How Can Digital Bulletin Board Enhance Internal Communication ?

A bulletin board at MIT with layers of sticky flyers
27

Oct

Let’s start with a fun fact:

Nobody ever gets rid of the old notes on a bulletin board!

We all have seen those giant cork bulletin boards that are full of torn papers, outdated information, and uncategorized content pinned at the same place.

Now, let’s ask ourselves a question:

How many times do we stop to read the information and announcements displayed on a bulletin board any time we walk past them?

The answer will be ‘very few.’

Be it in the classrooms of a college or in the corporate corridors; the bright and fancy leaflets seldom serve their real purpose: communication. After all, who has the sharp eyes to figure out a new bulletin posted on top of a jumble of old posters, notices, pamphlets, and flyers?

A electronic bulletin board system has the upper hand over its traditional version because it never loses the information.

percentage representation of visual learners

So, what is a Digital Bulletin Board?

Digital Bulletin Board uses digital signage displays (like LED screens or TV monitors) and digital signage software instead of the traditional cork board, pins, and papers to communicate and spread information.

Unlike the conventional and messy pinboards, the information is orderly disseminated on digital screens with the help of a digital bulletin board software.

digital signage displaying bulletin board information

…And what are its advantages over pin-boards?

  • Dynamic Content:

    Paper is a static medium. It cannot display moving contents like videos, audio, and GIFs. But, a digital screen can play dynamic content.

    According to a Hubspot survey, 54% of consumers expect video content from their preferred brands.

    Therefore, dynamic contents are visually attractive and provide a greater scope of interaction. It means you can quickly grab the reader’s attention through these moving digital bulletin board templates, and your purpose of transferring information will get fulfilled.

  • Publish In Real-Time:

    Contents for a digital bulletin board can be drafted, uploaded, updated, removed, and changed in a matter of seconds.

    It saves a whole lot of time and effort needed for printing, not to mention the cost of it too. Moreover, the content can get changed within seconds in case of any mistake. That is something not possible with the cork bulletin boards.

    With digital bulletin board software, it becomes incredibly easy to display live content like stock market updates, live news, gold prices, etc. This can be done as different software can be made to work in sync with each other via integrations like API, webhooks, etc.

  • Display Multiple Contents Without Overlap:

    Unlike traditional bulletin boards with overlapping layers of pamphlets and flyers, digital bulletin board software can play multiple contents in a loop, in a controlled manner.

    It gives the audience a more personalized experience. Plus, the information does not get lost under one another. A reader can easily spot the relevant content conveniently here.

  • Environment-friendly:

    According to a report, 25% of landfill waste comes from discarded paper. Another study shows that switching to a digital alternative can save about 728,000 trees!

    Handbills and pamphlets serve their purpose only for a limited time. Later, it all ends up inside the trash cans. With the world becoming more and more concerned about environmental pollution, the onus of preventing our nature from further damage lies in all of our consciences.

    Going forward with a digital information board is therefore not only preferable but a much-needed change.

  • Cost-Effective:

    A digital bulletin board is not only beneficial for the environment, but it is also helpful for you. It requires no expensive hardware. Moreover, buying the hardware and software for digital bulletin boards is just a one-time investment. Most of the good quality digital signage hardware is known to have steep longevity.

    On top of that, switching to a digital bulletin board saves you the recurring cost of printing that comes with every new announcement.

  • No Missing Information:

    The pamphlets on the pin bulletin boards get secured with thumb pins or other similar objects. In case you fail to put up the paper correctly, it will fly away, and no benefit will be obtained through it.

    Similarly, the document can get lost if someone snatches it from the board. Here, your efforts, money, and purpose will all get wasted. But the problem can be solved with digital bulletin boards. No information can fly away from it. So you need not worry about anything, and you can conveniently upload all the announcements.

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What Can You Display on Digital Bulletin Boards?

There are a variety of use cases for a digital bulletin board. Based on the industry, you can use digital bulletin boards for sharing any information, updates, notices, news and welcoming new employees, customers, and visitors to your company or organization. When it comes to what you can display on a digital bulletin board, the options are many.

  1. Internal Bulletin and Updates

    Digital bulletin boards for offices are ideal for integrating company communications, whether for employees or customers. From sales goals to HR notifications, product updates for customers, company news, employee recognition, and more, everything can be integrated into a digital bulletin board.

  2. YouTube and Videos

    Stream YouTube playlist or videos, or incorporate videos about your organization, stream the YouTube channel of your company, training clips, product use cases, how-to videos, etc. The options are vast, and the best part is that you can always update the bulletin within a matter of minutes.

