- As competition intensifies to attract and enroll college students, key amenities such as wireless and digital signage play an increasingly important role in influencing a student's decision on where to spend their college years.
"Schools that offer Wi-Fi and digital signage technologies are not only meeting student demand, but they are broadcasting their willingness to embrace technology as a key contributor to student success, on campus and out in the real world," said Charles Brady, CEO of Apogee. "They're making an unequivocal statement to students, their parents and alumni that their needs have been heard and are being addressed."
With the widespread adoption of digital learning, seamless Wi-Fi access is now a "must-have" technology for campuses. Meeting student expectations for Wi-Fi has both strategic and bottom line implications, affecting the overall competitiveness of the institution and future employability of students.
When choosing a Wi-Fi provider, Brady advises that schools consider factors that go a long way to mitigate budgetary risks and reduce total costs.
"Administrators will be well-served to take into account hidden costs that affect budgetary stability and outcomes over the lifetime of the system. These include future upgrades, troubleshooting and maintenance costs as well as the availability of 24/7 support," he said.
Apogee combats rapidly-inflating costs through guaranteed service levels built into every partner university agreement, and maintains adaptable solutions that predict and stay ahead of quickly developing technologies and changing student preferences.
In addition to Wi-Fi, Digital signage has emerged as a cost-effective and adaptable way to increase student and staff engagement in real time.
Apogee has custom designed its digital signage solution for the modern campus. More than simply displaying announcements, Apogee's Campus Life Channel, part of its revolutionary Stream2 video platform, provides a one-stop hub for student/faculty announcements, emergency alerts, campaigns, social media and advertisements. The ability to collect and display varied content in real time builds community, awareness and advertising revenue, fostering a sense of a shared experience.
To date, the Campus Life Channel has enabled schools to run successful social media campaigns, achieve record student voter turnout in freshman elections, and increased attendance at school events.
