The channel was just forced on us

Is this a familiar sight?

While I've been going round and doing channel audits for one of the largest retailers in the country, I noticed an interesting trend with employee TV screens. The communications team said that the channel was "forced" on them by one of the senior people in the business. 

I don't need to bang on about the issue about adding channels without clear objectives but it was fascinating to see how it filtered down to the front line. The communications team didn't really want (or probably need) the channel so the effect of it hasn't been all that good. 

The content was well produced, looked polished and it seemed that it was relevant for branch employees. But...here is what I uncovered during my channel audit:

• The communications team didn't want the channel so it's not looked at as a serious means of getting messaging to front line staff
• Many of the TVs were switched off or had the volume down because they were in lunch areas or people were tired of hearing the same messages again and again
• The messages were too long - one was about 10 minutes in length, digital signage is good for bite sized messaging and at-a-glance content
• Staff such as drivers who are not desk based wanted to see weather, traffic and information related to their day-to-day jobs rather than the usual corporate messaging
• The built in interactivity was too hard to use (a numerical keypad to navigate content)

LCD screens are definitely an auxiliary means of getting messages across. It's certainly good to augment campaigns sent across more "serious" communications channels and can be powerful when you get it right. 

It goes without saying that if you apply the comms basics as you would with any other method of communication, digital signage will be much more effective.

There are also hundreds of vendors out there but I've not seen many who tick the right "comms" boxes. I'd love to hear about digital signage disasters but also success stories, write to me at ray.edun@gmail.com or post a comment. 

Communicating with a mobile audience - Case study: Metroline Buses

The Client

A dynamic and ambitious transport company, Metroline is proudly serving London, one of the world’s busiest cities. Their principal business is the provision of bus services under contract to London Buses, operating through an area that extends from North to West London, including Central London and the City.

Every day Metroline strive to meet their passengers’ expectations, be it through good customer service, a clean and presentable vehicle or simply getting their customers to their destinations on time.

The Challenge

Metroline employees are constantly on the move, driving from depot to depot. This makes communication a real challenge. Irregular shift patterns and 24 hour a day staffing can make it difficult to communicate important legislation and safety announcements.

Metroline require a way of communicating with drivers when they arrive for their shift or whilst they stop for a break.

The Solution

Sabercom worked closely with Metroline to specify and provide an 11 site corporate digital signage system for communicating across all bus depots.

Placing screens in the reception and break out area of each depot allows for important messages to be read by each of the drivers.

Communication managers can broadcast important safety messages and update drivers on new legislation. A mix of travel and weather news means that drivers are constantly informed of any hazards that may occur during their shift.

Sabercom users at the individual depots can also control the content of their locations screen, this ensures that information is local and relevant.

The Sabercom system has proven to be one of the most important communication channels for Metroline. Sabercom's on-going relationship ensures that the solution is constantly evolving to meet their requirements.

Imagine using touch screen digital signage for employee communication?

"Scandinavian carmaker Volvo drove down the digital out-of-home route for a campaign to help launch its new Volvo V40 earlier this year.

The campaign included interactive digital signage screens that allowed consumers to personalize their own V40 model and then see their creations showcased on screens at rail stations across the U.K." Full article.

Volvo touch screen digital signage at a bus stop

There have been consumer facing screens in one form another for as long as I can remember. It's now getting a lot more interesting.  

What's compelling here is not only the interactivity but the fact that your own creation will be shown elsewhere as part of a multi-channel campaign. 

We've had quite a few clients ask us about touch screen digital signage and yes, it is easy to do in terms of the technology but what is not so straightforward is the content. 

The Volvo campaign is clever because it's in front of a captive audience who has time on their hands (until the next bus anyway), the consumer is creating something that others will see and it's new and different compared to what their competitors are doing. What a great idea.

So, my question is, why aren't we as creative internally with digital signage and large screen communications? People have shorter attention spans, crave interactivity and consume content quicker than ever before. 

We should make use of this desire for new technology while it's still novel. Digital signage is a great channel away from the desk - it reaches employees when they are in a different frame of mind. Used correctly, digital signage can really stand out and get attention.

If you want to know more about adding touch screen functionality contact me for more details.

Jumping in and using channels without thinking about the business results

How, when, where and with whom to use large screen communications?

I've had the pleasure of working with (and being trained by) one of the best internal communication trainers in the business so wanted to get her expert take on digital signage. Information below is also taken from conversations with internal communication professionals around their use of the channel.

