Another University Turns to Digital Signage

The University of British Columbia in western Canada is the latest university to adopt a network of digital signage screens to communicate information to students, staff and visitors.

Home to 50,000 students, spread across several campuses in Vancouver and Okanagan, the university said they needed an efficient and centralized communication system that could connect campuses.

Furthermore, emergency information was also a crucial factor in the decision, said a university spokesman, adding: “We knew from experience that the university needed a system that would enable delivery of emergency warning messages when they matter most. We also wanted a solution that would support daily provisioning of UBC content to our staff and students across all UBC campuses. “

Advantages for Educational Establishments

The reasons the University of British Columbia give for the implementation of digital signage and outdoor digital signage is common amongst education establishments. Communication is incredibly difficult at higher education facilities as, like British Columbia, many modern institutions are spread over multiple campuses, sometimes in different towns.

These days, while most students and staff at universities have access to email, and facilities like text message communication is common, these systems have limitations in that not everybody may have their phone on, or check their emails regularly; while older methods of communication like notice boards have other obvious limitations, namely the logistics and time it takes to post the content.

Emergency information, as mentioned by the University of British Columbia, is another reason many universities are turning to digital signage, and in particular outdoor digital signage. Since the tragic 2007 Virginia Tech massacre when a gunman spent several hours on campus, students, staff and visitors walked on site, without being warned, indicating a need for emergency warnings that could prevent such circumstances unfolding again.

The University of Columbia is one of the latest in a long line of educational establishments to turn to digital signage, and educational institutes are also key users for out of home advertising too, now in the top ten industries implementing out of home advertising.

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