Get on board with
digital signage " iFIDS hosts over 500 digital signage displays throughout North America and the Caribbean.” Dedicated displays for gates, podiums, check-ins, baggage areas, and wayfinding in particular have been rising in popularity.
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rom retailers and restaurants to lobbies and waiting rooms, digital signage is used by businesses and organizations everywhere with increasing frequency. Tyler Reid, head of
marketing at iFIDS, gives some insight into how the company has been helping implement effective digital signage in airport settings. There was a time when digital signage required expensive and proprietary display technologies maintained by expert staff. Mature cloud-hosted solutions for content management, in combination with increasingly capable and affordable hardware have changed the situation. Today, digital signage setup can be as easy as hanging a screen at any location with Internet access and attaching a mini-PC. Digital future As the technology permeates more workplaces, there is an increasing consciousness of the benefits that it brings, such as economizing staff time, conveying information 24/7, customization and impression advantages vis-à-vis static displays, as well as increased engagement and brand awareness. Although conveying up-to-date flight information remains the predominant use for digital signage in airports, other applications are becoming ever more common. Included amongst these are advertising to drive ancillary revenue, promotions that increase brand awareness and airport initiatives, infotainment, visual paging, and back-end screens for dedicated use by operational users. The customization potential inherent in digital displays allows assortments of content to be hosted at a single location as well. Hands-on experience The number of displays hosted by iFIDS has been steadily trending upwards in recent years. Though first-time clients account for some of this growth, the addition of new screens by existing customers has been the main driving force behind the higher numbers.
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Alberta Airports Management Association • 2020
The increased role of digital signage can allow for multi-functional, context-sensitive screens. One example might be a check-in or gate screen that defaults to standard flight display when not in use, while co-locating a playlist of banner ads and a visual paging footer. Accurate and timely flight information integrated from multiple real-time and scheduled sources is obviously one key to successfully building such a display. Also important are easy-to-use interfaces for manual operations such as late-stage gate reassignment. iFIDS allows management of all displays from any computer or mobile device with flight editors, graphical utilities for gate or asset management, check-in logo selectors, and interfaces for building advertising playlists. Check out the gate displays Small changes can yield significant improvements. One example is the deployment of the four gate screens at Prince George International Airport. Prior to their introduction several years ago, passengers for multiple departures congregated in one big area during busy times of day, leading to confusion, additional workload, and potential delay. With the installation of carefully designed screens showing gate assignment and order of flights, passenger guesswork is removed, boarding proceeds more smoothly, and perceived wait time is reduced. According to Lindsay Cotter, manager of marketing and communications at the airport, the signs are "a welcome addition to our boarding lounge. Upon installation, they automatically added a fresh, clean, updated look to the space and have proven to be integral to customer service and passenger direction.” Signage flying high As the underlying technology becomes more accessible and passenger expectations continue to rise, the demand for digital signage will only increase. Larger, customizable, and more numerous digital displays will continue to improve the travel experience and enrich wait time at airports for the foreseeable future. For more information, visit www.ifids.com.
