Digital Signage Software

Content Design: Whose opinion matters?

Posted on Tue, November 10, 2009

Everyone has an opinion on content designs.  Some people like lots of windows, some like tickers, some like to incorporate TV, some like a simple full screen message.  It always comes back to the application and environment. 

Having a dozen moving zones at one time for a presentation in a high traffic hallway where you have a 8 second window to get your message out is probably not as effective as a single powerful message.  On the opposite end of the spectrum in an elevator bank or corporate waiting room where you have a 2 minute dwell time more content helps entertain viewers.

The key is to select a software tool that gives you flexibility and to come up with a few different template designs that you can experiment with in your environment to see what works best for your audience and your message.  End of the day the only opinion that maters is yours.

52” LCD Installation at First Bank of Owasso

Posted on Tue, November 24, 2009

The recent installation of a digital sign at First Bank of Owasso in Oklahoma is a perfect example of how retail banking institutions can take full advantage of the latest advances in digital display hardware and software to modernize their image, keep their customers informed, and manage their own messaging from one central location.

To complement the building’s decor, the 52” LCD display was built into a custom tiled wall.  Strategically situated within the Financial Services area of the bank the display serves as a welcoming first impression to visitors as soon as they enter the building. 

The images and data on the displays serve up a mix of live stock market information, breaking headline news, live TV, and special announcements that advertise their products and publicize community events. 

Overview of LCD Video Walls

Posted on Tue, November 24, 2009

Are you interested in learning about LCD Video Walls?  If you have 10 minutes watch this video overview showing different configurations, content options, and client applications for Video Walls.

Custom LED Ticker Installation at Arkansas Tech University

Posted on Wed, November 25, 2009

When students choose Arkansas Tech, they get the best of two worlds: big-time technology and education in a friendly, small-town setting. Because the university believes that exposing students to tomorrow’s technology is the only way to prepare them for the jobs they deserve, Tech has invested in world-class equipment and facilities. 

To bring the latest in technology to the new trading lab opening next semester in the college of business the faculty enlisted the help of Rise Display to design a unique LED Ticker that starts in the hallway, goes through the glass wall, and wraps around the finance lab.

The focal point of the trading room is a large 2x2 LCD Video Wall showing the latest market updates and news information controlled by Display Wire.

Learning is a serious business, my hat goes off to Arkansas Tech for investing in the technology to create this one of a kind atmosphere for their students.

Rise Display Installation:  Metropolitan Community College

Posted on Mon, December 7, 2009

The Maple Woods campus for Metropolitan Community College has expanded their digital signage network of 46” Samsung LCD screens powered by Display Wire.

Administrators rolled out 3 screens before classes started in 2008 and further expanded their network by adding 2 more this fall to effectively communicate lunch specials, campus events, and other administrative announcements.  In addition to campus communications they also mix in current sports scores, weather, and headline news to help make the display interesting and engaging to students and visitors.

Digital Signage in Education: Acuff Financial Markets Center

Posted on Wed, December 16, 2009

On October 2, 2009 the Mason School of Business at William and Mary University officially dedicated the new Alan B. Miller Hall.

The new facility boasts: 166,000 square feet of space, over 500,000 bricks, 1,260 tons of steel, 350 windows and a state-of-the-art electronic trading classroom.  If you would like to learn more about this exciting project I would encourage you to visit their website to see more facts, watch video reactions of students first impressions, and some of the videos from Rex’s unplugged diary as he brought the building out of the ground and into reality.

The Acuff Financial Markets Center is one of the highlights on the tour utilizing the latest in digital signage technology including three 57” LCDs, and two 2x2 LCD video walls all showing the latest market information, graphs, news, and video from around the world.  In addition to the trading lab the school has strategically placed over 20 LCD screens throughout the building to keep students informed of the latest events along with live market data to create a high energy business environment.

Digital Signage from Rise Display Creates ‘Dynamic Ambiance’ at University of Oklahoma

Posted on Wed, January 6, 2010

The University of Oklahoma is known both for sports teams that consistently win national championships, and for its students’ high academic achievements. Indeed, the university’s Price College of Business ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 in undergraduate business schools and in the top 15 in undergraduate business specialties for international business. One way that OU maintains its standards of excellence is to offer the latest technology to its students—most recently, digital signage from Rise Display.

