Page 11 - College Planning & Management, January/February 2019

template and in the lower right on the next. We found that putting too many messages on the screen at one time actually left no chance for someone to find what they wanted to know, let alone actually comprehend that in- formation, before the message left the screen.
In our current redesign, we have
things like date, time, weather forecast, social media handles, and the department wordmark, but these items are smaller and always in the same place. We display only one main message at a time for a duration of about 10 seconds.
3. Growth. The number of InfoStations has organically expanded at a rate of 30 installations a year. The majority of these installations are not prompted or paid for by the central communications department, but rather the colleges, schools, and depart- ments themselves. The InfoStations provide the ability to not only quickly push content in high-traffic areas, but also to update pub- lished messages when events change.
Largely financed by internal end users, the majority of the messages on the InfoSta- tions are those created by the end user, not the university. Over the years, we have cre- ated an internal asset management system to allow the end user to get the messaging they want out to the screens they want exactly when they want the messaging to be there. There are over 250 internal end users who have access to web forms to input text information, full-page graphics, photos with descriptions, and recognitions. The system can also pull their existing RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds.
To help bolster the amount of messag- ing on a single installation, we supplement end-user content with campus-wide mes- saging. We randomly play a single template from the dozen or so campus-wide tem- plates we have after the end user’s content. This allows the end user’s template to start playing roughly every minute.
4. Content management solutions, players, and monitors/mounts. If you don’t have a handle on the content you
want to display on your digital signs, selecting the content management solution (CMS) that is right for your application
is going to be impossible. When you are looking for a CMS, find one that you can take for an extended test drive. Then ask yourself a few questions. How easy is it for your group to make your own templates? Are you going to have to pay for creative services when you want to make a change?
The CMS you select will determine the player hardware options you will be able
to purchase. Be careful though, as the less- expensive player operating environments may not allow you to leverage the full capabilities of your CMS. There is a lot of talk regarding “player-less” digital signage solutions in the future, but there are still huge limitations on what those solutions can do versus a digital signage solution that has a more robust external player provid- ing the content to the screen.
Many entities look at monitors and mounts as the first hurdle to tackle when they start a digital signage solution. There are many factors to consider before finally settling on a choice of monitor. Here are the six things to consider: A minimum
of a three-year warranty; 24/7 operation; extending fewer than four inches when mounted below eight feet on the wall; a lockable menu; speakers; and determining if you want/need touch capabilities.
The only other thing I consider as
my personal preference is, if considering 55-inch or larger monitors, I recommend working with 4K equipment.
The Future
Our little 10-screen network has grown over the past decade to more than 175+ installations. Sixty-eight percent of our installations are now touch-interactive. The interactivity allows users to access the content they want to see when they want to see it. We have specialized installations for honor/donor recognition that allow us to update the biographies of those individu- als. These displays give users the ability to show videos detailing how those gifts are
changing and shaping the university. These displays are much more memorable than a bronze plaque.
We continue to update our look and feel to change with the branding of the univer- sity. This leads us to push the envelope of our design as well as test the limitations of our CMS. Unfortunately, this also means we start from scratch creating new tem- plates and reorganizing our deployments about every two years.
The future looks bright for the InfoSta- tions. In another 10 years, we intend for our InfoStations to be the first screen people look to for messaging from the WVU com- munity. Well, maybe after their phones. CPM
Steve “Chewie” Stavar started working for the video production department at West Virginia University in 2006. In 2011, Stavar started working exclusively with WVU’s digital signage network the InfoStations. He is part of a two-person team who manages all aspects of a digital signage. Steve will present “What NOT to Do: Lessons Learned from West Virginia University’s Digital Signage Network,” at Digital Signage Expo 2019 (www.dse2019.com) on March 27 at 9:15 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 11