What is a digital reader board?

Standing in a hotel lobby, waiting for your friend to checkout, have you ever gone through the hotel’s service list on a digital signage screen? Perhaps the list kept scrolling on its own at specific intervals.

Have you recently been in a rush and landed at a hotel without prior booking? Then, you must have checked the tariff on a digital screen, slowly but pleasantly slide-showing the charges and facilities. Got carried away with the luxury suites and booked one?

You have already been introduced to a digital reader board then.

A digital reader board, also known as a digital announcement board, is a screen that communicates important messages and information. You can share any readable information such as weather updates, news, meeting summary, holiday lists, upcoming events, amenities, offers, menus, or list information like directories. You may use dedicated apps like text board, digital bulletin board, or simply put up a minimum-graphics, text-based presentation on your digital reader screen.

Types of digital reader boards

Digital reader boards are used across multiple industries. Based on where it is used and how it is deployed, we have listed down 3 major types.

1. Indoor digital reader board

You will find digital reader boards displayed in the meeting room, waiting room, lobby, reception, and adjoining areas. Sometimes you will find one or two screens right after the entrance to an office building and near the inquiry desks. All of these are indoor reader boards. So, if it is inside, within the four-wall premises, small or large, it is an indoor digital reader board.

2. Outdoor digital reader board

You must have come across digital brand advertisements along the roads, shopping malls, parks, hospitals, and outside places of major significance. Such outdoor digital announcement boards are generally large; often billboard screens can also play the role of a reader board.

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3. Interactive digital reader board

With advanced software & technology, you can turn your digital reader board into an interactive medium of sharing information. Your audience will not only read your content but will also be able to swipe, scroll, select, zoom in and download the same for future reference.

So, with an interactive digital reader board, you can actually make people bear your brand name in their minds for a longer time. And it also makes revisiting your products and services easier with scan & download features.

Interactive digital reader boards can be of 2 types.

Touchless

Touchless interactivity can come in many forms. QR code scan & download, voice control, and motion sensors. Recently, air-touch technology has been introduced, which allows you to select & swipe tabs with gestures 6-9 cm away from screens. So, technically, it’s a touchless function. These types of screens are also referred to as virtual touchscreen displays.

Here’s an example of how touchless displays can be brilliantly multipurpose.

Touchscreen

We are all aware of what touchscreen technology is. So, when it comes to the digital reader boards, it is nothing but making the information on the screen easily accessible by the viewers with touchscreen functions.

Do you have offers & discounts up for grabs? Help your customers interact with the screen comfortably. Let them click on the products, visit your e-commerce site and add their favorites to the cart directly from the screen, using the interactive digital board technology.

When your audience can touch, click, and scroll through your screens, they engage with your brand better and more effectively.

10 Examples of content for your digital reader boards

You can run the following content on your digital reader board and build a more substantial audience engagement.

1. Notice & announcements

No need to send emails to each department or notify every employee individually about an urgent business. Instead, update the message on a digital reader board using a bulletin board app, and draw everyone’s attention to the message at once. In schools and corporate offices, you’ll find more of its use.

2. Building directories

Digital directories show building information like resident names, door numbers, occupancy details, availability of rooms for tenants, building management phone numbers, building maps, shop names and floor maps.

Unlike traditional building directories, digital ones inform the building details to the visitors much more efficiently with bright fonts, vibrant colors and images. These types of reader boards improve the aesthetics of your building while adding convenience.

3. Welcome messages

Is there a new employee in the office? Is there a special guest arriving at the hotel? Are you experiencing an unexpected flow of customers at the retail store during a seasonal discount offer?

Greet them all with a warm welcome message on the digital reader board so that not only them but the other employees and visitors also get to see and appreciate it. This strengthens your brand ethics and creates a sustainable positive impression.

4. Schedules

On a digital reader board, one can display office meeting schedules, service operations, event timings, exam schedules, and many more. This is one of many reasons the digital announcement board finds its use in varied industries and departments. You can simply make the timetables or schedule charts on Google Spreadsheets and play the same on digital screens.

