Unlimited digital signage screens – why, what, how!

At TrilbyTV, we believe that you shouldn’t have to pay for the privilege of growing your digital signage estate. That’s why we created the Unlimited Screen package for schools, where you can have as many screens as you want for just £1,200 per year + VAT. Many of our customers came to us having been restricted with our competitor’s packages.

“I love the flexibility of TrilbyTV, the price point is good with the [multiple] screen licence, it’s helped us to achieve maximum deployment. It’s no hassle at all, every digital signage solution that we’ve looked at in the past was a big expense which you don’t have with TrilbyTV. ” Sarb Singh, IT Manager – Brentwood School

“The pricing and the unlimited number of screens works well for us and allows us to scale up if needed with no additional costs.” Anna Millar, Head of ICT – Edinburgh Academy

But do you really need that many screens? Let’s look at things a little bit closer;

Bespoke content & your target audience

When planning an effective digital signage strategy the key thing to consider is your target audience, there’s no point in putting a screen in the junior school hallway, showing the timetable for the sixth form. You need to establish who is going to see which screen and at what time, which with TrilbyTV’s scheduling is easy! Another factor to think about is how to present your content in a way that will really make your audience engage with the message that you’re trying to get across. All technology needs a plan and it can be something as simple as using Post-it notes marked with where screens are located, who is looking at them and for how long. This plan needs to be stuck to and reviewed on a regular basis.

So let’s dig a little deeper and look at some key areas where you can really utilise TrilbyTV’s unlimited screen package;

Reception

This is the area where you need to create the biggest impact. Why? Because it’s the screen that all your external guests see. Parents need to see why your school is the best place for their child to be and governors can see how hard staff are working to create the best learning environment possible. People attending events will also see this screen, as will prospective students – these are the individuals that you really need to win over! Content can include – Certifications – like Outstanding from Ofsted, programmes such as being an Apple Distinguished School or being named as an EdTech 50 School. Another great thing to showcase is partnerships – it’s not just your school you are proud of, but those organisations and companies that you work with. It doesn’t end there; parent and pupil quotes, social media channels and evidence of the learning are great to showcase. Finally, what could make a better impact than a vision video, like in this picture of Brentwood’s awesome reception multi-screen video wall set up!

For more in-depth information on how to really ‘rock’ your reception screen, take a look at TrilbyTV Neil Emery’s tips here.

The staff room

In Neil’s article ‘Rocking the Staff Room with Digital Signage‘ he remembers the times when he used to walk into a staff room to find the screen turned off. When turning the screen back on he’d often receive throw away comments such as “Can we watch Loose Women?” to which he would often reply, “No you can’t.” This screen has a clear purpose – to inspire staff and this can be done in a number of different ways. One fantastic example is from Digital Lead at Portsmouth College, Chris Wood. Portsmouth have various different screens scattered in various departments including the staff room. During the troubling times of COVID, Chris had a fantastic idea,

“The staffroom screens are very much about wellbeing and positive messages, which have proved really, really lovely. It was a moment of genius that we actually started a week before lockdown. We took all of the social media feeds down as they were very Covid-related and changed it to a huge picture of the college with the sunrise coming behind. Overlaid was some text saying, ‘We are amazing teachers, we’ve got this!’ This single item sent a really powerful message saying – ‘ Okay, we’re in this together,’ and it really has helped to boost staff morale. We needed something that was going to create a real impact, as the staffroom is now one in – make a coffee – one out.”

This screen is perfect also for building a strong staff community, celebrating your success as teaching professionals, sharing best practice and delivering lightweight CPD. This includes the weekly staff room update, adding full-screen social media feeds, sharing and showcasing excellent examples of student’s work which is also a great way to give teacher’s credit.

The dining hall

At the end of the day, digital signage is a marketing tool and what better way to showcase your canteen’s fantastic menu than on a digital signage screen! If it’s shared using a Google Slides Presentation then it can also easily be updated in real-time if something sells out.

A variety of screens in different departments

Once your school gets digital signage installed, you need to prepare for the domino effect. One by one, key individuals within each department will request access to a screen, which is why we’ve made TrilbyTV all about ownership – the settings within our software allow you to set up individual administrators. It’s also where the IT Manager at Universal American School, Mobeen Anwar really found our unlimited screens package invaluable,

“The library was the first to say, we’d like to have a screen because we want to showcase books and other events that are happening. Then different divisions in the school started requesting screens so that they could showcase whatever is happening on our site for parents to see what’s going on when they come in. Since then many heads of departments have asked for screens, so this year we’ve added six more!”

But it doesn’t stop there – when installing the screen it creates an even greater impact when positioned in a certain position and aesthetically fits in with its surrounding environment. A great example is from our visit to Channing School where students made masks which were showcased on the walls and complemented by a signage screen sharing digital work. It just shows that digital signage is not invasive and can integrate with its surroundings with just a simple bit of planning.

Using multiple screens for events and beyond

Digital signage can also be used to exhibit individual student’s work, like an art or design exhibition for example. But that’s too costly, we don’t have that number of screens, I hear you cry? Well, believe it or not, you actually might already have them! Those old redundant iPads, sitting in the storage cupboard or perhaps some old iMacs which is exactly what Norwich University of the Arts did!

“We’re using Amazon fire sticks but what has also really worked well is operating TrilbyTV on redundant iMacs. These are perfect for exhibiting student’s work at end of year shows. The good thing is departments are creating things for various events anyway so many can use just adaptations of that. The unlimited screen licence is great, we have 30 or 40 players playing during an exhibition, we also use it for marketing and student accommodation adverts on the screens. It’s simple, really simple.” Carl Bayliss, Workshop Manager – Norwich University of the Arts

So when you ask – do we really need that many screens? The answer is YES and the different ways that you can deploy your digital signage strategy is endless!  You can try TrilbyTV for free here or check out our Unlimited Screen Licence here!