In this case study, we explore how St John Properties uses DataPoint to create their building lobby digital signage directories.
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About St. John Properties
St. John Properties is a commercial Real Estate company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. St. John Properties has developed, built, maintain, and owns 22 million square feet of office, flex/research & development, retail, warehouse, and residential space.
That’s a lot of building lobbies!
As you can imagine, St John Properties has a lot of properties to manage with a lot of companies occupying space.
When people visit these properties or delivery people arrive, they need a way to find out where the office or space the business they are looking for is located. So it is important that buildings have a business directory in the lobby. St. John Properties has 28 buildings in need of business directories.
St John Properties was using an old digital directory touch screen system for their lobby directories, but the software used to host the information was proprietary and clumsy to use.
St John Properties decided that it was time for a change, so they started looking for something new and found our DataPoint software.
The DataPoint Solution for Lobby Digital Signage
DataPoint made it possible for St. John Properties to create their own lobby digital signage business directories without having to learn a new software tool.
They are now able to use PowerPoint to design their lobby screens, a software tool that their business already had, and many team members were already comfortable with its use to create templates for the directory.
This makes it easier for anyone on their team to create directories while still maintaining the touch screen functionality that was needed for the project.
DataPoint also allowed them to use Microsoft Excel as the backend to hold all of the tenant data and locations to be shown in the directory by creating a live connection between PowerPoint and Excel. Employees can make updates to the directories as needed within Excel without changing the PowerPoint presentation and messing up the business directory layouts.
So they can simply add a tenant or change a tenant’s name in the building list within Excel and the lobby directory PowerPoint will automatically update, using the real-time link created with DataPoint.
The Lobby Digital Signage Directory Screens
The touch screen lobby directories let people search by company name, or by an individual and to see the floor and suite where they are located.
Users can also explore local area amenities such as restaurants, banking, and accommodation.
They can also quickly find the contact information for the property managers and access after-hours emergency contact information.
In addition to these features, St. John Properties added a ticker (using DataPoint) to the top of each lobby screen that displays RSS feed news and weather information along with the current date and time. These screens also feature branding from St. John Properties so that visitors know exactly who they’re dealing with when they enter one of their buildings!
The Results
The directories look great, are easy to use for visitors, and are very easy to update by employees. The new lobby digital signage directories have received great reviews from the Property Managers and end-users.
