Education Digital Signage
Justifying the Price of Digital Signs for Schools
Both outdoor and indoor displays are a universal component of school grounds and buildings. Between informing large student bodies of policies and procedures, strengthening communication between faculty and staff, increasing the institution's presence in the surrounding community, and improving the operational efficiency of administrative offices, these display systems often have a multi-faceted role to play. In terms of design and application, this signage may include roadside displays, large school marquees, football field scoreboards, or other outdoor display installations. Indoors, they may be located in the lobby, faculty lounge, gymnasium, cafeteria, or administrative offices.
Needless to say, conventional display boards are sufficient, even superior, for many locations and applications. However, dynamic systems offer superior information and messaging capabilities that are greatly beneficial for certain installations. In nearly every case, these benefits warrant the added cost associated with this electronic technology.
Understanding the Price of Digital Signs for Schools
Even those education officials and administrators who do recognize the advantages of digital signs for schools often shy away from the idea when they start soliciting project estimates. Between the electronic hardware, software products, and implementation services, project costs frequently outpace clients' initial assumptions. Moreover, the most cost-effective systems are those implemented for an entire district or university system in which bundled hardware purchases and unlimited software licensing can dramatically reduce the per unit price.
Yet, due to consistent pressure to reduce annual budgets and kick larger, long-term priorities down the road, too many institutions miss out on the cost-saving potential of these solutions. Indeed, at the same time that officials misjudge the project expense, they also underestimate the benefits that can easily justify the upfront price of these systems.
Justifying the Cost of Digital Signs for Schools
Displays that show permanent, static content are rarely the best fit for its intended use. Granted, the institution's name, logo, and year established are better suited for a hand-carved wood marquee, rather than an electronic one. Indeed, many institutions have precisely this type of display board, but the administration also wishes they could provide words of encouragement for the homecoming game, SAT testing, and graduating students, to name a few. Other dynamic information content includes seasonal greetings, parent-teacher conference dates, and upcoming tax levy votes. These applications see regular turnover of content that is time-consuming and, in many cases, inflates labor costs.
Inside the school, advanced data integration, sophisticated software services, and web-based content are a boon to administrative office personnel, as well as informational resources for faculty. Some of the same information technology used to improve patient recordkeeping in the healthcare industry can be used to greatly streamline student records and data management. For a more direct impact to the operating budget, digital donor walls and/or limited advertising displays can provide an independent boost to revenue. In the end, a savvy design and a cost-effective software solution will allow these systems to quickly pay for themselves.
The Four Winds Interactive Advantage
Digital signs for schools are one of the hidden gems for districts that are charged with educating more students with less funding. FWi understands the unique hurdles education officials and administrators face when purchasing a system for their institution.
We can put together a software package that not only makes sense for your information and messaging needs but also one that demonstrates the savings necessary to justify the implementation cost. If you have questions about how our software can fit your needs or would like to set up a time to demo our software, please feel free to Contact Us.