Five Ways AV and Digital Signage Proved Their Worth During the Pandemic
With more than a quarter of the US population fully vaccinated and the CDC relaxing its Covid-19 guidelines, many businesses are looking back over the last 12 months and grading their pandemic response. One of these is the digital signage industry.
"The past year demonstrated how the immense flexibility of digital signage helped many organizations quickly adapt to operate safely during the pandemic," writes Brightsign CEO Jeff Hastings.
In his article for Essential Install, Hastings shares five things we learned about the display industry during the pandemic, and while he points out we're not out of the woods yet, digital signage was a key factor in shepherding businesses through this crisis.
First and foremost, the flexibility of digital signage has been a business and life-saver for many companies, their employees and visitors.
"Digital signage pivoted rapidly from offering promotional and marketing messages to become a vehicle for communicating critically important health and safety messages to patrons, employees and the public-at-large," Hastings points out. "The ability to swiftly and remotely update content enabled organizations to keep pace with fast-evolving health regulations – a key factor for businesses to demonstrate compliance and remain open during some of the pandemic's darkest days."Another contribution by AV in these perilous times is in the healthcare field, where digital signage has become a lifeline to administrators managing field hospitals and vaccination centers. "Even temporary facilities require a robust AV infrastructure to direct patients to different areas, minimize their time indoors and reduce the risk of cross-infection when visitors wander into areas where they don't belong." Says Hastings, pointing out how the Javits Convention Center vaccination center in Manhattan employs a network of displays to route traffic in multiple languages as people approach the building.
"Once inside, additional displays and a massive screen hanging in the main atrium prompt patients to have key documentation ready to expedite processing."
Read more of Jeff Hastings' observations on AV's performance during the pandemic, including an interesting point on interactivity and touchscreens.
