Genre: All markets

Digital signages are used to share different types of information. Of course, the purpose is to show information to as many people as possible. Splitting the screens in different zones helps maximize the available communication space and can attract the attention of more visitors, passers-by or employees.

Optimizing space

Dividing your displays in different zones is an excellent way to maximize space and show different content simultaneously. Displays are usually split in a larger primary zone, a smaller one on the side, and other small sections at the bottom.

The primary zone is usually used to display more important content simply because it’s the largest one. The secondary zones can be used to display eye-catching content such as the weather, news, an employee’s birthday, the consecutive number of days without a workplace accident, mass transit schedules, and much more. The lower zones can display information that require less space such as the weather, the date, the time, the company logo or the news. It might look trivial, but this information is very eye-catching for your audience. Multi-zone display lets you mix different types of content in the various zones. For example, you could show a video in the primary zone and share real-time production data in the secondary zone on the right of the screen. In other words, the greatest benefit of multi-zone display is the ability to share different types of content at the same time instead of only showing a single information element on the entire screen.

Advice/Tips

Displays can easily be divided any way you like with digital display software (such as ITESLIVE). Before splitting up your screens, first read the following guidelines.

Your primary zone’s aspect ratio

In general, we recommend using a 16:9 ratio for your primary zone. This 16:9 ratio is the same used by most digital displays as well as by television screens (for example, 1920 x 1080 p (HD) and 3840 x 2160p (UHD 4K) resolutions have a 16:9 ratio). As such, your audience is used to watch content in this format, and digital display network managers can usually reuse your available content.

Read: Top 10 best practices in content creation for internal communications

Safety margins

Your content needs room to breathe, which means you need to maintain safety margins between the zones. These margins enable the segmentation of different types of information and makes reading easier. Most of the time, there should be a safety margin of 50 pixels around each zone, as shown below.

Dividing your displays in different zones lets you make the most of the available space by letting you share different types of information at the same time, and a good information layout ensures your audience will have an enhanced experience.

Digital signage is an ever-present part of our daily life. You have probably seen displays showing ads, restaurant menus, public transport schedules, etc. What is digital signage software, and what is it used for?

Digital signage software is a communication tool that helps users create, manage and share content. You can efficiently manage your content using a central hub from a remote location and through a web interface. Content can be shared on any device with a screen (such as televisions, monitors, tablets, video walls, screensavers and interactive terminals). Furthermore, most software is compatible with many different operating systems.

Read: What are the different components of digital signage?

Features

Creation

A content editing feature (similar to Photoshop) is directly integrated into the software, which lets you create visuals right from the tool. Also, included visuals can be modified to fit different needs. Of course, you have the option to add different types of media (images, videos, web links, etc.), which makes content creation processes easier and more efficient.

Management

Digital signage software has many different features that facilitate content creation and sharing. Features such as display schedules let users plan start and end dates for each content as well as repetition frequencies. This ensures that content displayed on the screens is always relevant.

Sharing

Software is used to share content on a display network in just a few clicks, wherever the screens are located. Users can share their message lists as well as all types of sequences (clips) on the screens of their choice. Also, customized tags help sort content by theme, which makes sharing easier.

Digital display software helps organisations share their content seamlessly, and audiences can in turn benefit from clearer communications. Digital display software provides many other features, all of which improve the content creation, management and sharing processes.

Although televisions and digital signage monitors are physically very similar, they each have elements that can be quite different. The main differences reside in built-in features, duration of use, brightness levels, warranties, and the orientation in which the screens can be installed.

1. Built-in features

The first factor, which is also the most important, is the built-in features. It is usually possible to install digital signage software directly in a digital signage monitor. It would therefore be useless to use an additional external device to run the software. However, for televisions, you would need to invest hundreds of dollars more for a small Windows, Linux or Android computer to be able to run the digital display software, and you would need to connect it to the screen.

2. Duration of use

The second difference is the time during which the screen will be used. Digital displays are designed to be on 24/7, whereas televisions are built for an occasional use – a few hours a day only. Using a television for digital signage purposes during extended periods would wear it out prematurely.

3. Brightness levels

Brightness is another important factor to consider when making a choice between the two options. Televisions are not designed to provide high brightness levels because, in theory, they don’t need to cut through ambient light and counteract glare coming from commercial environments. As for digital displays, they can be up to 8 times brighter than televisions, and usually can provide brightness levels between 400 and 4,000 nits (nits are the unit measuring light intensity of a surface; the higher the number, the brighter the screen).

4. Warranties

Televisions and displays can be sold with different types of warranties. It’s usually better to choose longer basic warranties to avoid costs from potential problems. Basic warranties provided with digital signage monitors usually cover three years, whereas the regular warranties for televisions are much shorter – most of them are valid for only one year.

5. Screen orientation

Another difference between these two solutions: the orientation in which these screens can be installed. Televisions can only be displayed in “landscape” mode, i.e., horizontally – they are not designed to be used in “portrait” mode. Digital displays are therefore more flexible since they can be easily installed both horizontally and vertically.

6. Prices

Finally, one last differentiation point – or, in this case, a resemblance – is the price. Unless you are buying a lower-end television (for which the price difference with digital signage monitors is much more significant), for middle range equipment, televisions aren’t necessarily less expensive than monitors. For example, a 50-inch digital signage monitor costs about $1,500.