“We were searching around for the best vendor to help us get this [digital signage] up, and that’s where Rise came in,” says Robert Dauffenbach, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs.

The digital signage was to be installed in a new, approximately 1,500 square-foot trading room at the business school. The room seats 32 computer stations, where students study, research, and put presentations together, and Dauffenbach dedicated significant time and energy to determining the best and most appropriate vendor for the project. As part of his research, he learned which other business schools around the country were using digital displays, and even went to visit several campuses in person. The vendor these schools kept referencing was Rise Display.
 
The digital signage installation began during the summer of 2009 and ended just in time for the university’s fall semester to begin. Now the trading room boasts an impressive 36-foot long, eight-color LED Ticker, 2x2 video wall using ultra thin bezels, and two single 46-inch displays. Rise Display Systems remotely handles the content, including financial data streaming, for the monitors. On any given day, students will see stock information on Oklahoma public companies, as well as data on worldwide markets, displayed on the digital signage.

“The scrolling LED ticker display increases the dynamic ambiance of the room,” Dauffenbach says, “Rise was the only [vendor] I found that was able to get that for us.”

Because of the room’s new, professional atmosphere, it is perfect for certain Price College events. Recently, a breakfast meeting was held there for the Price College Board of Advisers, with a special guest in attendance: Jim Kramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money.”  “We had the ticker display going and, of course, all the statistics from various markets around the world displayed,” says Dauffenbach. “It was a nice backdrop for the get-together with Kramer.”

JW Marriott Sports Bar Experience

Posted on Fri, March 19, 2010

The new JW Marriott in San Antonio has a state-of-the-art sports bar with a unique curved viewing wall showing the latest sporting events and games.  Below the viewing wall we installed a serpentine, full color LED Logo Ticker to show off the schedules and scores for current sporting events.

We hope to get better photos of the ticker to share in a later posting, but photos don’t do this area justice.  If you are in the area we encourage you to stop by for a drink to marvel at the technology.

Technologically Advanced The Blake School Moves Toward the Future

Posted on Thu, March 25, 2010

At The Blake School, one of the largest, independent, private schools in the Twin Cities, technology is key. The K-12 school has three campuses throughout the Minneapolis metropolitan area, making technology crucial for staying connected with staff, students, and families. Desiring to further improve internal communications, The Blake School first began looking into digital signage three years ago. “We had been looking at providing more information and digital images to both students and parents,” says Cathy McLane, director of marketing and communications. “It started with a desire to promote our programs but quickly built with every conversation.”

At the time, Ms. McLane says that she envisioned a television or computer monitor. But when she came in contact with Rise Display at a local trade show, she realized how much more digital signage could offer. “When I saw the size, quality, and programmability of the Rise display, I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh—this is something we would like to look at with an eye to the future,’” Ms. McLane recalls.

Several factors contributed to The Blake School opting to move forward with Rise Display. First, and perhaps most important, the vision is for the school to eventually have multiple LCDs across its three campuses: at least three more in the main lobbies and, ideally, several in areas such as the cafeteria and performing arts center. However, Ms. McLane does not have a large staff, so the ability to manage multiple LCDs from one location would be important.

“We looked at several vendors in the Twin Cities,” Ms. McLane says. “Rise was the one and only subscription-based option. We also appreciated the automatic upgrades. Knowing that we could one-stop-shop with Rise was a big plus.”

Last fall, a 46-inch LCD was installed in the newly renovated lobby of The Blake School’s Hopkins campus. The Blake School worked closely with Rise Display’s creative team to customize a template for the digital signage. The result is that the display boasts four content areas: an automatic weather feed; a ticker that scrolls news for and about all grade levels; a calendar displaying events across all three campuses; and a campus-specific news stream.  “The digital display is very welcoming because it’s dynamic,” says Ms. McLane. “Also, we are a school that really embraces technology, and the display reflects that we are a more digital school.”

Ms. McLane is currently the system’s primary programmer. “The content management system is very user-friendly, very easy to manage,” she says. “We had a very positive experience with the Rise creative team, and the training was excellent.”