My question: How effective is the channel? Our internal communications trainer said:

"It would be interesting to look at the impact – you’ll remember that my big bug bear is that people jump straight to channels because they like the look of them, without thinking about the business results they aim to achieve, or what they might be particularly good for. So from a study, I would be interested in recommendations not simply about ‘why plasma screens etc. are a good thing’, but actually about how, when, where and with whom people can use them most effectively to support business results. Keep me posted with what you do on this one – I’d be interested to hear."

Following on from that, here's what internal communicators weighed in with when asked how they use their large screen communication channel.

How/what?

Content has to be spot on, especially the visuals, local content mixed with cross regional messages, promotional messages/adverts for visitors, operational messages, corporate content, as part of the bigger comms mix, showing commercials to staff, at-a-glance communications channel which reinforces comms messages and triggers a follow up action, business unit announcements, town halls...

When?

Alerting employees to an event, when bite sized messaging is needed, for IT security campaigns, health and safety messages, when people are not doing much else (e.g. waiting or on lunch), highlighting external campaigns before they hit the market...

Where?

Coffee bar, restaurant/canteen, reception, lifts (inside and outside), best screens are sited in sign-in, rest areas (where staff are likely to linger and catch more of the information), factories, contact centres...

Whom?

Company visitors (reception screen), employees in rest areas, manufacturing/factory staff, employees who can't access electronic channels during work times, e.g. contact centres agents...

Digital signage is a versatile channel that can really stand out and get attention when it's used correctly. Maybe it's time for that channel audit...

If you would like to have a working digital signage system at no cost before committing across your business the visit free digital signage.

I've got a screen visible to thousands, what should I display?

Why, the Windows XP screen saver of course! 

Wasting an expensive communications channel

It still surprises me that we invest thousands in large screens and the required infrastructure and choose not to put in the effort to keep the system up-to-date.

However, it's so easy to just put the system in and then neglect it. The key is to automate as much content as you possibly can from other channels like your intranet, web site, social platforms and other community sites. 

You can schedule content from systems that get updated on a regular basis, put in news feeds and even connect to HR data so you can say Happy Birthday to Jane in accounting without having to remember. 

I've purposefully get this blog informational and not promotional but I have to say one thing - we've made Sabercom with the ability to easily connect to any of your internal systems like SharePoint, Excel, intranet news and almost anything you can think of. This helps businesses stay on top of content so it's always fresh.

I'm interested in seeing any photos of digital signage that would be used more effectively, please email, tweet, Pinterest, Instagram your shots of digital signage gone wrong when you see them.

Free digital signage for internal communicators

For a limited time we're actually giving away our comms software to 10 lucky people.

Communicating with students and staff at a London college

Reception area of a manufacturing company

Communicating to agents 

Click here to apply and fill out the contact form

www.sabercom.co.uk

Big screen set to keep Sevenoaks 'punching above weight'

Sabercom is located in Tonbridge, West Kent so we were pleased to help when a National Trust property wanted digital signage in historic Knole House.

Sabercom usually operates in the internal communication space but digital signage did start with retail in mind so we do install customer facing screens from time-to-time.

After all, it's all communications whether your audience are comprised of students, the general public or employees. 

I don't know what happened, I just fell into comms

Sound familiar? On the "People you may know" LinkedIn page, I noticed my cousin has landed an internal communication job. I asked how he decided to go into IC and here's what he said: 

"During Uni everyone was telling me how difficult it was for Graduates to get a job. Determined to prove everyone wrong I decided to look for a job in my second year.

Unfortunately, everyone was right, it was hard to find a job especially when I hadn't finished my degree yet. 

Eventually, I got an offer for an internal communications role as an assistant to the team. My skills in lots of different medias like web, video, editing, photography got me the job part time which was perfect because I was still at Uni.

After Uni they offered me a full time role and the chance to start their first in-house video production team. Being in internal communications I've found myself doing all sorts now including internal marketing email campaigns, intranet and Internet design and development and of course video production...."

"...It is true how so many people fall into IC. In our team I don't think anyone thought they'd be doing this. My old boss used to go to Graduation shows too and had very little interest apparently."

So my question is this, why does the internal communication function have such a hard time attracting people to the role? 

Weather proof digital signage in action...

...or not

The sun is out so don't bother trying to read meI recently went to Howlett's zoo and wild animal park, since I always keep my eyes peeled for digital signage installations, I was  surprised to find the screen to the left. 

Someone has gone to the trouble of building a very aesthetically pleasing enclosure in keeping with the rest of the park design. It's well finished, will age to match the fence behind it and looks water and tamper proof. 

All great with one exception - the screen the vendor has supplied a display that isn't viewable in strong sunlight or even shade when the sun is out.

