From small primary schools to large public universities, all educational institution needs to be able to effectively communicate with students, staff and visitors. While email, text and mobile apps have made the task easier, nothing beats public-facing digital signage displays for broadcasting important messages for all to see, and keeping messages relevant at different times of day and days of the week. Combined with a queue management package that lets people use their mobile phones to wait in line without gathering in large crowds, these systems can help enforce social distancing rules and promote public health and safety.

Digital Signs in Schools Let You:

Keep students informed by posting meeting dates, tryouts and current events calendars, along with special notices from the administration.
Provide wayfinding maps for new students and visitors, via signage and touchscreen kiosks in lobbies and other high-traffic areas.
Implement socially-distanced lines and queues to keep crowds from forming during busy times like class registration, job fairs and sports events.
Show schedules and booking information to make the most of shared meeting rooms and classrooms.
Deliver news broadcasts produced by students or third parties.
Deliver emergency alerts and public safety information to students, faculty and staff during safety drills and unplanned events. Display information on accolades and awards
Provide faculty training and safety videos via signage in break rooms and staff-only areas to enforce existing safety standards and highlight safety performance.
Show health info and healthy meal items on digital menu boards in cafeterias and vending machine areas.

What about Social Distancing?

Students are used to waiting on line. It's one of the first skills we learn in elementary school (or before), and we'll continue to practice it -- whether we want to or not -- for the rest of our lives! But sometimes it's not really necessary to wait on line while waiting on line. High schools, colleges, universities and technical schools all share the problem of having to plan for peak-traffic periods, even when they only happen a few times a year. Popular high school sporting events can literally fill stadiums. Colleges, universities and trade schools all must content with tense, crowded registration periods. Now more than ever, staff and students don't want to wait in a crowd, and administrations don't want those crowds congregating if they don't have to.

With a system like the FireCast SmartFlow Queue Management System, though, schools can more effectively utilize their indoor and outdoor space to better handle long lines and reduce crowds by letting students, staff and visitors enter a queue using their mobile phone, and then wait anywhere nearby until it's their turn to come inside, come up to the counter, or take a seat -- whatever the case may be.