UNC’s digital signage system was outdated and difficult to use.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• Screens frequently displayed outdated information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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The company notes a strong demand for hot desking as more organizations are calling employees back to the physical building. Crestron Desk Scheduling offers employees and visitors the freedom to reserve and use a desk at any time throughout the day. Scheduling meeting rooms has been a part of the corporate world for years, but the emergence of spaces like phone booths, digital hives, jump seats, meeting pods and unassigned desks has driven the need for reserving and managing short-term and on-demand spaces.

Need for Desk Booking

Craig Durr, senior analyst at the Futurum Group says, “The concept of hot desking now encompasses not only the physical office and meeting spaces but also the enabling of technology and devices, making scheduling a comprehensive category in itself. Crestron has been leading meeting space scheduling for years; it is a natural progression to bring that same functionality to spaces where individual employees are working.”

Crestron Desk Scheduling solutions provide a transition to floating hot desk areas and offices by enabling remote workers to schedule a location for their time on-site before leaving home directly from the booking software on their laptop. For in-office employees, highly visible LED status indicators display which desks are available, enabling them to reserve a space on the compact touchscreen or through a QR code scan.

The desk booking experience facilitates higher adoption and utilization for both regularly scheduled hybrid employees and visiting remote workers alike, says Crestron.

“Scheduling is a part of our daily lives. As organizations look to create a better hybrid work environment for their employees and an improved understanding of how and where people are working in the office, we must look outside just the meeting space,” explains Brad Hintze, EVP of global marketing, Crestron.

He adds, “Hot desking has quickly become the crucial technology in workplace design. Businesses are prioritizing their space management strategies to create a welcoming and productive office environment that maximizes office real estate investment.”

Crestron Desk Scheduling Applications and Availability

Two form factors and multiple mounting options make it simple to deploy Crestron Desk Scheduling products across any space and purposefully integrate them into the natural flow and aesthetic of the office, whether on a tabletop, wall mount or desk edge, says the company. The compact form factor of the Desk Q with QR-code-based reservations is ideal for community workstations, hot desks, and hoteling, while the touch interface of the Desk Touch is ideal for semi-private offices, cubicles and even stand-ups.

As with existing Crestron scheduling solutions, the Crestron Desk Touch and Desk Q will be able to be managed and deployed through the Crestron XiO Cloud Management Platform, which can also deploy updates as Crestron continues to innovate and improve.

At launch, Crestron Desk Scheduling solutions will natively support Appspace, Calven, and Tango software, with new partners added over time and at request.

Per a statement, the Desk Touch is now shipping, and the Desk Q will ship in Q1 2024.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on September 20, 2023. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience

The post Crestron Introduces Desk Q and Desk Touch Scheduling Devices appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Transforming Campus Communications with Digital Signage 

For their digital signage implementation, UON sought an enterprise-grade, self-service platform with intuitive controls, and “out of the box” tools. After analyzing various providers, UON chose Appspace, the Dallas-based workplace experience platform for communications and workplace management. The university deployed the solution via a private cloud.

The UON team, working closely with experts from Appspace, had an aggressive buildout for go-live at the campus opening in August 2018. The endpoints installed included:

• 105 digital screens
• 5 interactive kiosks with wayfinding
• 2 videowalls (5×5 arrays)
• 1 “Power Tower” (40-foot high LED screen) at the campus entrance

Partnering with Appspace provided the expertise and tools to help implement advanced technology, such as the “Power Tower,” a landmark feature for the campus and the community. During the pandemic, UON utilized the 40-foot high LED screen at the campus entrance to pay tribute to COVID heroes on the tower’s giant screen.

“At UON, we are continually working to ‘stay ahead of the curve’’ in our campus communications. Appspace has consistently been responsive to our evolving needs and has helped us to digitally transform and unify our communications strategy,” says Theresa ‘Tree’ Behrens, digital assets designer & coordinator, UON.

The post University of Northampton Partners with Appspace to Implement Digital Signage appeared first on My TechDecisions.