in the Google Admin Console is generally recommended, especially for public facing digital signage. This is because Enterprise enrolled Chrome devices can be locked in kiosk mode, preventing anyone from tampering with content.
Students will also have the option to access the content they create on any web browser with their channel URL. Students will be able share content with their classmates, family members, and even post a link to their Arreya channel on social media.
Learning to Design Digital Signage Content
In addition to having access to their own Arreya channel, students will also have full access to the Adobe Creative Suite through the University of South Carolina. Arreya has a robust CMS built into it which students will have full access to, but Arreya’s software has been designed to be agnostic. Students can pull in creations from Adobe and upload them into the Arreya media library. Virtually any standard image file type can be uploaded. Students have no limits when it comes to the amount of images, videos, or audio files they can upload.
“The Arreya system provides our students with a tool to create, schedule, and display all types of digital signage. Like other hands-on training, it gets them ready for careers in the rapidly-growing digital signage industry,”
says Augie Grant, J. Rion McKissick Professor of Journalism.
Visit the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications website to learn more here.
Bringing Knowledge into the Workforce
This is an excellent opportunity for Arreya to expose the next generation of leaders to the digital signage industry. It’s also an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about the industry today. Students will clearly see the value of digital signage software as an advertising tool, but also as a tool to communicate with stakeholders no matter where they are located.
Learn more about how Arreya is used for education.
Everytime someone interacts with your business, you want them to have the best experience possible. You want to leave them feeling relieved and thankful that they chose to work with you. That’s why the customer experience needs to be as convenient and stress free as possible. There are simple tactics for improving customer experiences with digital signage.
The COVID 19 pandemic accelerated the need and desire to work or make purchases from home. Businesses have had to adapt to make themselves present digitally. Digital signage has played a huge role in improving customer experiences. Making it more enjoyable to engage with a business whether in person, from home, or anywhere with an internet connection.
Make Waiting Less Painful
We all have to wait in lines, and some of us can tolerate it better than others. As a business owner, whenever you have the opportunity to reduce wait time for your customers, you try your best to seize that opportunity. Digital signage can ease waiting.
One great way to reduce wait times is to get customers the information they need without having to find someone to ask. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are a great way to achieve this goal. You simply compile a list of common questions and answer them on your site. You can use digital signage software to display these answers along with directions, or any other information that might speed things up for you and your customers. Another way you can save time is by displaying current inventory with your signs. This gives customers the ability to see what’s available without having to physically check throughout the store.
For many businesses, wait times are unavoidable, at least to some extent. While business owners and staff have already done everything they can to make processes as efficient as possible, customers will still need to be patient and wait their turns. Why not give them something interesting to look at while they wait? You can add YouTube videos to your displays, news, weather, and live feeds to your social media. The signs can be used to update customers on upcoming sales or events as well. This is an opportunity with a captive audience, so if possible, display something that can strengthen brand reputation. You can show testimonials, past projects, or just some information about your staff to make things more personal and relatable for the customer.
Increase Customer Engagement
Interactive digital signs are an awesome way for customers to interact with businesses, and there are so many different ways to use them. Customers can use touchscreens to navigate through a timeline or a slideshow about company history and values. This is a great method to tell customers your story. It allows them to connect with your brand on a much deeper level. You can display Twitter feeds and customers can see what they tweet using your hashtag, and you can allow them to post reviews from their phone right to your signs in real time.
Digital signage software can also be used to place orders, or hold a customer’s place in line. They can tap the screen to check in, and see an estimated amount of time remaining before it’s their turn. All of these are great options for building value with your customers. These tools are great for managing customer expectations, and they give customers increased control over their experiences.
Intuitive Wayfinding
Being lost is the worst, and many customers will prefer not to find someone to ask where to go. Businesses are using digital signage software to solve this problem, saving customers time, but also saving their employees from constantly directing traffic. Signs can be used to display maps and hours of operation, and when using touchscreen displays, customers can tap on the map to see where they need to go. They can navigate through the maps provided to different buildings or floors, and the maps can be updated as needed. Updates can be pushed out instantaneously, and it’s easy to make the changes. CLICK HERE for more information on how digital signage can be used for wayfinding.
Keeping Everyone Safe
It’s so critical for businesses to have a plan in place to keep everyone safe, especially in the event of an emergency. Of course every business is required to have fire alarms and illuminated exit signs, but some of them have complicated buildings that can be hard to navigate.
Digital signage software can eliminate confusion with clear displays on how to get out of the building, or where to go if there is impending dangerous weather or a security breach. The signs can be used to display weather forecasts and breaking news as well, so if something dangerous happens nearby, everyone can be made aware as soon as possible.
Rebirth of QR Codes
There is a time and place for business cards and brochures, but a lot of customers end up throwing them away as soon as they walk out the door, even if the information is pertinent. Using QR codes allows businesses to share exactly what they want with customers without adding another business card to their overfilled wallets.
