Digital Signage – Part 1 Overview

A few years ago the Student Technology Fee Committee of the College of Ag Sciences and Natural Resources agreed to install five digital signage kiosks throughout buildings that housed our academic departmental faculty, staff, and students. The expectation was that these kiosks would provide information about the college and distribute information from the college’s Student Success Center.

Since its original inception, the technology has changed and the kiosks have evolved. Over the next few weeks I will be discussing digital signage, beginning with a simple definition and an overview of the basics of a digital sign solution, and compare the college’s old with our current system.

What is Digital Signage?

Most everybody knows what digital signage is even if they do not know the name. We are constantly bombarded with it everyday.

Digital Menus
Digital Marquees
Digital Billboards
Airport Terminal
Information Kiosks

These are basically the digital forms of standard signage and can be as simple as a PowerPoint presentation set on repeat or as complex as an interactive information display. Digital signage can be a powerful marketing tool and an easy way to engage your audience and disseminate updated information.

What are some applications of Digital Signage?

There are many usages of digital signage systems. Most of the time it is used for static information that is often updated. Such examples are advertising, menus, news, weather, directories, etc. Other options can be videos, crowd control/flow like, for example, showing escape/safety routes during emergencies.

In general there are three types of digital signage; Point of Sale, Point of Wait, and Point of Transit. Most people are familiar with are Point of Sale and Point of Wait.

Point of Sale

Point of Sale systems are signs designed to show prices, ads for products and/or services. You may have seen these are your local grocery stores.

Point of Wait

Point of Wait systems typically have general information that would be relevant to your user base. Most of the time you will see these in office buildings, schools, hotels, event centers.

Point of Transit

Point of Transit systems are typically used to show schedules, transit paths, or information that would be relevant to travelers. You see these systems in airports, train stations. However, those locations are also prime areas for Point of Sale and Point of Wait systems too.

So how do I choose which system?

To choose which type of system you want really depends on what information you are trying to get across. Unless you are in sales or transit, most likely the Point of Wait system would be your choice of signage.

Summary, Part 1

Hopefully I have given you enough information to know a little about digital signage and the basic types of systems. In the next post I will discuss some of the different vendors and both their pros and cons.

Till next time!