Digital Signage as A Notification Channel

When considering options for mass notification, emergency managers are generally accustomed to sending alerts through telephones, mobile devices and email. Yet, an interesting (perhaps controversial) option growing in public reach is the digital sign or digital outdoor billboard.

Digital sign deployments on campuses, in facilities and within complexes continues to expand. And, these signs are not confined to closed networks within buildings. As advertisers vie for attention, and consumers require greater sophistication in visual content, municipalities are witnessing an increase in the number of digital billboards on highways and highly-trafficked areas according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

Whether for or against this trend, the movement is noteworthy for emergency managers as these devices appear to have implications for public alerting. For example, last month outdoor advertiser Clear Channel Outdoor and the FBI unveiled a digital billboard in Times Square designed to "highlight wanted fugitives, missing persons and high-priority security messages."

The billboard is apparently part of a nationwide partnering initiative which enables the FBI to highlight: violent criminals, kidnap victims, missing children, bank robbers, and more. The FBI currently has access to more than 1,500 billboards in more than 40 states through this initiative.

It's no stretch to imagine mass notification systems linked to local billboards, perhaps targeting very specific geographic areas of a city. Further, one can imagine private networks within malls, hospitals, office buildings, etc. open to receiving authenticated emergency alerts through a standard messaging protocol such as CAP (Common Alerting Protocol).

Such devices may even be useful for collecting situational data from citizens at the scene of a crisis. According to Sanjay Manandhar, CEO of Aerva, a company that develops software to drive digital displays, signs can be programmed in real-time through a web-based interface to collect feedback using SMS polling (such systems are being used currently for events such as concerts and trade shows). Perhaps this feature can be used in creative ways to solicit incident-related information.

It will certainly be interesting to see how new methods of notification will emerge over the next decade. Digital signage technology may become a widely-accepted channel for delivering critical information as its penetration continues to deepen.

All the best,

Lorin


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