Many restaurants have adopted the usage of QR codes instead of paper menus because of the COVID 19 pandemic. This was done to reduce the spread of germs primarily, but it also made things a lot more convenient. Customers simply scan the QR code and get the menu, url, image, video, or whatever content they need right on their phone, no paper needed. Updates are made to menus or other content as needed with no additional cost or waste. LEARN MORE about the impact QR codes are having on commerce globally.
A Vital Part of Business
It’s vital that businesses focus on what their customers are experiencing and what pain points exist. If possible, we want to remove or mitigate those pain points. Digital signage software can save time and headaches, like displaying live inventory, showing customer’s their place in line, and providing them with QR codes so they can get information they need on their own devices.
Digital signage can be used to build brand awareness and entertain customers while they wait. These are all great tools for businesses that want to increase engagement and make the customer experience more enjoyable, convenient, and interactive.
People have more options now than ever, especially when it comes to food. With a more segmented market, quick service restaurants (QSRs) need a way to separate themselves from the competition. Digital signage for the QSR Industry make restaurants stand above the competition with elegant displays, and we aren’t talking about just menu items. Digital signage software can display almost anything, from infotainment like news and Twitter feeds, to weather and traffic. It’s even capable of live streaming to hundreds of devices simultaneously.
Showcasing the Food
One of the best ways to get someone in the door of the restaurant is to show them food videos and slideshows along with the current menu. Using digital signage in the QSR industry to show videos or images of your food is a great way to entice some hungry customers. Videos of food being prepared could be displayed or just videos of other people enjoying it. This is where high quality images and videos are going to be vital. The clearer and sharper the images are, the better. Being delicious keeps customers coming back, but looking delicious will help get first time customers in the door.
Weather Topics
Weather, the topic we use to make small talk with almost anyone. It’s nice to be able to look up and see the weekly forecast or see what current conditions are for your commute. Displaying the weather is also particularly useful for QSRs, because they can actually use the weather to sell specific items. A nice hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate sounds even better when it’s paired up with a forecast of 20 degrees and snowy, and of course an ice cold glass of lemonade sounds a lot better when it’s 90 degrees and sunny.
QSRs can make the most of these conditions by displaying relevant menu items right up with the weather, making these items even more appealing. LEARN MOREabout using weather in QSR industry digital signage.
Behind the Scenes
With constant traffic in and out of the restaurant, and rushes of customers throughout the day, communication is imperative. QSRs need to get staff the information they need quickly and efficiently.
Digital signage does this with immediate effect. They can schedule content to let staff know about upcoming events, training, and news. It can also be used to call out wins, like employee of the month, or positive customer reviews.
Soon, AI or artificial intelligence could be implemented into digital signage, and it’s smart enough to understand speech. This means people could pull up to the drive through and place an order without a person being there to take the order. This could be a huge win for restaurants who are short staffed, which appears to be the majority today. LEARN MORE about the possibilities of future applications of AI and signs in the QSR industry.
Practicality and Safety
Many restaurants are ditching paper menus, especially after the COVID19 pandemic.
Originally, the paper menus were replaced by QR codes to reduce the spread of germs, but there are other benefits as well. Previously, changing menu items, removing items, or changing prices would call for all new menus to be created and printed. With a digital menu, restaurant owners and managers can update menus in seconds. CLICK HERE to learn more about how QR codes are changing the restaurant industry.
In conjunction with digital signage software, restaurants can use QR codes to let customers see the menu from where they sit, and scan the code to get the menu right on their phone. Digital signage can also be used to display which orders are ready, and estimated times remaining for orders that are being filled. There are even additional QSR solutions built right into digital signage software, like QR code generators. With a few clicks, you can create your own QR codes and add them to all of your signage.
Enterprise digital signage is extremely scalable. It can be used to display content on one screen or thousands of screens, and it could be updated on smartphones from any location in the world with a stable internet connection. This means that restaurant managers overseeing multiple locations can update all displays at once using one device from virtually anywhere. Digital signage for the QSR industry is saving time and money for restaurants something that is always needed.
Chrome Enterprise Recommended is Google’s partner program for third-party solutions verified as meeting technical and support standards for Chrome OS. Google-verified program helps organizations identify solutions that meet or exceed global standards for security, management and deployment. Arreya was chosen by Google to be a Chrome Enterprise Recommend Kiosk and Digital Signage Solution.
Making It Easy to Choose Kiosk and Digital Signage Solutions
Google wants enterprises to succeed. They remove the painful trial and error that businesses go through to find reliable, secure Chrome OS communication solutions. Google does all the work. They find, interview and test cloud softwares. Then they compile them into specific categories, like kiosks and digital signage. This saves enterprises valuable time and money.