  3. Event Listings and Schedules

    Digital bulletin boards for schools and offices can be used to display daily schedules, full calendars, and meeting listings. Schools and other educational institutions looking to automate the process of displaying aspects like a day’s schedule of students, teachers, upcoming cultural events, etc. can use digital bulletin boards.

    Moreover, offices and other commercial spaces can use digital bulletin boards for displaying upcoming delivery dates, upcoming events, schedules for meetings, etc. This not only streamlines the process of displaying your events but also ensures that the information is updated promptly.

    Organizations and institutions can integrate Google Calendar, Office 365, or Exchange Calendar with the digital bulletin board to update events in real-time.

  4. Weather and Traffic Reports

    Digital bulletin boards are also ideal for displaying local weather information. You can incorporate weather reports into the digital bulletin board content. Or, you can screen an all-day weather forecast that updates as the weather changes. Many organizations also use bulletin boards to display real-time traffic updates of their cities.

  5. Scrolling Tickers and News

    You can also add news headlines and other notifications to a digital bulletin board. A scrolling ticker is an ideal way to display such details as it not only adds a subtle motion to the content but also grabs the attention of the prospects.

  6. Slideshows

    Last but not least, many organizations and businesses use slideshows to display meaningful information. From PowerPoint slides to videos, PNGs, JPGs, PDFs, and JPEGs, you can display any format of your choice to the bulletin board. The best part is that apart from media files, you can also insert live web URLs that rotate through the metric dashboard and Google Slides.

If you are still with us, we can guess that you already agree: The benefits of the digital bulletin board system are aplenty!

So now, let’s see some use cases of digital bulletin board software to give you some brilliant industry-specific digital bulletin board ideas. It is important to point out here that digital information boards find purpose in almost every possible industry vertical.

Digital Bulletin Board Software for Education

The school and college-going generation is the most multitasking population. Between endless classes, library hours, and a host of extracurricular activities; announcements made on tiny flyers pinned to a corkboard get frequently overlooked. This dissolves the entire purpose of putting up the information in the first place. The only solution here is a digital bulletin board.

According to research conducted by William C. Bradford, roughly 65% of people are visual learners. As a result, most students tend to absorb and retain information more when it is communicated visually. That is why in the education sector, digital bulletin boards have far better chances of turning heads than conventional bulletin boards.

Digital bulletin boards can play dynamic contents like changing images, videos and other forms of graphics. There is a ‘fun element’ to it that seems to resonate effectively among the youth and millennial masses.

A few digital bulletin board ideas for schools, colleges, and universities include:

  • Real-time update on change in class schedules, event cancellation, etc.
  • A last-minute reminder of project deadlines
  • Playing engaging videos of fire safety mock drills, safety guidelines, best hygiene practices from time to time
  • Display of digital citizenship best practices and digital safety guidelines
  • Conducting digital design contests to boost student interaction and participation
  • Display a map or a guide through the campus
  • A simple ‘Congratulations!’ message to the winning sports team or a ‘Best of luck’ before the examination or a warm ‘Happy Holidays’ wish can make all the difference.

All in all, we can say that digital bulletin board software will help the students in receiving all the necessary information without much hassle.

Digital Bulletin Board Software for Office

Other domains that can benefit from the digital bulletin boards are the offices and corporations. According to TechSmith, visual communication has a higher positive impact on employee performance than a textual medium. Therefore, a digital bulletin board has the potential to bring remarkable reforms in corporate communication.

People can easily convey their messages or make announcements without the hassle of designing and printing flyers. This means faster communication. One has to simply type in a few words and the digital bulletin board software takes care of broadcasting the information across the targeted audience. It’s as straightforward as sending e-mails.

Comparison graphical representation of visual communication vs text alone

A few digital bulletin board ideas for internal office communication:

  • Display company mission and vision statements, workplace codes of conduct, best practices, news and weather, relevant social media posts, departments and employee details, project deadlines, upcoming holidays, employee birthdays, etc.

  • Updates on upcoming meeting schedules, audit visits, client visits, running projects, issuance of tenders, etc.

  • A digital bulletin board software can also be used to stream constantly-refreshing RSS feeds from multiple channels through software integrations. Relevant RSS feeds can help people to stay updated on their areas of interest.

  • Digital bulletin boards can also be used to show real-time minutes of meeting (mom) as the meeting progresses.

  • There is another significant mileage of using a digital information board software for office communications. A digital info board software can be integrated with other office apps like Slack, Google Sheets, Google Slides, or in-house company systems to collect and selectively drive data across departments, communication channels, and project groups for faster, and improved work coordination.

