The Village of McFarland, a community of more than 9,500 residents located just southeast of Madison, WI, sought to enhance communication efforts on its government campus. The goal was to help all residents visiting these facilities easily access local updates on programs, events, and other important information concerning government services.
Partnering with long-term collaborator, Carousel Digital Signage, the village established a comprehensive digital signage network that includes the E.D. Locke Public Library and the McFarland Municipal Center, home to WCMF, McFarland’s municipal cable TV channel, along with the village’s Community and Economic Development, Senior Outreach Services, and Administration departments. Recently, the network expanded into the 56,000-square-foot Public Safety Center, which opened in August 2023 and houses the Police and Fire & Rescue departments and Municipal Court. With the addition of the Public Safety Center, the network now encompasses nine locations across three buildings.
“It was one of those things where the Public Safety Center was built; they needed messaging, and it was like a no-brainer,” said Ben Becs, media producer for the Village of McFarland. “We already have this. We have extra licenses. We can just put a TV in the public safety center and use Carousel Cloud to play digital signage for people attending court or looking for where they are in the building.”
At the McFarland Municipal Center, employees had long used Carousel Cloud to create bulletin board TV content integrated into WCMF’s broadcast schedule. When the Village of McFarland began using Carousel Cloud, they knew it had the opportunity to support some bigger plans in the future, especially with the ease it provides to design, publish, and manage content. “When Carousel announced Carousel Cloud, it was easy to realize that the sky’s the limit and we could do a lot more than show our cable channel,” said Becs.
Strategic Expansion
First, two digital displays were installed in the lobby of the McFarland Municipal Center. One showcased the cable channel schedule along with promotions for services and upcoming events, while the other offered a wayfinding experience by displaying a map of the facility and the daily event schedule within the building.
The displays at the Municipal Center were extremely well-received, prompting the library to implement the same technology. Five screens were set up in the library's main lobby, children’s section, teen section, adult section, and above the checkout desk. “The library screens remain lively and active, with a growing volume of rotating content mainly focused on library announcements and special events,” said Becs.
It also enables the library to provide custom, targeted content based on location within the library. “They have a screen in each of their major age group sections, so they can customize what they put on those screens,” explained Melanie Camellia, communications manager with the Village of McFarland. “If somebody is coming in the door, they're beelining for the teen section, then they can make sure that it's information relevant to teenagers and their parents on those screens.”
The Public Safety Center features a display in the lobby that faces the main public entrance. This display frequently highlights important public safety information and details about events taking place in the building that day.
“The goal of digital signage in the Public Safety Center is to represent all departments and present clear information that is easy to absorb,” said Becs. “Carousel makes that very easy because adding, editing, and scheduling content is very straightforward. The fire chief has become an enthusiastic contributor, using Canva tools to create content. Direct integration with Canva makes it simple to bring that content into Carousel Cloud’s CMS.”
It also offers a chance to rapidly disseminate messages when there is an urgent need to do so. “We can put messages up there if there is an emergency, the building is locked down, or if it's closed for the night or the weekend,” said Camellia.
Staff members across various departments can create content and have been trained to upload 16:9 1080p images. Additionally, the Communications Division can assist in producing content used throughout the network. Carousel Cloud’s user-friendly design allows all stakeholders to easily contribute content to the network, facilitating frequent updates of the signage network without overloading the five communications team members.
Keeping It Seamless
Vizio TVs were used for the displays, with Apple TV devices as media players. Through Carousel Cloud’s Apple TV app, digital signage content is recognized upon reaching the device, ensuring seamless connectivity.
Initially, the Apple TV media players were selected for their convenience, but Camellia did voice some mild concerns regarding technological security, and the Village of McFarland has plans to audit every piece of technology on campus to ensure there are no potential vulnerabilities. “The Apple TVs are on that list to be evaluated, but it doesn't mean we've determined that we need to make a switch,” said Camellia.
Internally, users have raised few complaints and only minor questions, like how to schedule or upload content, while the public has enjoyed engaging with it. “Every time I walk out, you'll see people coming to pay their bills or something like that, looking at the TVs,” said Becs. “So that makes you realize it's working for sure.”
The only issue they encountered was connected to human error, which is common when training individuals who may not be the most tech-savvy. “Sometimes somebody will upload something that’s in a square ratio or something like that, and then it looks weird because it automatically stretches it,” said Becs. “That can be a little bit awkward when you’re walking into the building and you’re like, oh, that happened.” Fortunately, that’s a simple fix when you see the content on the screen, and Becs noted that it’s becoming less common as everyone grows more comfortable with it.
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At present, there are no plans to expand the existing network, but that doesn’t mean the Village of McFarland wouldn’t be open to considering it if necessary. “As it stands right now, I don't think we've identified any pressing needs for additional monitors in specific locations,” said Camellia. “But we're always checking in with the various departments and would welcome any requests if there was something specific they noticed that we may not notice from where we're located.”
