By Theresa Bontempo
As we continue to advance as a society, old methods of using excess paper and plastic are becoming a thing of the past. Preventing the build-up of waste is difficult, but many businesses are continuing to do their part in helping to make the world a more environmentally friendly place to be–even if it means to get rid of paper filing and bulletin boards.
Email was a great way to send out letters, requests, and other business information internally and even externally, but there is always more that a business could do to get rid of paper altogether–and digital signage can be a great option. Digital signage is a revolutionary method of technology that can alert staff of new updates and policies, emergencies, internal communication, and even a way to engage employees with an LED or LCD screen.
Digital signage can help businesses and engage employees as a whole, but it can also help contribute and do its part to help save the planet and create an environmentally friendly workplace!
What is Digital Signage?
Digital signage is made up of a couple moving parts that are important to know and understand before making the switch!
Digital signage can help to keep company information all in one place without having to hurt the environment with excess paper. Image courtesy of Shift.
Many companies are seeking out new ways to be more friendly to our environment and stop using a number of wasteful materials if it is deemed unnecessary. In offices especially, paper is commonly used to send out and print out faxes, for internal communication, and even to send out bills and receipts, but digital signage can help to faze all of that out.
Understanding Digital Signage
With all of this talk about digital signage and how it can help the environment, it’s important to go over exactly what it is and its components to implement it into your business, department, or for a typically deskless workplace. Digital signage is the use of a LED or LCD screen that can present bright, colorful, and useful information that can be broadcasted all on one screen. Many businesses use them as advertising and marketing methods, or can replace normal paper signs–such as a menu at a coffee shop, advertising for cars in a car dealership, and navigation routes in a hospital.
Other businesses will use them for their departments, or they are displayed in common areas such as the breakroom for everyone to see. When using digital signage for employees, it can be a way to show the day’s progress and if they’re on schedule, important things to do and remember, broadcast important safety alerts, and even engage employees through recognition.
What Does Digital Signage Consist of?
When it comes to what you’ll need to get started using digital signage in your business are three things–a LED or LCD screen, a media player, and a content management system (CMS). These three components are needed to get started with implementing digital signage in the workplace so it can help to create the content you wish to share, play, and display it all in one place.
For LED/LCD screens, choosing the type of TV and size is the first most important component to broadcast any company information or alerts. Some things to consider when choosing an LED/LCD screen include:
- Screen size
- Resolution
- Brightness
- Where you want to display content at
Many businesses choose a media player, such as a smart TV that works well with a content management system of your choosing that is able to broadcast relevant information about your business efficiently to employees.
What is a Content Management System?
Content management systems are a unique platform that can help you to create, manage, and even upload digital content to the signage board and can include everything from pictures, videos, polls, and text among other unique features. Most feature a user-friendly interface that is easy to understand and can be updated in real-time to reflect a shift in policies, emergency broadcasts, or even just to give your content a fresh update.
There are a ton of customization tools for content management systems where you can choose from one of the many templates, or you can even create your own that reflect your company with its colors and logo prominently displayed. Content management systems are also a great way to get familiar with creating and editing content without having a technical background or experience in coding to create a beautiful interface for your company.
Why Going Green and Adding Digital Signage is Efficient for the Environment
As humans, taking care of the planet is a priority and something simple like switching to digital signage can be a step in the right direction!
Digital signage can have a big impact on the environment by eliminating paper bulletin boards that can cause too much waste. Image courtesy of Shift.
Doing your part to save the environment is crucial–even if it’s something as simple as eliminating the unnecessary overuse of paper. Paper is used in businesses everyday for filing, communication, to send faxes, letters, and even for bills–but is it really necessary? Digital signage can be a step in the right direction when it comes to businesses doing their part to be more friendly to our environment and create less waste, and there’s a number of reasons as to how it can do it.
Reduces Paper Waste
The utmost important reason why many companies are switching to digital signage is to reduce their paper waste numbers. Instead of printing out the menu in the cafeteria at work, or printing out posters and flyers to scatter around the building pertaining to upcoming company events or updates changes, instead broadcast it on digital signage. Digital signage is a great way to increase the internal communications within your staff and a bright and color digital sign can be a flashier method to get staff up to speed on what is expected of them in the workplace. By editing your digital signage in real-time with a content management system, it can quickly get the news out there that you need to keep staff updated on.