  • With the advantage of mobile integration, employees can scan a QR code and download manuals, submit feedback, suggestions, and minutes of meetings directly from the digital bulletin boards into their smartphones.

Organizations that use information board software to communicate with employees, promote an expression of modernity and professionalism. The list of applications does not end here. Using digital signage software in offices open countless fresh & inventive ways of internal collaboration and inter-department communication that is, by and large, unachievable with the conventional cork & pin bulletin boards.

Digital Bulletin Board Software for Other Sectors

Aside from internal communication, digital information boards also play an important role in external communication as well as the development of brand value in many sectors. As it is a dynamic content delivery medium, it can easily command more audience attention as compared to conventional flyers and pamphlets.

A few digital bulletin board ideas for different sectors:

  • Fitness training institutes can use digital information boards to display a wide range of personalized diet plans (for example, based on categories like body weight, selected training program, etc.).

    Learn more: digital signage for gyms & fitness centers

  • Retail stores can display out-of-stock item lists, feedbacks, closing time countdowns, or special notices like ‘The Shop Will Remain Closed till Monday for Maintenance’.

  • For churches, digital bulletin boards can display church visiting hours, prayer hymns, texts from The Bible, life lessons, upcoming event updates, etc.

  • The hospitality sector can use digital bulletin boards to play ‘Welcome’ videos featuring various amenities, layouts of the hotels or, to announce the name of a musical band playing later in the day.

  • For households, digital information boards can help to plan out the weekly and monthly schedule in advance, remind specific tasks, display shopping lists, etc.

A digital bulletin board software can help you if you want to deliver specific information to a set of people publicly. While making your task much more convenient, the board will also grab better attention. It means your purpose will get solved more efficiently. This results in effective communication.

Conclusion

Nowadays, with people always hooked on their smartphones, tablets, and laptops, it is becoming more challenging to attract attention with just bright colors and highlighted texts. Plus, no one is interested in looking at a piece of paper that may or may not hold anything relevant for them.

Gone are the days when companies displayed information on notice boards in common areas like lobbies and waiting rooms. Technological advancement and communication tools have undoubtedly become an unstoppable trend.

In this age, only better technology can divert our attention from another technological devices. So these boards digital information boards prove to be extremely beneficial for delivering your message to the desired group of people, whether it is a group of college-goers or a team of professionals, or simply the general audience of a certain business.

FAQs

1. What is a digital bulletin board?

Digital bulletin boards, also known as digital notice boards, digital information boards, or digital display boards are tech-version of the traditional cork pinboards. Instead of paper, these bulletin boards use digital screens to display information, notices, and announcements.

Information can be shown in the form of texts, images, videos or dynamic graphics or even be a combination of all these. The biggest plus point of using digital bulletin boards is that the contents can be edited and updated quickly and also presented in a very organized and appealing manner.

2. How to create a digital bulletin board?

Digital bulletin boards are very easy to make if you have the bare minimum accessories. To make a digital display board, the first thing you need is suitable hardware, that is, a digital screen. Next, you will need the message that you want to display. It can be an image file (.png, .jpeg, .jpg) document file (.pdf, .ppt, .html) or other graphic formats (.gif, .mp4).

Taking your message on screen can be done in various ways; you can screencast your content (if your device supports casting screen) or follow the tedious path of playing the content with a USB device. But, the best way to deliver your contents on screen is to use digital signage software. Using a software for digital bulletin boards can save a lot of time, energy and improve the quality of message sharing.

For further insights, read our blog on how to make a digital bulletin board.

3. Can I use my TV as a digital bulletin board?

Yes, you can use a TV as a digital bulletin board, provided your TV has at least one HDMI input and supports internet connectivity. Smart TVs or TVs converted into smart TVs with the help of a media player are suitable.

However, it is important to note here that televisions are made for domestic use, they are not ideal for long run time or 24/7 active use. However, depending on your requirement, you can still choose to use your TV as a digital bulletin board.

4. How much will the best digital signage system cost?

Digital bulletin boards or digital display boards are ultimately digital signage systems that are run by a software. The price of digital display boards depends on your business requirements and factors like the screen size, hardware model, etc.

The best digital signage company is the one that offers monthly or yearly subscription-based pricing. The biggest advantage of this pricing model is that you pay only as long as you use the application. You can cancel anytime.

Pickcel offers competitive subscription rates. Check our pricing page for more information.

Get in touch with us to Learn more about Pickcel’s solution for digital bulletin boards

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Namrata Chakraborty

Namrata is the content marketer for Pickcel. She enjoys writing and her area of expertise is where art meets science & technology.

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