Though The Blake School has no timeline as yet regarding additional displays, Ms. McLane says, “We’re set up. We know exactly what we need and how to do it. I really think this is a great product for schools,” she adds. “It may not make sense for everybody, but we’re just delighted with it.”

Digital Directory

Posted on Fri, March 26, 2010

Great example of using digital signage for a directory / way-finding within a university. 

In addition to the LCD screen a LED ticker across the top acts as a barber shop pole for the School of Business & Economics to keep students abreast of the latest market activity.

Case Study:  Bentley University

Posted on Thu, April 22, 2010

Customer Overview
Bentley University is one of the nation’s leading business schools, dedicated to preparing a new kind of business leader and one with the deep technical skills, the broad global perspective and the high ethical standards required to make a difference in an ever-changing world. As one of the first business schools in the country to establish a trading room for its students, Bentley University has quite a reputation to maintain. That means (among other things) making sure that the 4,300 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students have fast and reliable access to the information they need to manage their financial portfolios.

The University prides itself on preparing its students “for the new realities of doing business in an information-driven, technology-rich global marketplace” and advertises “firsthand experience with the same high-tech tools that companies use every day.”

Project Summary
Among those high-tech tools are the electronic tickers, video walls and interactive LCD displays that real-world traders depend upon for real-time financial data. According to Richard Gibble, manager of the University’s Hughey Center for Financial Services, turning to digital signage to get that data is a natural choice. “We needed large amounts of varied financial data in real-time, and our previous solution relied on out-of-date LED wallboard technology.” Mr. Gibble is responsible for integrating the trading room into Bentley University’s finance curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also develops and delivers content for the University’s nationally renowned ‘Wall Street 101’ program.

“The Hughey Center for Financial Services is a cornerstone of the Bentley University educational experience,” he explained, “and it is imperative that the Center be fully functional at all times. We can’t risk having inaccurate data— or no data at all — on our display boards. ”

Before the start of the fall 2008 semester the University decided to update their more than 10-year old LED wallboard technology with new state-of-the-art LCD video walls. Each video wall consists of eight 46” LCD displays in a 4×2 configuration and is powered by a computer utilizing two Matrox 4 output video cards to run each display at its native resolution while allowing content to stream from screen to screen.

In addition to upgrading to the video walls, the outdated single-color LED tickers were upgraded to tri-color tickers. The graphic interface ability allows logos to be shown with the stock symbols.

During the spring 2010 semester, the University added two interactive LCD screens for their Corporate Immersion program to recognize their valuable donors and business partners.

The Final Result
“The new LCD video walls get the attention of everyone who passes by the trading room,” said Mr. Gibble. “They display real-time information to our students in a manner that allows them to synthesize news and the effects of the news on various securities and markets, as the events unfold.”

Mr. Gibble says the University is happy with the final result. “We needed a fresh look and more dynamic control of the information presented on our displays. Feedback related to the displays has been very good.”

Digital Signage Case Study: The Blake School

Posted on Tue, April 27, 2010

Customer Overview
The Blake School is a private, college preparatory, coeducational school serving approximately 1,370 students in grades pre-K–12. It is often described as one of the most prestigious prep schools in the Midwest with alumni providing leadership in a number of fields including service, business, medicine, education, entertainment, politics.

The Blake School is spread across three campuses throughout the Minneapolis metropolitan area, making technology a crucial factor for staying connected with staff, students, and families.

Project Summary
Desiring to further improve internal communications, The school first began looking into digital signage in 2006.

“We had been looking at methods to provide more information to both students and parents on campus,” says Cathy McLane, director of marketing and communications. “It started with a desire to promote our programs but quickly built with every conversation.”
At the time, Ms. McLane says that she envisioned a television or computer monitor. But when she came in contact with Rise Display at a local trade show, she realized how much more digital signage could offer.

“When I saw the size, quality and programmability of digital signage, I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh — this is something we would like to look at with an eye to the future,’” Ms. McLane recalls.

The Rise Solution
Several factors contributed to The Blake School opting to move forward with Rise Display. Most importantly was the vision for the school to eventually have multiple LCDs across all three campuses including at least three displays in the main lobbies and, ideally, several in areas such as the cafeteria and performing arts center. Without a large staff, the ability to manage multiple LCDs from one location would be important.

