Digital Signage and Interactive Wayfinding for Government Agencies

Digital signage and interactive wayfinding have founds homes in almost every area of industry. It’s also becoming a go-to solution in the public sector. This week, we’ll take a look at some of the interesting ways touch and non-touch technologies are being deployed in government domains.

Why are so many branches of government rolling out digital wayfinding and directory solutions? Honestly, there is an incredible variety of reasons, and it depends mainly on the target audience to be reached. But the underlying rationale revolves around one key factor, and that’s the desire to clearly and easily communicate information of all types -- including information that is frequently changing, or may even play a part in keeping people safe from harm.

Interactive wayfinding and digital signage implementations in government environments span an incredible range of use cases, because we’re not just talking about deployments at the federal level. There are many municipal and state branches of government that utilize these technologies to do everything from keeping constituents up-to-date on local events and community initiatives, to emergency and extreme weather alerts. Library systems, community centers, fire and police stations, DMVs and social security offices all make use of digital signage to simplify the dissemination of important information. Speaking of which, digital signs have another, substantial advantage: they can reduce perceived wait time by as much as 35%, according to a Lavi field study.

Larger facilities, such as statehouses, courthouses and chambers of commerce can benefit by allowing self-service digital signage and wayfinding kiosks to take some of the pressure off of front-desk staff. Offering the opportunity to utilize a self-service interface to obtain directions and building or campus information empowers visitors by putting some control back in their hands, therefore increasing their overall satisfaction as the “customer.”

Besides their convenience, interactive signage solutions are also cost efficient due to their efficiency. Although many may balk at the initial investment required, a quick look demonstrates the incredible savings that can be generated in the long run. For example, RedyRef offers customized software solutions that allow both signs and kiosks to be updated remotely and instantaneously over multiple locations, with variable messaging to target specific audiences. They are also more likely to be noticed and read; a study by Intel determined that digital displays capture 400% more views than their static counterparts.

Next week, we’ll discuss how the military is utilizing similar technologies to simplify wayfinding and communications around the world. Ready to make the leap into high-tech digital signage or interactive wayfinding kiosks? RedyRef's experts are available to assist government agencies of all sizes in developing a program that fits their specific needs; just give us a call at (800) 628-3603 ext 525 or submit a request for proposal online and our team will be with you every step of the way.