Using Indoor Digital Display Screens for Powerful Communication

More and more, indoor display screens are being used for everything from displaying menus in fast food restaurants or promotional content, to more advanced uses such as dashboards and communication.

There are so many ways that digital display screens can be used, so we're going to go through some of the best uses for them in this short article.

Because we also have a lot of additional content about individual uses for display screens, or digital signage, we'll link to the best resources for you to find more information. So, without further ado, let's find out how you can use indoor digital displays.

What are digital display screens?

Indoor digital screens are often referred to as digital signage, which is the common terminology for any screen used to display promotional content, slideshows or information. These screens are usually TV screens powered by digital signage software.

The difference between simply playing a TV channel, or streaming a basic slideshow from a USB device or laptop is that digital signage gives you much more flexibility and control. In fact, using cloud based digital signage solutions means you can control your content remotely, as well as update, schedule and even segment your content easily.

When you consider the alternative, which is usually uploading content to a USB stick or connected hard drive, digital signage is much easier to manage.

In fact, even if you're using fairly basic content such as menus, welcome signage or displaying ads or simple messages, digital signage is much easier and future proof.

Read our complete guide to digital signage.

What can you use indoor digital signage displays for?

1. Ads and promotional content

One of the most common uses is screens playing ads or being used to promote products or services. This can be in the form of dynamic videos, or more static images and text - but with animated elements.

Using digital signage for ads has been shown to be a powerful way to catch customers' attention, especially in retail stores. However, this kind of content can also be great in other settings such as:

• Cinemas and theatres
• Shopping malls
• Airports or other public transport centers

These digital posters can display local advertising, upcoming events or highlight specific products or offers.

What's more, this is one of the easiest uses for digital signage displays.

Read more: How to create digital posters.

2. Video walls and impact screens

A video wall is a larger screen often used for impact. You'll often spot them in retail stores, but also in places like hotels, banks, events and exhibition spaces and even office foyers.

Because video walls are an eye-catching feature, they are a great way to stream high quality pictures and videos, usually specifically designed for your video wall. This might simply be showcasing your best products, or streaming lifestyle content of your brand to prospective customers and visitors.

People often think of video walls as billboards - although the latter are usually more focused on advertising. And while video walls can be a great way to display ads, they're more versatile than that.

Video walls are also great for events as they can double both as promotional screens, but also to live stream your main event. Whether that's sports, music or a powerful seminar, video walls are an excellent way to connect with your audience.

Find out more: How to set up a video wall.

3. Dashboards and data

Within a more corporate setting, indoor display screens can be an excellent way to communicate with your workforce. Think of your digital signage screens as a unified communication channel, offering the ability to display relevant content to specific departments or areas in a more effective manner.

For example, within a busy factory and logistics hub, there can be multiple screens serving different purposes.

On the factory floor, there might be screens displaying live data from production software. There could also be additional screens showing safety information or company wide announcements.

Digital display screens in the office can also show some of the same information from the factory floor, but more tailored to marketing or internal communications. This could also be a digital sales board - helping the sales team focus on their goals.

And then, the same software can also be used to power the menu board in the cafeteria, or the welcome signage in the foyer.

Digital signage can be the corporate communication tool that connects all corners of your organization.

4. Wayfinding and room availability

Digital screens can be an excellent tool to help people to either navigate an area, or to display availability of things like meeting rooms or function rooms.

A central display could be used for the building directory, and then individual screens can be used to show room availability or booking options. This can be particularly useful in places like co-working spaces, large offices, universities and colleges, and hotels or event spaces.

Meeting room software can be displayed on small screens such as tablets, or larger TV screens. And with a link to the booking form, users can easily reserve their space.

5. Company communication

OK, you might be thinking, 'Our company doesn't need more communication tools'. But digital signage isn't actually a communication tool in and of itself, more that it's the layer that unifies all of your comms.

This is especially true for organizations with a high proportion of deskless workers, or those with no access to a company device.

Digital signage displays enable easy communication with your target audience, whether that's warehouse workers, site visitors or the general public. For example you might want to share safety protocols, highlight recent developments in the business, or simply remind visitors to sign-in before they move to another area.

It's also a powerful tool for sharing things such as live presentations, or emergency alerts or updates.

Tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom all offer seamless integration with digital signage software such as ScreenCloud.

6. Self-service kiosks

Giving customers more access to self services has been a huge trend in the retail and hospitality spaces. Whether that's click and collect orders, self check-in or scan and order using QR codes. Indoor digital signage displays can be placed at strategic locations from welcome desks or even at restaurant tables - allowing customers to easily interact and place their orders.

There are many different ways to create a self-service kiosk, or a touch to order menu.

Touchscreen ordering: These are usually POS devices which link to your payment system and inventory, and with software often included by the screen providers such as Samsung.

QR codes: One of the easiest and most efficient ways to create a customer friendly ordering system is using QR codes which link to your website and checkout.

Touchscreen sign-in: A great way to speed up check-in for visitors, or for click and collect retail orders. This simply requires that your ordering or booking system is connected to your touchscreen devices which can be done using ScreenCloud's Playgrounds App.

7. News and entertainment

You'll often see indoor displays playing a 24 hour news channel, or looping videos. But the capabilities for the technology behind digital signage displays means you can create much more engaging and interesting entertainment.

Use your TV screens to stream curated YouTube videos, social media feeds or sports scores.

It's also easy to integrate RSS feeds to your digital display, making it easy to pull content from your favorite sources.

This is a great use of digital signage for public spaces such as airports and transport hubs, hotels, office foyers - or any other space where you want to share something other than depressing live news.

8. Information and scheduling

We've all used screen displays for information. Think of airport departure boards, subway information or even fast food menu boards. And this is one of the most powerful uses of indoor screen displays.

Using digital signage for displaying information or schedules means it's easy to update your display with live data. Whether that's the arrivals and departures board at an airport or transport terminal - or simply displaying a menu in a fast food restaurant.

It's also a great way to display the 'coming up' schedule for live events. ScreenCloud has been used at events such as Lollapalooza and the America's Cup to display event schedules to the audience.

A digital signage platform means you either stream live data, leaving it to update itself automatically. Or, remotely update or schedule content to ensure it's up to date.

Find out more about digital signage for events and transport and logistics signage.

Why choose digital signage vs static displays?

The benefits of digital signage displays for organizations are many and varied. Especially if the organization has ongoing needs to display regular changing content, or if they need to communicate with a deskless workforce.

Display screens have been shown to be beneficial for both public facing and internal communications teams. In terms of employee engagement, businesses find that improving their employee engagement boosts productivity by up to 25%.

Read More: The Guide to Digital Employee Engagement.

And when it comes to catching the attention of your target audience in retail, 80% of all businesses using digital signage report an increase in sales. (source)

Screen based information can be updated instantly and remotely. And while you might worry about the initial cost or ongoing maintenance, digital signage actually costs less than printed material in the long run. And it's not just paper waste. Printing vinyl posters and banners means creating more plastic waste, with banners becoming dated and worn quickly.

By contrast, a TV screen can last for many years and can be updated countless times.

Managing digital signage with ScreenCloud

Content management for your digital signage displays can also be an easy process with digital signage software.

ScreenCloud makes it easy to create professional looking content, and to quickly and easily launch it remotely. No need for design skills or IT input - simply load your content into our Quick Post app and you're away in minutes.

Whether you want to connect your performance dashboards for your factory, or just display pictures and videos in store, find out how easy it is to manage your screens with ScreenCloud.

Sign up for a FREE 14 day trial, or book a demo today.