We’ve talked about the importance of internal communication before, but today we want to discuss digital signage for conference rooms.

Based at a busy University Science Park, we experienced first-hand the aggravation caused by an inefficient meeting room booking system. When bookings are competitive, there is nothing more annoying than the embarrassment of finding yourself double-booked when you have important clients visiting. Our other pet peeves have to be the ‘no shows’ and the stragglers who take their time, or rather your time, finishing up.

Digital signage for conference rooms resolves the politics of these situations. A simple but sophisticated booking system ensures the professionalism one expects from collaborative corporate environments.

‘Excuse me, we have this room booked.’

The days of the knock and watch tap are over. Never again will you have to utter this infamous refrain. Conference room digital signage overcomes any misunderstandings and tackles unpunctuality. Easy-to-read displays outside meeting rooms and in the foyer areas of an office block clearly provide a real-time booking schedule for the rooms. At a glance, users can tell whether a room is engaged through a traffic light system. A countdown timer indicates the remaining duration of meetings, with a polite alert warning those in the meeting when they need to start packing up.

A digital booking system offers the flexibility essential to busy corporate environments where change is always happening. Last minute cancellations or ‘no shows’ are registered by the system, freeing up allocations on the schedule to better utilise the facilities for others. There are a number of different ways a time-table interface can be powered. Digital signage solutions might integrate with existing calendar software or create bespoke applications for the job. The latter introduces the functionality to make, amend or cancel bookings through an email or even text messaging.

‘Oh sorry, we must be booked in the other room.’

Our own offices are in close proximity to two meeting rooms which are almost permanently engaged to host visitors and are often mixed up. Walking in on someone else’s interview or board meeting is more than awkward. It’s unprofessional.

Digital signage for conference rooms offers wayfinding assistance to put an end to these confused encounters. Interactive maps can be displayed on screen providing tailored routes to a booked facility. Integrating with the booking schedule, users of a touchscreen display are able to search either by the name of the contact or company they are visiting, particularly useful if they don’t know the number of the meeting room. Screens in the foyer of an office area might also welcome visiting guests with custom messaging announcing their meeting: ‘Interviews with TrouDigital are taking place in Room 4A between 10:00 and 12:00.’ Professional first impressions have a lasting effect.

‘We can never get a meeting room here. It’s always fully booked.’

Another benefit of conference room digital signage is its ability to record usage data and track attendance. This is particularly valuable for facilities in shared office spaces, but can be equally useful when it comes to monitoring departmental usage. Say five start-up companies share an open-plan office and have one meeting room between them. If one company has it constantly booked for internal meetings, or another is infamously unreliable at remembering theirs, it becomes a grievance for other tenants. A digital booking system keeps track of this behaviour. Complaints that a department or company are abusing the facility can be verified with data. Cautionary messages can be automated for over-frequent usage or poor attendance. This helps ensure an even and fair distribution of meeting slots.

Digital signage for conference rooms is a must for 21st century corporate environments. The introduction of this simple technology brings with it professionalism and sophistication.