“We looked at several vendors in the Twin Cities,” Ms. McLane says. “Rise was the one and only subscription-based option. We also appreciated the automatic upgrades. Knowing that we could one-stop-shop with Rise was a big plus.”

The school worked closely with Rise Display’s creative team to customize the digital signage. The final display boasts four content areas: an automatic weather feed, a ticker that scrolls news for and about all grade levels, a calendar displaying campus-specific events, and a campus-specific news stream.

The Final Result
In the fall of 2009, a 46-inch Samsung LCD was installed in the newly renovated lobby of The Blake School’s Hopkins campus.

“The digital display is very welcoming because it’s dynamic,” says Ms. McLane. “Also, we are a school that really embraces technology, and the digital display better reflects this than a traditional monitor would have.”

Ms. McLane is currently the system’s primary programmer. “The content management system is very user-friendly, very easy to manage,” she says. “We had a very positive experience with the Rise creative team, and the training was excellent.”

Though The Blake School has no timeline as yet regarding additional displays, Ms. McLane says, “We’re set up. We know exactly what we need and how to do it. I really think this is a great product for schools,” she adds. “It may not make sense for everybody, but we’re just delighted with it.”

U of Texas Austin upgrades LED Ticker Display

Posted on Thu, April 29, 2010

Customer Overview
The University of Texas at Austin, the largest institution of The University of Texas System, is a major research university home to more than 50,000 students, 2,900 faculty and 21,000 staff members.

Derek Fisher, assistant director of the EDS Financial Trading and Technology Center at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, knows all about innovation.

“The Trading Center was the first of its kind in the country,” Mr. Fisher says. “It has been a model for other institutions. We do tours all the time for other schools that have since implemented similar programs.”

The Center is divided between a fund room and classroom/lab. The fund room is used exclusively by the MBA students who are selected each year as fund managers. These students manage a mulit-million dollar privately held fund, seeded with investments from UT alumni and others.

The classroom/lab seats approximately 40 people and is a fully equipped media room. The space features all high-definition displays, video conferencing for distance learning, 40 computer stations equipped with finance applications, and four Bloomberg stations. The room offers a state-of-the-art space primarily for undergraduate finance classes. When class is not in session, the room operates as a lab for finance students utilize the Center’s resources for research assignments.

Naturally, the Center also utilizes digital signage. A ticker is strategically placed outside the fund room, where it serves as a focal point in the business school, and an LED wallboard is used in the classroom/lab.

Project Summary
In January 2010, University of Texas staff approached Rise Display about upgrading their software packages for both the ticker and LED wallboard.

“It came down to an expense issue,” says Mr. Fisher. “We found out about Rise, who offered both the data and the software at a much more economical price.”

According to Fisher, the software also had additional functions that made it very enticing for UT to make the change. Among those was the ability to incorporate news headlines into the ticker, to display corporate logos on the ticker, and include rotating information on the LED wallboard.

The Final Result
Fisher says he is satisfied with the software functionality. “I can display one set of information on the board for 20 to 30 seconds and then it will rotate and display another set of financial information for another 20 to 30 seconds,” explains Fisher. “I think the display draws people’s attention because it’s not just static information. It’s always changing. A lot of our professors really like teaching in there because . . . they will refer to the information up on the board. With our previous software, I was limited to what I could fit on the screen at one time.”

Of the software’s usability, Fisher says, “The software has certainly been easy for me to maintain. It pretty much runs itself.” He adds, “I’ve been very pleased so far with Rise’s customer service. They’ve been very responsive. They’ve also been proactive in contacting me to make sure we’re satisfied and that things are operating smoothly. It’s been a very positive experience.”

U of Toronto Mississauga’s Financial Learning Centre Offers Cutting Edge Displays

Posted on Tue, May 4, 2010

Customer Overview
Established in 1967, the University of Toronto Mississauga provides undergraduate and graduate studies and is the second largest division of the University of Toronto, Canada’s largest university. The university is set upon a park-like campus on the Credit River, approximately 33 kilometers west of Downtown Toronto.

