Digital signage for offices and internal communications

Why screens work for internal communications

Not every employee sits behind a desk. On the factory floor, in the warehouse or in the canteen, nobody reads a newsletter or opens the intranet. A screen in a place where people already stand or sit, such as by the coffee machine, the time clock or the entrance, does get seen.

With digital signage you put those screens to work centrally. You create the content in the dashboard at dashboard.narrow.tv in your browser, and the screens fetch changes themselves within about a minute. Nobody has to walk round the screens with a USB stick.

New to digital signage? First read what digital signage is and what you need for it.

What to show, by location

Reception and entrance

• A welcome slide for visitors with your logo and a photo or video of your company.
• A clock and date, or a world clock with several time zones if you work with branches or customers abroad.
• The weather: the ready-made weather template shows the city, date, current temperature and a 6-day forecast. You only set the location.

Canteen and coffee corner

• Company news, new colleagues, work anniversaries and birthdays as text with a photo.
• The canteen menu with prices using the price table element: headings with product and price lines underneath.
• A scrolling ticker at the bottom with short announcements, such as "The car park is closed on Friday".
• A company video or YouTube video, without sound by default, so the screen does not disturb anyone.

Factory floor and warehouse

• Safety messages and work instructions in large letters: short, with a clear pictogram or photo.
• Planning, shift rotas or goals for the week as an image or text slide.
• Figures from your own system, such as production numbers or order status, via a data feed that Narrow.TV connects for you. Read more in your own data on your screens.

For more ideas on structure, text length and variety, see the tips for digital signage content.

How to set it up

In Narrow.TV, each screen is its own subscription with its own playlist of slides. That suits offices well, because reception needs something different from the factory floor.

• Slides and duration: each slide is on screen for 5 to 60 seconds and the slides run in a loop. You change the order by dragging.
• Format: for each screen you choose landscape or portrait and a resolution, such as Full HD or 4K. A portrait screen next to a door or in a corridor often stands out more.
• Templates: save your own slides as templates. They are available to everyone in your business account, so announcements always look the same.
• Location: give each screen a location, such as "Canteen ground floor" or "Hall 2". Screens are searchable, which is handy when you have more of them.

Bear in mind that slides are not scheduled by time of day: a screen's playlist runs all day. If you want to show something temporarily, add it and remove it once it is no longer relevant.

Who manages the screens

Internal communications is often a task shared by several people: HR, facilities, the production manager. A business account has two roles:

• Owner: manages the screens and the subscription.
• Editor: creates and edits slides, templates and media.

Narrow.TV adds extra users for you on request; get in touch to arrange this. There are no permissions per location or per screen, so agree internally who looks after which screen.

A video wall in the lobby

Do you have a large reception hall? With the paid Combined view add-on you turn two or more of your screens into one video wall, in a row, stacked, in a grid or freely positioned. One image or video then runs across all the screens, and the players play back in time sync. You schedule such an item with a start time and a repeat, for example every 10 minutes or every hour. More details can be found in video wall with Combined view.

Example set-up

A medium-sized company with offices and production could start with:

• 1 landscape screen at reception with a welcome slide, clock and weather;
• 1 portrait screen in the canteen with news, canteen menu and ticker;
• 2 landscape screens on the factory floor with safety, planning and figures from a data feed.

That is 4 digital signage subscriptions, one per screen. What that costs is shown in the current prices. You buy the screens and Android players yourself.

Try before you roll out

Start with one screen in the busiest spot, for example the canteen. With the free 30-day trial you test one screen and see how colleagues respond. You cannot add extra screens during the trial; you can as soon as you pay. Would you like help planning a roll-out across several departments or a data connection first? Request a demo.

Frequently asked questions

What is digital signage for internal communications?

Digital signage for internal communications means using screens on the shop floor, in the canteen or at reception to inform staff and visitors with news, safety messages and announcements. You manage the content centrally via an online dashboard.

Can I show figures from our own system on a screen?

Yes, if your system or website has a JSON or XML/RSS feed. Narrow.TV connects that feed for you and shows the chosen fields on your screens. This is not self-service: you contact Narrow.TV to arrange it.

Can several colleagues manage the screens?

Yes. A business account has the roles of owner and editor. The owner handles the subscription and the screens, editors create slides, templates and media. Narrow.TV adds extra users on request.

What hardware do I need for digital signage in the office?

A screen and an Android device running the Narrow.TV Player, such as an Android TV or Google TV, or an Android TV box or stick via HDMI.