The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public, doctoral research and educational institution that’s home to about 9,000 students and more than 200 undergraduate and graduate programs, many of which are nationally recognized.
UNC’s digital signage system was outdated and difficult to use. Some tasks required up to 24 steps to complete, discouraging users from creating even the simplest messages. What’s more, the system often required USB drives to load content onto signs. The College of Business was the primary user of this legacy system since the complexity deterred other colleges from adopting digital signage. These roadblocks caused two major issues:
- Screens frequently displayed outdated information
- Students faced communication gaps while navigating campus
UNC placed a high priority on improving student communications and engagement. It also sought to strengthen connections with residents and improve their communication technology. The university needed a user-friendly digital signage solution that could easily integrate with its other systems and scale as they grew.
The Appspace Digital Signage Solution
After an extensive search for a new digital signage provider with a scalable platform, UNC chose Appspace. The platform offered UNC flexible centralized management and control of posted content. It also provided a user-friendly interface, customizable templates and integration with other systems. UNC also needed Appspace to integrate with its class scheduling software, 25Live. The Appspace team used 25Live’s Publisher feature to feed the data into Webview Cards, resulting in a near-real-time integration that showcases class schedules and event information on digital signage across the university.
“We’ve been impressed by Appspace’s user-friendly platform and excellent support. Our adoption rate among students, faculty and staff has soared. University-wide visibility has improved significantly, thanks to dynamic content displays. Overall, it has been a fantastic experience with a strong growth trajectory,” says Joshua Purdy, senior desktop engineer, University of Northern Colorado.
Success of Appspace at UNC
UNC’s team was impressed with the overall implementation and the Appspace team’s knowledge and responsiveness. A seamless 25Live integration meant up-to-date class schedules and other information are displayed throughout the campus.
Overall, the university has saved resources due to the integration with other systems and the availability of APIs for further customization.
The highly visible success of the Appspace digital signage implementation has helped UNC overcome skepticism in other departments, resulting in 72 digital signs across campus and growing. With their digital signage flawlessly displaying class schedules, campus events, athletics information, and performing arts updates across campus, UNC is now evaluating how Appspace Wayfinding can further enhance the campus experience for all.
Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on February 16, 2024. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.
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