This happens often, the business case and investment is made for large displays which can run into thousands when you factor in the installation and set-up.

The solution to the zoo's unreadable screen is easily solvable - either use an outdoor screen or bonded glass on the enclosure to allow the content to be viewable in bright conditions.

When you're installing digital signage here are some top tips to get the most out of your investment:

1. Set clear communication objectives for the screens in terms of what information you need to relay to your audience
2. Put the screens in locations with high traffic or captive audiences (lifts, lift "lobbies", cafes, rest areas hallways and open plan offices)
3. Update content regularly so interest stays high
4. Automate what you can from already authored content from intranets, web sites, RSS feeds,  videos, internal corporate information and other sources
5. Create for at-a-glance viewing using video, imagery and short sharp messages - reference other information sources if you need to communicate more

And, finally, make sure your screen is readable. 

Error, page cannot be displayed

What does this communicate to your audience?

What a beautiful display and background image, shame about the error

I can't count the number of times when I visit a company or business and their expensive large screen has an error message smack in the middle of the display. I happened to see this one when I was on holiday in Lyon, France. 

The signage market is a challenging one - there are hundreds or more likely thousands of providers with different pieces of software, proprietary hardware and even companies reselling someone else's product. 

A large number of people simply use a PC connected to a LCD TV and update this manually using PowerPoint or similar software. So, someone has gone to the trouble of building a business case, securing budget for the procurement of expensive screens and even more expensive installation labour only to stop short on the software. 

The key for this channel to be successful is the regular flow of engaging messages to the screen. As an internal communicator you're already authoring lots of content elsewhere (on intranets, blogs, wikis, video platforms and others) Why not push some of the relevant content automatically to your internal TV, digital signage, corporate TV channels?

Many businesses don't look at this channel in isolation - they use it to augment other comms campaigns. For example, if you have a video on the intranet that's a must see, put a teaser up and tell people where they can view the whole video. During special events like the recent Olympics people displayed medal tables or popular events alongside key communications messages - the more engaging the peripheral content the more likely your messages are going to get read. Did you know that if the local weather is on a screen 80% of  people will look at it?

There are many ways to use the channel to augment other campaigns so have a think about engaging people with short, succinct messages designed for at-a-glance viewing. Posting a full news story isn't the way to go on large displays because people either won't or can't read the whole thing quickly. 

More importantly, make sure you're using a platform that's reliable, easy to use and can handle feeds from other business systems (intranet, CRM, company web sites). This way you can keep content up-to-date with the minimum of effort and avoid "double authoring".

I have LCD screens, now what?

Installing LCD screens at reception, the cafe and areas with high employee traffic is easy, the challenge is keeping content fresh.

 

Reception screen showing news only

How many times have you been to visit a company and seen a large screen with only a news channel displaying?

There's nothing wrong with that in theory but why is it there and who is it for?

If you're an employee in a medium to large company, you will most likely have large screens dotted around. 

What's playing on them? TV? Are they off? Or is there content on there that makes you stop and look?

We've spoken to dozens of communicators about large screen communications and discovered a recurring challenge - It's difficult to keep content up-to-date with enough frequency to keep it interesting.

A senior communicator at a large insurance company had this to say: 

"We have screens in four regions and all content is owned by communications. We update colleagues on corporate news, highlight intranet stories with short titles and one succinct sentence which leads to more information elsewhere.  Recently, we've been showing the Paralympic games as well as short clips from full length videos that live on the intranet. 

The main challenge is that communications can't directly upload content on the screens, we pass all changes to IT. Also, we can either show full screen video or PowerPoint only, not a mix of content."

The companies who are demonstrating best practice have systems that are very easy to update, have automatic links to the intranet and/or business data and can schedule content for various times of day for segmented audiences. 

Reception screen displaying blended content

It isn't hard to get the balance right with communications that go across large screens, think of it in the same as any other comms channel, if you have a proper strategy it will be so much more effective.

We'd really like to hear how you are using screens for employee or visitor communication and how effective and important the channel is.


You can contact Ray Edun to discuss more about the channel. 

Using images on the Intranet - is it important?

A recent poster on the IoIC (institute of Internal Communication) LinkedIn group asked "Have you a view on how much emphasis an organisation's intranet should place on pictures and images?"

As the old cliché says "a picture is worth a thousand words". So how much should you put up on your Intranet? 

Quite a few people weighed in with comments including:

"...images are really important, we've started using slightly abstract images along with a vague/catchy headline..."

"...Pictures work harder and quicker than words. They always have. They always will."

"As a former journalist, I think that some people in internal comms don't really 'get' the importance of photos. In an ideal world, every IC department would have its own photography budget - and encourage its people to submit their own photos as well."