5. Queue information

Managing queues at retail stores and banks is not a burden anymore. You can display queue information on digital reader boards, show live queue ticket numbers and counter numbers, and avoid all kinds of chaos. Customers will know when and where to go.

They can sit in the waiting area, keep an eye on the digital reader board signs, and wait for their turns patiently. This helps reduce perceived wait time and offers a better customer experience.

6. Service list

Have you been handling multiple inquiries about the services and amenities you offer? Do you have a special service list for VIP guests? Have you added a handful of new services for your health center? Just update the service list from your computer using a digital reader board software and show it on screen instantly.

Reader boards can also use scrolling texts to inform trivial information along side the primary content.

7. Live updates

Digital reader boards are not only used for information dissemination, they can also entertain the visitors waiting in lobbies and bored in the lounge. That is why these screens are often called ‘Lobby boards.’ These lobby boards can play interesting live feeds on various topics – movies, award ceremonies, politics, weather updates, games & sports, stocks & shares, and live event streaming.

8. E-brochures

Many of your customers won’t visit your website. They may randomly glance at the products and make their purchase decisions, or they may not. So, you can bring your products to them on the giant LED screens and ensure they don’t miss any of your best-sellers. Display the digital product catalog or the e-brochure on the digital reader board screens and advertise your brand in style.

You can also slideshow your company profile on the screens and make your audience aware of who you are and how you have evolved in the past years.

9. Rules & regulations

Financial institutes, public offices, corporate offices, police stations, educational institutes, hospitals— all these sectors often rely on redundant cardboard signs and paper notices to display rules & regulations.

A digital reader board software enables the administration to centrally update designated screens with organizational guidelines.

10. News bulletins

News is a must-have content for any reader board screen. Whether you are showing the live local news, or syndicated content via the RSS feeds of popular websites, this form of infotainment grabs eyeballs.

Where can you use digital reader boards?

Digital reader boards have multiple uses (I hope you have gathered that already from the content types and examples). The following are some places where the digital reader board finds its best use:

• Hotel lobbies

• Waiting rooms

• Lounges & Restrooms

• Reception area

• Hospital receptions & corridors

• Retail stores

• Shopping malls

• Movie theaters

• Entrance & exit gates

• Stadiums

• Office lawns

Apart from these, you can use digital reader board signs to declare safety measures or direct your visitors to the correct location with pointers, symbols, and icons. Use it wherever you find it suitable and needed.

Difference between electronic reader board & digital reader board

What can make you understand the difference more than the two images below?

Electronic Reader Board

Digital Reader Board

Electronic reader board messages are displayed using LED lights. They offer a monotonous color blend – usually red, yellow or green digits & alphabets on a black electronic board.

The appeal of an electronic message board is somewhat dull. With a digital reader board, you can experiment with your content in many ways and create a unique brand voice. To display time or show a small message like ‘Store Open’ or ‘Sale Going On’, electronic boards can work fine, but digital reader boards are the best and only resort for more significant messages.

How to make a digital reader board with Pickcel software

To create a digital reader board for your business, you will need 4 elements. High-quality digital screens, digital signage player, digital signage software or Content Management System, and a high-speed internet connection.

Choosing Pickcel as your digital reader board software will bring a massive difference in the content, both in type and style. It comes with free apps and widgets that make digital reader board content creation effortless.

Also, the software allows integration with different channels and platforms. It also lets you schedule media for each screen to have an automated content update without manual intervention.

Already registered for Pickcel? Let’s create digital reader board signs together.

Step 1: Place the LED screens in suitable locations and at a proper viewing distance.

Step 2: Connect the screens with digital signage players or media players using HDMI or VGA ports.

Step 3: Once the media players are connected properly (check for the power-on light), download the Pickcel software.

Step 4: Pair your screens with the Pickcel console using the 6-digit registration code that appears once the software is launched

Step 5: Compose your content, save it in the media, and hit publish to display super engaging content on your digital reader boards.

For a detailed tutorial, watch this video.

So, what are you waiting for? Take assistance from the list we have here, add your brilliant ideas to it, and plan your digital reader board content today!