Blog

AV is now a strategic tool for business ops

A recent digital signage deployment in the Netherlands illustrates how AV is now a tool that can and should contribute to every aspect of an organization’s work, and of the effectiveness of planning ahead and empowering an organization's IT department to lead the charge.

July 28, 2015 by Jeff Hastings — CEO, BrightSign

The Utrecht City Council in the Netherlands recently consolidated 13 offices around the city into one new $220 million facility housing 3,000 staff. After conducting research, the council decided that digital signage could offer a more efficient, more standardized means of communicating, which would also offer greater ease of use and reach the whole organization more effectively.

The screens around this new building are integral to every aspect of the Council's operation. They are used in marketing: Screens in the atrium and public areas provide tourist information and promote events. They are used in service delivery: Screens in departmental receptions direct visitors to services and provide guidance on waiting times. They are used to inform staff on a variety of subjects, from giving answers to frequently asked questions, to letting them know what's on the menu in the cafeteria.

This example illustrates perfectly how AV is now a tool that can and should contribute to every aspect of an organization's work. It is also an illustration of the effectiveness of planning ahead and empowering an organization's IT department to lead the charge.

This is often where a real challenge presents itself: Not every commercial or public organization has the luxury of starting from scratch in a new building. But regardless, the IT infrastructure needs to be planned to support all of the AV services that an organization will require. For this reason, AV is best considered a specialty of IT in the same way that cardiology is a specialist form of medicine. The heart takes oxygen from the lungs and pumps it around the whole body. A cardiologist needs to understand not only how the heart itself works but also how it relates to the lungs, arteries, veins and the rest of the body.

Too often, digital signage is still driven by one department for a single and limited purpose. Marketing wants a screen in reception to cross-sell to visitors. Production wants to flag up current quality levels to the manufacturing floor. Sales wants to update pricing instantly across all stores.

When the Utrecht Council planned its building, it considered the information each group of building users would require and hence the number, size and location of screens. They also factored in the data transmission requirements, network administration tools and every other aspect of content delivery and maintenance. Planning, installing and using AV is a process that, when effectively coordinated by IT departments, can become a strategic tool for all types of business operations.

About Jeff Hastings

---

None

Connect with Jeff:

Included In This Story

---

BrightSign

BrightSign is the global market leader in digital signage media players, offering the most reliable, secure and sophisticated solid-state media players on the market today.

Request Info

Learn More