University of Northampton Partners with Appspace to Implement Digital Signage

From its inception in 2005, the University of Northampton (UON) sought to “break the mold” in how universities engage with students and the surrounding community. Because it was created from a combination of smaller colleges in the area, a key part of UON’s long-term strategy was building a cohesive and defining main campus. Their requirements for the new main campus included future-proofing buildings for adaptability to 21st-century teaching philosophies and changing student needs. Complementing the building design objective was the desire to transform communications with students, staff, visitors and the surrounding community. To continue evolving as one of the most innovative and collaborative educational institutions in the U.K., UON wanted a more modern approach to communications, including the use of digital signage.

Transforming Campus Communications with Digital Signage

University of Northhampton_Power Tower_Digital Signage — *During the height of COVID, UON used a 40-foot LED screen, powered by Appspace, at its Power Tower to recognize COVID heroes at the campus entrance.*

For their digital signage implementation, UON sought an enterprise-grade, self-service platform with intuitive controls, and “out of the box” tools. After analyzing various providers, UON chose Appspace, the Dallas-based workplace experience platform for communications and workplace management. The university deployed the solution via a private cloud.

The UON team, working closely with experts from Appspace, had an aggressive buildout for go-live at the campus opening in August 2018. The endpoints installed included:

105 digital screens
5 interactive kiosks with wayfinding
2 videowalls (5×5 arrays)
1 “Power Tower” (40-foot high LED screen) at the campus entrance

Partnering with Appspace provided the expertise and tools to help implement advanced technology, such as the “Power Tower,” a landmark feature for the campus and the community. During the pandemic, UON utilized the 40-foot high LED screen at the campus entrance to pay tribute to COVID heroes on the tower’s giant screen.

“At UON, we are continually working to ‘stay ahead of the curve’’ in our campus communications. Appspace has consistently been responsive to our evolving needs and has helped us to digitally transform and unify our communications strategy,” says Theresa ‘Tree’ Behrens, digital assets designer & coordinator, UON.