The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre, UTM’s library, is a central place for the students to meet and study. Tucked inside this library is the Li Koon Chun Finance Learning Centre, a new, state-of-the-art facility. Programming is provided on a variety of topics related to the stock markets and financial literacy for students, faculty, and staff of UTM. The Centre offers 32 computer stations and four Bloomberg terminals for student use and training purposes. In addition, the Centre is used as a unique classroom for students in the department of management.

Project Summary
“There are a couple of finance courses and an international business course held in the Centre,” explains Michael Meth, the Centre’s director. “The management program is one of our biggest supporters, but because of our location in the library, we reach a lot of people on our campus.”
Because of this reach, it was important to the University that the Centre offered cutting-edge communication solutions. That’s where Rise Display comes in.

“The service level, the pricing, and the fact that our needs were met were the factors in choosing Rise,” says Mr. Meth. “We were told that we were Canada’s first eight-color stock ticker. That was a neat thing that Rise got to innovate with us.”

The Rise Solution
The University of Toronto Mississauga had already selected an AV integration partner to provide the Sharp LCD screens for the room, and asked Rise to help define the rest of the digital signage solution along with the ticker. Rise worked closely with IT to build a media player that would support running a 2×1 video wall plus a separate single LCD screen from a server room nearly 1000 feet away. After the media player, video distribution system and LED ticker hardware components were defined, the creative staff went to work designing the content to give a broad overview of the markets worldwide.

The Final Result
The LED ticker, and all three LCDs, were installed and running for the Fall 2008 ribbon-cutting to greet the room’s donor and the media. A wall of windows lets library patrons see the technology from all angles. “The digital signage lets us push through market news, North American Exchange stock quotes and index data, and a live video feed from the Business News Network,” Mr. Meth says.

Mr. Meth has also found an effective way of utilizing the ticker at night, when the stock market is closed but the library is still open.

“We keep the closing prices running, but we also start running sports scores,” he says.

“I think people are pretty impressed by the digital signage,” says Mr. Meth. “People will often stand by the window and watch what’s going on the ticker and displays. Overall, they’ve been very favorably received.”

Ben Franklin TechVentures uses Digital Signage to Facilitate Communications

Posted on Tue, May 18, 2010

Customer Overview
The award-winning Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BTFP) is one of the nation’s longest-running technology-based economic development programs. For more than 25 years, BFTP has provided both early-stage and established companies with funding, business and technical expertise and access to a network of innovative, expert resources. BFTP is positioned throughout the state with regional headquarters in the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and State College.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania recognizes the extended benefits of digital signage. At its TechVentures facility in Bethlehem, BFTP has installed a network of sixteen 46” LCD displays throughout the building, with the specific goal of using them to support the center’s role as an incubator community for early-stage technology companies.

Project Summary
The incubator network is an important element in BFTP’s strategy for developing its technology infrastructure.

“Our original business incubator, a one-story building on Lehigh University’s campus, was filled to capacity and we needed to grow,” explained Laura Eppler, BFTP’s director of marketing. “A vacant three-story building across the street on Lehigh’s campus became available, so we renovated and updated it completely and relocated. We didn’t want to lose the camaraderie and sharing of experiences that helped so many firms in the earlier incubator, and we were concerned about that since our new facility is multi-story. We needed a method to encourage a sharing of ideas and synergy among the resident companies in the business incubator. We used digital signage to address that challenge.”

The Solution
BFTP worked with Rise to create a network of digital bulletin boards that are interspersed throughout the facility, including a 2×2 video wall in the front lobby and 12 LCD displays placed in other common areas. All locations were strategically chosen “to facilitate interaction among resident companies, to keep them informed of business news throughout the day, and to provide information to visitors of the facility,” said Ms. Eppler.

Appearances were also important. “The displays present a high-tech image to visitors and resident companies that reflects on the entire facility.” Calling their display network “the best solution to our communication development and brand-building goals,” Ms. Eppler said that digital signage can indeed help to foster community in a large facility. “News travels both electronically and via word-of-mouth. With our displays, we have been able to maintain the synergy that is such an important element in a business incubator.”