Real-Time Updates Instantly
Another great reason why so many businesses are making the switch over to digital signage is because of how quickly announcements, alerts, and updates can be displayed. With paper signs and bulletin boards, time and effort go into making a sign to have it printed out and distributed around the building. With digital signage, content can be updated instantly on a content management system and keep staff in the loop much quicker than before. It can also make announcements more engaging with staff to get internal communications moving quicker too.
Lowers the Amount of Transport Emissions
Since digital signage can be updated in real-time by using either your cell phone or a computer, it helps to lower the amount of transport emissions to swap out one paper sign for another. Printing out large signs to be displayed in an office, restaurant, or even a warehouse can consist of scheduling the print to be done, driving to get it, and then driving it to the location to replace it. With digital signage, no gas cars and their harmful emissions are needed to replace a sign if you want to edit it to reflect new policy updates, if you want a fresh update to reflect the change of the seasons or holidays, or even to fix a simple mistake.
Technology is Becoming More Energy-Efficient
Many different types of TVs, and even LED/LCD screens are becoming more energy-efficient–meaning that it requires less power than older types of screens. They also include features such as automatic brightness adjusters and motion sensors where it will light up when there is movement around it. For this reason alone, digital signage is a much more energy-efficient method compared to traditional paper signs and bulletin boards.
On many newer screen types, there are also ways that you can set timers to completely turn off, dim, or turn on for specific moments–and it can also help to preserve the integrity of the screen so it can be used much longer with fewer replacements.
Reduces Use of Harmful Chemicals
Printing signs to display in your business with important information has been a popular method for many years, but not only does it create paper waste, but it also uses harmful chemicals that eventually end up in our landfills. Printing inks and the chemicals that are associated with them can do a ton of damage to the Earth where the heavy metals can be released into the soil, which can disturb the ground-level ozone, plus it can pollute our water.
While printing companies have been trying to come up with more organic methods of producing ink that is less harmful for our environment, petroleum-based inks are still widely used causing the most damage to the environment. Digital signage completely eliminates the use of harmful inks with information that can be prominently displayed on an energy-efficient screen that can be updated whenever is necessary.
Content Management Systems: Why Shift is the Best Option For Your Business
Becoming familiar with energy-efficient digital signage is one thing, but choosing the best content management system is next on the list!
Finding the content management system that is right for your business can be tricky when all of them have many unique features with a lot to offer. Many content management systems can help managers build stronger connections with their employees and Shift is one that can be an excellent option for any type of business, especially deskless positions.
What Makes Shift a Top-Notch Choice?
There’s no doubt that content management systems come in an array of styles with different templates and features to get your staff engaged while also sending out announcements, and displaying important information pertaining to your business. There are many reasons why many businesses–including some of the most popular franchises in the nation–are choosing Shift.
Shift’s main goal is to help managers develop deeper relationships with their staff through engagement and recognition, doing everything from celebrating employee birthdays, work anniversaries, or achievements that are important to the business. No matter the type of digital signage that you use, Shift can be used to not only encourage and appreciate staff more, but also to work towards doing their part to save the environment.
What Kinds of Features Does Shift Have?
Shift can do a lot for businesses when it comes to being a reliable content management system all about engaging staff and broadcasting company alerts, announcements, or reminders. Some of the most notable features that Shift can offer businesses looking for make the switch for digital signage include the following:
- Boost employee engagement through recognition and appreciation
- Celebrate staff birthdays, work anniversaries, and other achievements
- Show training videos
- Keep track of employee training
- Employee spotlights
- Interactive polls for staff to anonymously complete
- Expands internal communications
- Shows company logistics
- Improves and expands new hire training
- Allows staff to retrain and re-skill in key trainings
- Helps managers learn more about staff
- Encourages employees to do work harder
- Increases productivity
Improve Energy-Efficiency in Your Business By Choosing Shift and Digital Signage
Technology has come a long way and it can not only make our everyday lives and businesses run easier and smoother, but it has ways of also helping to improve and take care of our environment. Consider making the switch to Shift and adding digital signage for easy real-time updates and ways to connect on a deeper level with your staff!
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