5 Mistakes Colleges Make With Their Digital Signage Solutions

One big mistake colleges make is not knowing which form of digital signage to go with. For example, Doug Fortney, Chief technology Officer at Zenith says colleges shouldn’t go with large-scale, multi-boarded projects when all they need is a video wall. He says digital signage slip-ups like this can cost colleges big money.

“This is a very expensive way to make it a digital sign,” Fortney says. “You don’t want it to just be a digital sign, because if you do, you’ve spent a lot of money needlessly.”

Technology traditionalists can sometimes fall into the trap of reverting back to old ways of conveying messages, such as through PowerPoint presentations or displaying content through a “website feel.” Fortney says colleges should avoid crafting boring content for their digital signage, especially if they want to stand out and attract prospective students.

“You don’t want it just to be a big website,” he says. “Think about it in terms of taking advantage of…getting people this “wow,” fun experience that you can’t have just on your computer desktop or even on a regular digital sign. That’s not easy to do.”

Colleges can sometimes suffer from the “eyes are bigger than their stomach” syndrome, and choose a digital signage solution that won’t fit in the space they want to install it into. This is especially common when installations are planned for older spaces, or when new construction isn’t available to accommodate the solution. Fortney says that colleges should choose a space that can best support a digital signage solution, and vice versa. That way, the solution can operate well while also getting the school’s message across to campus.

“You have to start thinking about it while there’s the opportunity to accommodate the structure and connectivity needs, and also heat requirements of a [solution],” he says. “It’s very difficult to add these halfway through a project or at the end of a project because of the structural requirements, and to make it feel like it fits the building.”

It may seem obvious, but sometimes big egos get in the way of asking for help. During the seamless plasma video wall installation at North Shore LIJ University Hospital, Averbuch says the integrator accidentally broke some parts of the video wall. He says sharp attention and alertness are needed during such fragile installations, and egos need to be checked at the door.

“I believe the integrator even broke something during this process,” Averbuch says. “It was $14,000 MSRP per unit; that’s a big bullet to bite. Even if you have a custom mounting solution, and even if you have the best integration staff, if you’re spaced out for one second, you can have a $25,000 mistake on your hands.”

Sometimes people can forget that old saying, “you get what you pay for.” When colleges do, or if they hunt for a cheaper solution price, the results can be broken equipment or unsatisfactory content. Averbuch says colleges should stray from reliance on their purchasing channel and get the right people involved with their project as deeply and as early on as possible.

“Engage the manufacturer as early on as you can to help design the system with you,” he says. “A lot of times people say it’s something like a TV, but it’s not just like a TV. It’s a very fragile unit, it’s expensive technology. When you put a big investment into a technology, it’s important that you don’t just go with whoever is the cheapest bidder to install this. The reality is, when you’re dealing with a fragile product like this, you need to have twice as much patience.”