Use Corporate Digital Signage to Reopen Your Offices Safely

Businesses worldwide are poised to reopen as Covid-19 regulations are relaxed. It may be a while before we return to our pre-pandemic lifestyle, but we are well on our way. The signs are everywhere. Commuter traffic is increasing, and urban service industries are seeing an uptick in business. So how can we help workers make a safe transition?

Digital signage to the rescue!

Many companies will rely on corporate digital signage technologies to welcome workers back to their physical offices. Many who have already invested in digital signage will add more screens and those who haven’t will consider doing so, if only to deal with the influx of visitors in their places of business.

While there are many types of digital signage applications, some stand out as the most useful for managing physical workplaces.

Let’s review some of them.

Meeting room signage

In-person meetings are making a comeback so this will be an area where digital signage will have a big impact. With more people returning to physical workplaces, it’s important to direct staff members and visitors to their respective meeting spaces. Here’s why.

During the pandemic, many businesses decided to reconfigure their office layouts. In some cases, spaces were reallocated to provide more physical distancing or to improve ventilation.

In certain cases, offices and meeting rooms were relocated causing problems for new and returning staff.

Helping workers find their way to the right meeting room has become a challenge. It’s why it’s so important to display occupancy information at each room’s entrance. By installing digital tablets and screens at strategic locations, businesses help staff navigate the new floor plan as they get reacquainted with their workplace.

It’s the main reason why businesses are buying more meeting rooms and conference room digital signage.

Digital bulletin board signage

Businesses are deploying digital signage for internal communications at a very rapid pace. The goal is to inform, motivate and help orient workers as they reintegrate into physical workplaces. Many companies have embraced the hybrid workforce so it’s increasingly important to communicate efficiently with visitors and staff who spend less time in corporate offices.

To be effective, employee digital signage relies on a network of strategically installed screens and smart TVs to deliver up-to-date information. Today’s workplace digital signage offers a great opportunity to inform workers. Screens can display business news, company policies, office layout changes, and other vital content.

Corporate digital signage

Office digital signage refers to screens commonly found in office lobbies and common spaces. These screens can be a great source of information for staff members who must be kept informed of current health and safety protocols. Faced with an ever-changing Covid-19 situation and rules that vary between geographic locations, businesses need to deliver continuously updated information to their workforce. Office digital signage provides the means to deliver this important information where it can be the most useful.

Businesses need simple and effective ways to reach staff members as they return to the office. People need to be reminded of changes in safety regulations that will impact them as they reintegrate into the office. If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s the need to be nimble and adapt to changing rules. Office digital signage facilitates the transition back to the workplace.

Office space access control

Enterprising businesses are increasingly looking at ways to leverage their digital signage investment in new and more effective ways. The pandemic has offered many challenges but also helped software developers introduce new products that help businesses keep their staff safe while respecting local sanitary rules. Take for example the need to control access to offices and workspaces.

Access control has emerged as an important necessity for businesses that operate in physical spaces. This technology uses cameras to scan the face of visitors and specific messaging is triggered based on matching criteria. For example, the software may be able to detect people wearing face masks and display a distinct message about whether they are wearing one or not.

Access control works with digital signage screens to provide an important service for those who wish to enter physical spaces. Screens can display occupancy levels while the access control software keeps track of who is entering and exiting the space. The system will alert visitors when they can enter so the business doesn’t exceed the required occupancy levels.

What to look for in corporate digital signage software

Businesses looking for digital signage software to enhance their work environments should look for these features:

• The ability to deliver real-time data from public or private sources. Support for RSS, XML, social media posts, and calendaring software is a must. Bonus points for Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar support.
• Native support for a wide range of content types including:
  • Images
  • IPTV and streaming video
  • PDF files
  • Presentations
  • Videos
  • Web pages
• The ability to publish content to an entire network of media players, or target specific locations using meta tags and multi-level player groupings.
• Support for instant content triggering based on data feeds, manual interaction (keypress, USB button), or mobile app.
• Easy integration with Computer Vision technologies for access control applications.
  • Automated visitor counts
  • Face mask detection
  • Triggered content (warnings, instructions, etc.)
• Remote control of your digital signage software using a smartphone or tablet. Look for software that lets users take control of their signage to publish instant messages or modify data feeds from any location.
• Support for a wide range of hardware devices, including professional-grade media players from a single software.

The Navori Labs’ advantage

Navori Labs’ QL digital signage software offers a complete suite of products aimed at making the workplace safer and more inviting. QL supports all types of workspace digital signage applications right out of the box.

Creative teams will like QL’s Template Designer features for their breadth of features and ease of use. Users can create sophisticated template layouts that combine multimedia content, data feeds, and graphical elements. QL on-premise users can also upload and use their own fonts in their templates. QL makes it easy to replicate any business’ look and feel with its built-in graphical tools.

QL will let you manage any content across any number of screens, including video walls and multi-screen installations. You can also display perfectly synchronized content on all your screens for professional results.

In conclusion

This global pandemic may be subsiding but it’s no time to let your guard down. The world has seen how quickly situations can escalate, and how health and safety regulations can change without warning.

Businesses may see this as an opportunity to return to pre-pandemic behaviors but some changes will be more permanent. Hybrid work arrangements may continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future so it’s important to keep staff informed as they spend less time in their physical workspaces.

There should be a continued effort to leverage wayfinding and use interactive technologies to help workers navigate this new environment. We see workplace digital signage continue to play a huge role in keeping workers and visitors safe as we return to the office.