In conclusion, digital signage monitors are the better choice, both in terms of quality and of price. For this scenario, it’s worth looking beyond the old “best value for money” principle.

Communication is the key to success. This principle sounds very simple, but for large companies, it can prove a challenge – especially in today’s context where employees work both at home and at the office. New ways must be found to reach employees. One of the most popular solutions is adopting omnichannel communication because it simplifies information sharing and increases content visibility.

Definition of omnichannel communication

Omnichannel communication implies using different channels to provide employees with a transparent experience and unified communications for all the channels they are using. Companies choose omnichannel solutions to share and receive information more easily. To benefit from an efficient omnichannel strategy, it is important to analyze the paths taken by staff members to target the right contact points. For example, if you notice that a majority of employees take their lunch at work, it would be useful to share company-related information with them (such as deadlines to request their vacation days, company events and new rules) on digital signage monitors. A well-executed strategy relies on various communication channels such as Microsoft Teams, screensavers, digital signage monitor, the intranet, mobile phones and tablets. Using different communication channels is even more important in a hybrid work model because you need to reach all your employees wherever they are, and by doing so, you provide greater visibility to your content and are able to reach engagement goals.

The below image is a good representation of the omnichannel communication concept. The person – in this case, the employee – is at the center of communications and is surrounded by various channels. The same information is shared on multiple channels, which provides employees the flexibility to review the information on the platform of their choice, and wherever they want to. It is important to note that the content is accessible at all times. In other words, employees can access the same information on different channels anytime.

Benefits for companies

The main advantage for organisations using this communication type is the simple and efficient management of communications directly from a centralized tool. Companies choosing an omnichannel communication model allow their employees to switch from one channel to another in a consistent and transparent manner. You can create, manage and share your messages in the same place within the platform, no matter the device or tool you choose to share your content with. You can seamlessly add an image, a picture, a video, a Google Slide document, a QR code or news to your message list, and your employees can see this new content in real time. It is even possible to share the same content to all of your employees, or send different messages depending on the department or the type of position. The advantage of segmenting information is that employees see only the messages that are relevant to them.

In short, an omnichannel solution ensures that all members of your organization can see your content on a variety of different channels. This way, you can increase the number of contact points and improve the likelihood that your employees will see the information you wish to share with them.

Employee retention is a considerable challenge for businesses – and even more so in an economic landscape where there is a labour shortage and where employees working remotely need to feel engaged. According to a Microsoft study [consulted on April 16, 2021], 40% of employees are considering leaving their current employer by the end of this year. Considering the high cost of replacing employees, companies are faced with a critical need to address this issue. Of course, they are aware of this reality; they offer competitive salaries and work-life balance conditions. However, in a situation where the migration towards a hybrid work model is becoming the norm, prestige downtown offices, work from home policies and flexible work hours are no longer enough. Now more than ever, to ensure your employees want to continue working for you, you need to develop their sense of belonging and their engagement towards your company and their colleagues. It was already difficult in person – in a hybrid work model, it is now a major challenge.

How much does it cost to replace an employee?

There are different costs related to replacing an employee. First, there are costs related to the termination of employment for the leaving employee. Second, there are the costs for hiring a replacement (e. g. looking for applicants and job interviews). Third, there are losses due to the company under-performing because of a position left vacant for days/weeks/months. Fourth, there are losses due to the new employee’s learning curve until they reach the normal performance standards.

According to the Work Institute’s 2020 retention report [consulted on April 16, 2021], the most conservative estimates evaluate that it costs about 30% of an employee’s annual income to replace them. On a larger scale, in the article titled Reconnaissance non monétaire : Dure réalité (Unpaid recognition: A harsh reality) [consulted on April 16, 2021] published by the Ordre des Conseillers en Ressources Humaines Agréés (CRHA), authors have observed that the cost to replace an employee is between 50% and 200% of their annual salary. In other words, for an employee earning $50,000 a year, it would cost between $15,000 and $25,000 to find a replacement.

And that is just the beginning. The lack of qualified human resources also has a negative impact on employees that stay within the company. They suffer from increased workload, need to work overtime, and have to compensate for the new employees’ lack of experience. These situations create frustrations that negatively impact your employees, which in turn makes them more likely to quit.

Internal communications are the key

To increase their retention rate, organizations need to foster a sense of belonging and increase the engagement of employees towards the company and their colleagues. The answer: internal communications!

At the beginning of COVID, companies switched to a “survival mode” and needed to adapt their employees’ work environments quickly to keep functioning. Now that we are used to this new way of working, we need to think about making work more social and close the gap with in-person experiences. More importantly, we need to find solutions that will develop a community spirit between people sharing a same physical space and others working remotely. As such, organizations need to invest in communication technologies that will enable teams to meet and work together wherever they are. Traditional communication tools can no longer achieve this; companies need to look for omnichannel communication software. With this software, employees are at the centre of communications and companies can manage information to be shared throughout its channels from a central location.

Read: Reach your employees wherever they work

In the current economic environment, employee retention is of the utmost importance to ensure company sustainability and growth. Although internal communications have always been an integral part of the solution to this challenge, work from home and the migration towards a hybrid work model have underlined the importance of updating tools at the companies’ disposal. We must create solutions that will define the new norm – and leave the ones that will simply bring us back to how it was before.