Located amidst the lush farmland and rolling hills of south central Pennsylvania, Providence Place Retirement Community of Chambersburg, Pa., might not be the first place one would look for cutting-edge information technology.
But with an administrator dedicated to providing his residents the best possible service in every regard, Providence Place is at the forefront of a 21st century revolution in digital signage technology.
Rodney Stoops, administrator of Providence Place since 2002, recently installed a Signera electronic digital sign in the lobby of the 133-unit facility to help ensure that residents are kept abreast of all developments in their community. "It makes a significant visual impact, people are immediately drawn to the sign as they come in the door," he said. "It's very clean and easy to use."
Signera designs eye-catching multimedia displays that integrate, schedule and manage sound and data. A pioneer in the informational display industry, Signera is renowned as a developer of easy-to-use, web-administered digital sign applications. Nationwide, digital signage is rapidly replacing inflexible, expensive printed signs and other dated informational mediums, offering dynamic, customized messages that cut through the media clutter.
At Providence Place, the new Signera platform replaces a dry-erase white board that now seems as dated as a Model T. "The Signera sign is much more professional-looking," Stoops said. "It looks good in the lobby."
The Signera platform also provides capabilities that dwarf traditional signs, allowing the dietician to update daily menus, for example, and the activity coordinator to list the day's events. "We want to keep our residents informed about what's happening, so they don't have to keep a calendar with them," Stoops said. The sign serves family members and other visitors, all of whom make a first-stop at the lobby, where they naturally look to the digital sign. The Signera system allows the same information to be transmitted over the TV system in the building. Any changes made to the content are immediately reflected on the digital signs and throughout the building to all 133 resident televisions.
With industry-themed templates that make setup a breeze, Signera clients can readily customize their displays with a number of "active modules," such as date-and-time banners, event calendars and scrolling messages. To better serve senior living, assisted living and nursing facilities, Signera recently released additional modules that promote upcoming events and menus, display slide shows and even provide weather updates.
And while the process may appear complicated for the sheer volume of information that can be transmitted, Signera makes ease of use a top priority in all of its systems. At Providence Place, much of the information is updated daily by the receptionist. Staff enters the data through a secure Web link, and Signera does the rest. Events can be entered up to a year in advance. And if a glitch ever arises, Signera's technical assistance staff is a phone call away.
"We're happy to serve senior living communities like Providence Place," said David Fields, president of Signera. "Our company is all about helping businesses inform and engage their customers with stylized, professional and easy-to-use digital signage systems. It's gratifying to see our product used so effectively."
For more information on Signera products/services, visit www.signera.net.