The Final Result
As for helping to contribute to their high-tech brand, Ms. Eppler confirmed that the signs at Ben Franklin TechVentures are not only informative, but also impressive. “Both resident companies and visitors have raved about the ingenuity of the solution.” Overall, she said that BFTP is very happy with its sign network at TechVentures.

“Our role is to link companies with experts, universities, funding and other resources to help them prosper through innovation. Communication is key to accomplishing that. The digital displays have helped us facilitate communication and collaboration at Ben Franklin TechVentures.”

State-of-the-art digital displays greet visitors to Robert A Dempster Hall

Posted on Thu, May 20, 2010

Customer Overview
Located just minutes from the Mississippi River, Southeast Missouri State University is a comprehensive university, with more than 10,800 students and 200 different areas of study. Southeast has some of the newest and most up- to-date facilities in the Midwest. Among them is Robert A. Dempster Hall, home of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business, featuring state-of-the-art computer labs, seminar rooms, two fully mediated business policy classrooms and a 400-seat auditorium.

Project Summary
In 2005, the Harrison College of Business decided to improve its communication methods and increase its profile within the building. Rise Display representatives met with Dean McDougall and toured the school with him to gain a better understanding of the school’s layout and goals.

“I was looking for something that would enhance communication in the Harrison College of Business, present a very professional image and make a statement about the high qualities of the college and its undergraduate and graduate programs,” said Dean Gerald S. McDougall. “I also wanted something that was consistent with the state-of- the-art Robert A. Dempster Hall.”

To meet these goals, two state-of-the-art digital displays now greet visitors near the front entrance of the Robert A. Dempster Hall. An LED ticker showing stock quotes is mounted directly above the main elevator banks just inside the front entrance of the building, and an LCD screen displaying news and announcements is built into the wall just a little distance away from the entrance, in another high traffic area.

“Installing this type of equipment not only helps us communicate with our students and the public, but it also makes a statement and brands the college,” Dean McDougall explains.

Five years later Dean McDougall says that the LCD and ticker continue to “get very positive reactions and comments from visitors.” However, it was time for an upgrade: a switch to Rise’s web controller for the LED ticker. The web controller allows staff to easily upload information from any computer with Internet access. This means that Dean McDougall’s two administrative assistants, who manage the content, no longer need to be on-site to perform the task — a crucial benefit.

There are the stock quotes — including the holdings in the $600,000 student-managed investment portfolio — as well as the special messages that advise students of event dates, greet guests and thank donors. Part of the appeal of displaying this information is the immediacy, which makes the ability to upload via the web invaluable.

“It’s just a very effective way of saying you are coming into a very high quality business program when you come into Dempster Hall,” Dean McDougall says.

The Final Result
Overall, Dean McDougall stated, “we are very pleased with the Rise solution. Rise was particularly attractive because of the comprehensive nature of their solution to our communications question. They also were very professional in initial discussions. I believe that these displays will improve our communications and enhance our public relations.”

He also looks to the future and sees new potential for electronic display communication. “I understand that the technology is changing on what seems to be a daily basis, and that Rise is committed to improving the services available through its solutions. I look forward to the advances and to benefiting from them.”

Villanova effectively disseminates information using digital signage

Posted on Tue, May 25, 2010

Customer Overview
Founded in 1842, Villanova University is a coeducational Roman Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths. Villanova University is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with more than 6,300 undergraduates enrolled in a wide variety of degree programs. For more than a decade, Villanova University has been ranked #1 by US News and World Report in the Best Universities-Master’s category in the northern region.

With a reputation for high-tech leadership that earned it PC Magazine and Princeton Review’s recognition one of the top 20 “Most Wired Colleges in the Nation,” Villanova University was an early adopter of digital signage, having installed its first LCD display in the business school’s applied finance lab several years ago.

Project Summary
Now, as more and more schools are equipping their own trading labs with digital signage, Villanova is busy creating a networked, campus-wide information system. With 17 large screens already installed on campus, and approximately another 35 planned, Villanova’s digital signage network is expanding rapidly, a testament to its popularity on campus.

