Digital Door Sign » How to run digital room management

In this article, you will learn about the advantages of digital door signs, how they work, what possible applications exist, and roughly what the hardware costs. Finally, you can read how we support you with this solution.

What is a Digital Door Sign, and how does it work?

Digital door signs, some call it meeting room signage, usually consist of interactive LED displays. Recently, power-saving e-ink technology is also used. The signs hang either on the wall next to or directly on the door. They also have network access via Wi-Fi.

Networking with a Digital Signage CMS leaves a lot of freedom and scope for information and design. All this helps you to customize your digital door sign in a timely and area-specific manner.

Digital door signs are mainly used in office spaces, as so-called meeting room signage for conference zones and hotel rooms. These devices, as a subcategory of digital signs specifically for doors and rooms, have become increasingly smarter over the past few years. In addition to a graphical display of the room name and occupancy status, including detailed occupancy information, digital door signs can do much more.

Outdated Door Sign
Outdated Door Sign

What are the Advantages of Digital Door Signs?

Usually, signage for doors belong to a digital signage network and administrators control them centrally. This provides several advantages:
  • Near-time changes
  • No printing materials required
  • Automation and synchronization
  • Feedback through Interaction

Timely changes

Each signage for doors can be “reprogrammed” as needed. This makes the use of highly flexible. The change updates on the spot on the door sign within moments. Every employee, visitor, and guest thus always stays up to date on the occupancy status of the premises.

No Printing Materials and Power Saving

Digital signage solutions have been replacing print materials and the costly processes associated with them for years.

Modern e-paper displays, as we know them from so-called e-book readers, mark another evolutionary step here. These displays consume extremely little power and are suitable for illuminated rooms with static content.

Automation and Synchronization through Interfaces

Thanks to synchronization with a room booking database, digital signs always clearly display the latest information on the occupancy status of rooms. Features such as RFID room booking and automatic release of the meeting room when not in use are further examples in the wide range of applications for digital room signs. Synchronization can also take place with Google Calendar or Microsoft Exchange in the process.

Interaction and direct Feedback

Touch-enabled screens as door signs offer yet another advantage. Visitors and guests provide feedback or requests directly on the sign. Cumbersome processes are simplified and information is not lost. The connected software forwards this immediately to the appropriate places for evaluation.

Where are Digital Door Signs used?

You found Digital door signs primarily in areas where there are frequent changes in room occupancy status or series of events. Well-known examples include convention hotels with conference zones or buildings with meeting rooms. However, the use of digital signs is also becoming more popular in public administration buildings and school buildings with increased visitor numbers.

Electronic Door Sign in Schools

At secondary schools, students rely on understandable signage because they often have to change classrooms when classes change or substitute teaching takes place. Electronic way finding and door signage helps students and teachers minimize idle time searching for classrooms and eases the stress of the school day.

Thanks to centralized room management and networking of digital room signs, electronic door signs always display up-to-date information about the lessons in the respective classroom. If a lesson cancellation, they reliably inform the students via the door signs. In addition, emergencies trigger the integrated alarm function in the digital door sign and the devices draw attention to themselves through an acoustic (sound output) or visual alarm (red-flashing LED display).

Administration – Digital office door sign

In the office environment, digital sign for office doors simplify the daily work routine for many employees thanks to simple and intuitive operation. Public administration, service centers or municipal offices use digital door signs for meeting rooms and especially in waiting areas.

In this way, they create transparency, increase efficiency and thus visitor satisfaction. Using an automatic synchronization of the system for room management, the occupancy status such as “Free” or “In customer conversation” of office rooms can always be displayed to customers in real-time.

Meeting and Conference Rooms

The greatest potential of digital conference room signs is when they are used for meeting rooms. Here they offer particular added value when it comes to efficient and intuitive management of conference rooms.

IAdea Multitouch Signboard
XDS-1078 Multitouch Signboard from our Partner IAdea

The occupancy status (booked, free or unused) is presented to employees and visitors immediately and clearly on digital conference room signs. In addition, it is possible to display detailed information about room occupancy, as well as the maximum number of occupants and the available technical room equipment.

Employees with booking authorization can use an RFID-enabled card or a QR code shown on the display to immediately book into the room, check availability on other days and make a room reservation. If a booked room is not used in time, the management system releases the conference room again. In this way, you avoid wasting room resources.

Thanks to networking and intelligent sensor technology, electronic meeting room signs automatically carries out bookings based on current presence information. Alternatively, make suggestions for free rooms if overcrowding.

Conference room digital signage inform attendees about room number, event type, duration as well as maximum number of participants.

Hotels

Whether as a digital menu or information terminal, digital signage has now become a fixture in hotels and restaurants.

As digital door signage, screens offer many advantages, especially in the hotel sector. In addition to the room number, digital room signage also displays information about occupancy in the hotel. For example, is the room occupied and the hotel guest does not want to be disturbed? The room status tells the staff whether the room may be tidied up.

digital door sign in the hotel
Digital door sign in the hotel

With software for meeting rooms signage, the hotelier and receptionist always keep track of the status of all rooms and, if necessary, send service staff to the guest to fulfill their requests.

How much do Digital Door Signs cost?

Prices for digital door signs start at around EUR 350 for a 10-inch (approx. 25 cm) signboard with Wi-Fi. The widget for room bookings with interface for Outlook or Google Calendar is included in the devices of our partners.

Summary Digital Door Signs

Many People reduce digital signage only to marketing, entertainment and playing ads. Digital door signs prove that signage can also be used to create purely service-oriented solutions and interactive applications.

They open up new possibilities for optimizing workflows for companies from the event, gastronomy, hotel and modern office sectors, as well as public institutions such as schools, healthcare, or administrations. At the same time, they help achieve a modern look.

The centralized management system makes it possible to switch digital signs at any time and implement design changes as needed.

Our offer for Digital Door Signs

We have flexible and collaborative digital signage software to run your digital door signs with an openness that is unique in the market.

The Booking-Widget

The room booking software runs as a so-called digital signage widget platform-independent on various compatible digital signage players. You have the possibility to develop your individual booking widget yourself, to order it from us or to use already existing solutions of our partners.

Your booking widget communicates via interfaces that you define. This can be Google Calendar, Exchange or any other software. We give you all the freedom you need. You do not need any API or non-disclosure agreements to interact with SmilControl software systems.

Centralized management via the SmilControl CMS

With our Digital Signage CMS, you control and schedule playout times for your booking widgets. Just as transparently as you would schedule a video or image media.

Run a widget for the tech group meeting in your meeting rooms between 10am and 2pm, another widget for the medical conference starting between 2pm and 6pm, and customization for the catering association starting at 6pm.

Alternative: a stylish presentation plays on their door sign, which hotel guests can interrupt via touch to communicate cleaning requests for their room or feedback.

Want to talk about your digital door signs? Contact us.

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