The bottom line is that people love to see images, video and artwork, it makes content more engaging. Another good way to pull people to the intranet is to use large LCD, plasma or TV screens to display attention grabbing video or imagery. 

Some of our clients even pull content form the Intranet to large screens. The thing is most companies have a network of screens dotted around their buildings - why not make better use of them?

If you'd like to know more about communicating across large screens (and even desktop screensavers), head over to the Sabercom website. 

My cousin asked what our company does and I said...

A family member asks what you do for a living and there's an awkward silence as your mind races to find the right words to describe your job and get the message across. I think we've all been there.

I used to work for Porsche in Toronto and when someone asked what I did it was easy to answer - I sell cars (dramatic pause) Porsches. You can imagine how the conversation went from there, did they give you one? Did you get to take them home? It's always stimulated conversation and could be explained in 3 words (or less).

Now, I work in communications, well internal communications...well digital signage, no wait - it's large screen communications...

Here's part of the gmail chat with my sixth form cousin who asked what it is we do (complete with typos!):

Cousin: where are you working?

 me:  www.sabercom.co.uk

 Cousin:  what's digital signage?

 me:  displaying messaging on LCD/plasma/TV screens e.g. like in waiting areas

 Cousin:  oh okay

like adverts?

 me:  But we mostly sell to companies who use them to communicate to employees

 Cousin:  or like train times?

 me:  Kind of, but we don't sell for that application (the software would work for that though)

You know when you go to a company and they have a screen in reception?

 Cousin:  like a cinema?

or a uni open day

playing a video?

 me:  We sell the software so they can put messaging around TV e.g. reception screen would have messaging for visitors and maybe BBC news playing

And in an employee cafe it might have the menu

 Cousin:  ok

 me:  Depends where the screen is and who the audience is

 me:  It works as a screensaver too

 Cousin:  ok

so... what is it that one can't do without you?

couldn't one just set up an old laptop to display whatever ?

 me: 

Sure they could - some use PowerPoint

But ours can schedule, show video with other mixed media

Plus you can update it easily and over the internet

Also, you can control multiple screens so they each show different info

We also use it in colleges to inform students of certain things

 Cousin:  we have one1

 me:  E.g. during registration there will be appropriate info on the screens

 Cousin:  !

at our sixthform

it sounds good you explain it better than the website

____________________________________________

That last line hit home, "you explain it better than the website". Not only is it hard to explain what internal communications is to the uninitiated, imagine working as a niche supplier to the industry. You really have to focus on your "elevator pitch". Communicating clearly and transferring knowledge and understanding is a very special skill.

You really need to consider the audience so carefully, it's so easy to overestimate what people know and how they interpret the information you present. Communicating well can't be rushed so make sure you stop before hitting send, publish, share and think about things from the potential recipient's point of view. 

Now, about that website... 

So, if internal comms hasn't heard of digital signage...

...what's it called then? Here are a few terms people are using:

1. Electronic notices
2. The company name followed by .TV
3. Office plasma screens
4. Employee TV
5. Internal TV channels
6. Interactive screens
7. Electronic signs

Do you have any terms of your own? Send them over, we're compiling a list!

What the heck is digital signage anyway?

I've recently joined Sabercom, a UK company who have a fresh take on how to deliver communications across the various screens you can usually find in any organisation.

I wanted to find out more about how companies use various screens to deliver key messaging to employees, students and other "mobile populations" in multi-site and campus type locations.

So what is digital signage? It's very much an industry term so most of our customers don't know what digital signage is. Screens are everywhere these days in airports, train/bus stations, shopping centres and even the local corner shop at the cash register.

Traditionally, displays have been used in retail or customer facing applications. However, look more closely and you'll see displays spotted around most companies. Screens are placed at reception, in waiting rooms, employee rest areas, cafeterias and many others places.

So how do most companies use these screens to communicate to employees?

We did a casual poll and found most have screens in rest areas (including canteens and restaurants), places where staff don't have access to email, manufacturing facilities and contact centres among others.

Responses: 
"...we do use large screens to help our comms effort (eg. in Head office we have screens in reception, coffee bar and restaurant)..."

"...we use TVs for internal communications in a number of countries.We have a script which is for region-wide messages and then locally owners can add a local script for information specific to that country..."  

"...we use electronic notices in our lifts – they work well as they catch people when they’re not doing much else!"

Over the coming weeks Sabercom is going to delve into how and why companies use screens to communicate internally.

Do you have a story you'd like to share about the role of large screen communication in your business? Please get in touch: ray.edun@sabercom.co.uk.