“We wanted to introduce a better method for disseminating information throughout the University,” explained Michael Hoffberg, Villanova’s associate director of media technologies. “We were looking for an elegant and affordable way to convey up-to-date information — events, special activities, schedules, emergency notifications and so on — to students, staff and faculty in an attractive, timely, and eye-catching manner.”

The Final Result
Rise’s Display Wire gives University administrators complete control over the composition and timing of all content. Distributing information via digital signage enables the University to limit paper postings and is intended to cut down on the volume of emails sent to the Villanova community. In addition to displaying information about campus events, schedules, and emergency notifications, Villanova also sells advertising to local merchants that accept the school’s Wildcard debit card.

All members of the Villanova community use the Wildcard identification card to enter and check out books from the library and use campus resources such as vending machines, dorm laundry facilities and the bookstore. The Wildcard can also be used as a debit card that is accepted at a growing number of off-campus vendors including retail stores, restaurants, and fast-food chains. The Wildcard office is now selling advertising to local merchants that accept the Wildcard.’

“In each of the buildings that we’ve equipped with Rise engines and software, our clients now have a method for displaying important, current information critical to the students, faculty and/or staff,” said Mr. Hoffberg. “Based upon their feedback, this method of distributing information via digital signage far exceeds previous use of paper postings. It has also cut down on the barrage of emails that’s sent each day to the Villanova community.

“The big ‘payoff’,” he continued, “is the effective dissemination of information. It’s an effective, low- maintenance system that did not impact heavily on our limited staffing resources. Many of the current signage users have expressed interest in adding more monitors to their systems.”

LED Ticker and LCD Display Become Part of Student Experience

Posted on Thu, May 27, 2010

Customer Overview
Located only 14 miles from Midtown Manhattan, Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business is the perfect place for students working toward careers in finance and investment. The Stillman School was recently ranked #56 in BusinessWeek’s annual list of the best undergraduate business programs in the nation, and was New Jersey’s highest-ranked school on the list. The Stillman School was also recently reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which has commended the School on its unique assessment process for undergraduate students.

Project Summary
Until 2003, the Stillman School had no dedicated trading center and lab. Elven Riley, a professor at Stillman, designed and built the securities trading and analysis center to “attract undergraduates to the program and give them more exposure to what it meant to practice as well as learn about finance,” says Professor Riley. He adds, “The lab has softened the gap between the corporate securities executives who visit as guest speakers and higher education researchers or educators. That’s all for the betterment of the students.”

Designed to emulate trading rooms found on Wall Street, the Center holds twelve four-foot trading stations — each powered with Telemet financial investment software — and two dual-headed Bloomberg stations. In keeping with this design goal, it was also important to incorporate digital displays into the lab. “We wanted a classic look,he pizzazz of what a trading room actually looks like,” says Professor Riley. “We also needed to include all the distractions, both visual and audio, that a real trading room would subject you to.”

The Rise Solution
The Rise Display team set up a framework enabling students to modify mixed media content on both an LCD and a streaming multi-color ticker.

“Rise Display offered a solution set that was flexible and maintainable,” says Professor Riley.

“Maintainable is very key to us, as [digital displays] in trading rooms get a lot of wear and tear; ours certainly do with the students, and the ability to maintain and keep them running over years is something that we were very careful to evaluate.”

Final Result
Rise Display maintains a feed for mixed media on the lab’s LCD. At any given time, the display features one of several news channels, business school upcoming events, treasury yields, equity volatility, and more. Meanwhile, the streaming ticker keeps students informed and educated with real-time market prices. “Now we have meetings, events and Wall Street guest speakers in the lab. It has become part of the students’ experience.”

Digital Signage Replaces Bulletin Boards and Flyers

Posted on Tue, June 1, 2010

Customer Overview
Metropolitan Community College — Maple Woods is the most northern campus within the community college district of Kansas City, Missouri and serves about 5,000 students in this location. Students are typically from the Park Hill, North Kansas City and Liberty school districts. They usually attend the institution to earn an associates degree before transferring to a four-year institution.

The rural campus is one of five related campuses within the Kansas City, Missouri area. Students usually earn an Associates in Arts degree, but many also focus on business, teaching, criminal justice, computer science, or engineering. The college also offers one of the best vocational programs in the state for becoming a veterinarian technician.

