In total, 120 screens display information on different locations of Fontys colleges. These screens are can be divided roughly into three groups: the large 65” screens that are mounted in the big hall or canteen of every building, the displays that are installed at the entrance of every building, and the screens that are situated elsewhere, for example in the corridors or study rooms of the various premises. Upon that, each of them is a touchscreen. Toine van den Berg, functional manager of the narrowcasting system at Fontys: “In principle, all monitors are managed by us. But the content of some of the monitors is determined and placed by the various institutes themselves. There is often information displayed on them, which is specifically important for the group of students who pass there.”

That information is offered in many different versions. Toine van den Berg: “Basically, we operate all the monitors ourselves. But the content of some of the monitors is also determined and placed by the various institutes themselves. This refers in particular to monitors that are mounted at the study landscapes and in the corridors. On these monitors, information is displayed which is of particular importance to the group of students that pass there.” The latter also counts for the monitors that have been placed at the entrance of every building. Toine van den Berg: “That information is indeed focused on the building where the screen is situated. That way, the absence-notification of teachers and employees is displayed, but also practical information such as new opening times or digital signage.”

The screens in the halls of the buildings are inter alia used for general, Fontys or institute-oriented information. This can be text, PowerPoint presentations, movies and more. “At the locations of Fontys colleges for Art, for example, there are movies played on the large screens, which the students developed themselves” says Toine van den Berg. “These screens are also regularly used for streaming video: watching along in some other hall or on at another location of Fontys.”

“Since recently there is also a link with MeteoConsult, due to which the weather and traffic information is automatically displayed on the screens”, van den Berg adds. “And on some of the screens there is tickertape playing with the latest news. Besides that, we are presently busy with a link with the public transport site 9292. With that we will offer an extra service to students and visitors.”

According to Toine van den Berg, it is particularly important to utilise the different screens in a smart way. “It is pointless to play a movie of 2 minutes in a corridor where the students just walk past. At such places there should be short practical information shown that is relevant to those students. That movie can always be played at the canteen. Within Fontys we are presently actively busy trying to provide the screens with content in an even smarter way.”

A part of the policy is, inter alia, the agreements about the use of corporate identity templates and clear definitions of the various sorts of information that is displayed on the screen, such as action and theme communication, promotional information and, of course, organisational information; Fontys-based or per institute. Toine van den Berg: “We want to make better use of the narrowcasting system. As an IT service, we work closely for that with the department Marketing & Communications. Together, we work towards an optimal use of the monitors.”

Upon that, Fontys colleges continue to expand the use of the narrowcasting system, just as much in the quantity of screens as in the functionalities that the system offers. That’s how, by now there have been links achieved with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and as mentioned earlier, MeteoConsult. And with the new Fontys Sports College, which has been built in Eindhoven, again there will be many new AV gadgets involved.

Toine van den Berg: “Whatever number of monitors and locations are added, the system continues to remain easy to manage for us, all from one spot. I manage all the screens myself, and besides that, I can assign rights to ‘local’ managers, whereby they see only their own screens. We are having a lot of consultation with the institutes, not only about the technical application of the system, but also about the content. What do the institutes want, and in particular the students of that institute, what would they themselves like to see on the screens? Luckily I get a lot of positive reactions about the system.”

Toine van den Berg is indeed very satisfied about narrowcasting of LeftClick: “narrowcasting is one of the resources for us with which we can reach out to our students very well. The service of LeftClick is also very good; they are very well reachable and they take action fast. I am also very satisfied about their ticket system, with which you can make an inquiry yourself, or register a certain problem. The relationship with LeftClick is very good.”