Google has always been at the forefront of technology, looking for emerging trends and solutions for better communications. COVID-19 pandemic pushed the advancing trend of remote offices and work-from-home quickly forward. Something that was optional became mandatory overnight. Businesses scrambled to find the communication tools that would connect a remote workforce. (LEARN MORE) They encountered issues in:
Security
Deployment
Cost
Management
Businesses had to get these new tools overnight, giving no time for verification of solutions. That is where the Chrome Enterprise Kiosk and Digital Signage Solution fill the need. The verified solutions have already been tested and verified to meet the strict standards that Google set.
The Chrome Enterprise Recommended Partners (CER) grew from the need for enterprises to easily find and implement verified Chrome OS solutions for different communication platforms.
Aligning with Google for Chrome Enterprise Solutions
Security.
From the beginning, Arreya was developed to work with the Chrome OS devices including Google phones and tablets. Along with the Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, businesses can deploy digital signage that is secure and powerful for today’s cyber world. As a Chrome Enterprise Recommended Kiosk and Digital Signage partner, Arreya makes it easy to communicate.
Chrome OS includes regular security updates and built-in protection. It blocks executable files and partitions operating system files so they can’t be modified. (LEARN MORE)
Chrome devices with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade can be locked into kiosk mode. Removing the temptation for anyone to access multiple apps or change digital signage to unwanted URL’s. Arreya channels will be the only thing viewers see on screens.
“In developing Arreya in 2014, we knew we wanted our digital signage suite to be accessible by anyone, with no proprietary hardware,” said Jill Burgess, president of Arreya. “Google Chrome devices give clients nonproprietary hardware that anyone can afford, with the reliability of Google. Our partnership has allowed Arreya to grow and give our clients the freedom to remotely manage content and hardware.”
Deployment.
Chrome OS digital signage and kiosk hardware devices deploy fast with automated download of user apps. (SOURCE)
Commercial grade Chrome OS devices from leaders in technology, are available through the Arreya online store. All devices come with the Arreya white glove service. It pre configured Chrome OS hardware with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade and the client Arreya channel. Giving a plug-n-play experience.
All Arreya channels have the ability to be viewed and managed from anywhere as a progressive web app. The PWA feature makes it easy for enterprises to seamlessly move to remote and hybrid situations without losing communications. Apps can be installed on any Chrome OS device without going through the Google play store. Chromebooks can have the Arreya channel installed as an app for instant access.
Cost.
Chrome OS with Arreya is designed to reduce the cost of communications. The combined reliability of Chrome Enterprise devices and the Arreya support reduce deployment, upgrade and training costs. Chrome OS devices and Arreya have automatic updates. This reduces employee downtime and IT support costs in waiting for software and firmware updates.
The hybrid and remote distributed workforce redistributes the costs of communications. Instead of funds used for in-person information, such as posters, brochures and other printed materials, communications become electronic. The security of the Chrome OS and Arreya platform allow for all communications to be accessed by individuals through secure, cloud avenues. Human resource benefit packages, quotes and proposals, data and spreadsheets can be viewed through an Arreya channel.
In-person training can be transitioned to training videos and with Arreya pinpoint management, specific groups can be given access for viewing at any time. Reducing the down time used for training and reviewing by field employees.
This shift to online communications is a smart and eco-friendly investment. Reductions in waste and pollution are significant and help the planet. (LEARN MORE)
Management.
Through the cloud-based Google Admin Console, IT can configure more than 500 policies from anywhere, control device updates, take screenshots, reboot and install or manage apps from anywhere.
Paired with Arreya Digital Signage, anyone can manage digital content and hardware remotely. Know exactly what is happening without in-person visits. Know who is watching and when.
Meeting the Chrome Enterprise Recommended Requirements
Arreya was tested by the Google team of Partner Managers and Engineers to determine if the digital signage suite meets the CER requirements. Arreya meets or exceeds all the requirements.
Deployment – After configuring app in admin console, device boots successfully into kiosk mode and runs Arreya Digital Signage Suite.
Online Longevity – Arreya can run in kiosk mode for 72 hours without device reboots, with an active internet connection, unattended and maintain responsiveness.
Offline Longevity – After completing online longevity, run under the same conditions without an active internet connection.
Online Reboot – After initial run and defined configuration, app will restore same state after device reboot.
Offline Reboot – After initial run and defined configuration, app will restore same state after device reboot without an active internet connection.
PWA Plan – Arreya needs to be a working PWA
Fall Gracefully – If Arreya encounters a critical error, it should fall gracefully, restoring itself to an appropriate working state.
The Rise of New Digital Experiences
The new Chrome Enterprise Recommended partnerships expand the possibilities for different types of communications and collaborations. A powerful and secure platform that is supported by the Google and Arreya team. You can literally launch anywhere.
In kiosk and digital signage the Arreya digital experiences are endless. Beyond the monitor on a wall, digital signage is store menus, interactive displays, customer kiosks and employee kiosks-anywhere on any device you can view digital content. Within each of those categories solutions for wayfinding, concierge, ticketing, room bookings and manufacturing data kiosks are just a few of the possibilities for Arreya with Chrome Enterprise.