Project Summary
Maple Woods’ challenge was to determine a way to improve upon communications with its students, who primarily commute to campus on a daily basis. “It’s real difficult to capture our students and communicate with them,” said Associate Dean Brian Bechtel. Mr. Bechtel noted that students may come to campus for one or two classes and then quickly leave. The school’s window of opportunity to communicate with students is very small. “We do have a student services center, but it’s not always heavily used,” he said. “We are constantly trying to find ways to communicate to students walking through the halls on campus.”

Prior to installing the Rise Display system, various bulletin boards were used throughout different buildings on campus. Student organizations and groups would post their flyers on the boards — and also all over the walls, front doors of the building or wherever else they could find a spot. Mr. Bechtel said that administrators knew they needed a “flashy-type of communication” where they could post information and take it down in a controlled environment.

The Rise Solution
A team from Rise Display identified where the two 46” LCD monitors should be located on campus and worked with the school’s administrators to select the best location within each building. The system is updated and kept current by one gatekeeper, and that information can be controlled based on date, timing and relativity. Student groups now electronically submit a flyer to the system administrator. Posted information includes events, athletic schedules, upcoming book reviews and discussions in the library, financial aid deadlines, names of the school’s honor students, and even a new book buy-back program. Two more monitors were added last fall and another two are ready for installation.

The Final Result
The Rise system now allows Maple Woods to communicate more efficiently and effectively with its transient student population. Mr. Bechtel said the monitors now get as much information as possible to the students, right down to the daily cafeteria menu. “If we can show it to those commuters, hopefully they’ll stay on campus that day,” he said.

“Our goal is to have one in every building and hopefully have multiples in each building at entrances,” said Mr. Bechtel. “Rise stepped up to the plate. They were always here to help us out. They kept coming back and asking us if we needed help, and they still do — and that’s what we expected. We are happy with it and will continue to grow and add more monitors in buildings.”

Simplicity is The Main Requirement for The Juilliard School

Posted on Tue, June 15, 2010

Customer Overview
Business schools aren’t the only educational institutions that are turning to digital signage to help them get their messages out. For example, New York City’s famous Juilliard School, the country’s pre-eminent performing arts academy, recently updated their campus communication strategy by installing large LCD screens in the central lobby of their main campus at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

A private performing liberal arts college, The Juilliard School has roughly 1,900 students in its college, pre- college, music advancement and evening divisions.

Project Summary
According to Tunde Giwa, the school’s chief technology officer, the decision to add digital signage to Juilliard’s main lobby came about as part of their Juilliard/Lincoln Center Redevelopment Project, an ambitious undertaking begun in 2007 that involves major renovations to more than 50,000 square feet of existing campus space, and adds an additional 39,200 square feet of new theatres, studios, classrooms, practice rooms and specialty spaces to the arts school’s expanding downtown premises.

“We wanted to add digital signage to our lobby as part of our redevelopment project,” Mr. Giwa explained. “We needed this to communicate to our internal and on-campus audiences about events, along with news and weather.”

After first trying a consultant’s recommendation, which called for a digital signage setup that Mr. Giwa characterized as “a very complex system,” the school sought out and contracted the services of Rise Display, mostly because they found Rise’s recommendations and software to be much easier to understand and use.

The Rise Solution
“This was our first foray into digital signage,” explained Mr. Giwa. “The system that a first consultant designed for us would have required a lot of people to have learnt a very complex software product, to allow us to design and schedule our digital signs. We did try to learn how to use it, but it was much too complicated.”

Simplicity then became one of the main requirements in their search for a better digital signage control system: “It had to be easy to use, and attractive.” Rise’s combination of high-end display hardware and web-based sign content management software — called Display Wire — fit the bill. In contrast to their confusion with the first consultant’s system, Mr. Giwa said, their experience with the Rise solution was much more rewarding. “Rise’s software was much easier to implement, and much easier to use. It’s a quality product.”

The Final Result
The performing arts school’s new digital signs opened to rave reviews on campus. “In general everyone likes the Rise system,” continued Mr. Giwa. “Users comment on how easy it is to use and members of the community seem to really like it. We’re very happy with it. Very satisfied.”