Considering adding a digital directory to your building lobby? Digital directories are a great investment–they'll enable you to display property rental and listing information and communicate important announcements and information with building visitors through a medium that 76% of respondents to a Neilsen survey said has higher message recall than online ads.

As with any tech investment, you'll want to do your homework. We've created a quick look at some of the key areas to focus on when you're doing your research. A digital directory system is only useful to you if it's painless to deploy and easy to update.

When the time comes to request quotes, make sure you're talking to your potential solution provider about the following topics:

Getting the Right Features

Just because it's called a Digital Directory doesn't mean it can't bring a whole lot more to the table than a simple directory listing. Some of the features you should be thinking about include: property rental and leasing listings, scrolling news, social media feeds, advertising spaces, photo and video galleries, custom branding and colors, and events and meeting calendars.

Whether or Not Custom Design is Included and How It's Priced

This may be the most critical evaluation point when it comes to selecting a digital directory solution provider. The digital sign software industry is highly competitive, but many of the companies either expect their customers to build their own content using the tool they sell, or, they price their custom design services per project, making it very difficult to estimate the cost of a custom designed system.
Be sure to ask about custom design and pricing--make sure there aren't limitations to the features that can be included in your system. Lastly, ask for examples of past work to get an idea of the quality of design you can expect.

Digital Display Quality: Is It Built-for-Business?

When it comes to digital displays–not all are created equal. The demands of a business environment are much more rigorous–typically, a digital directory system is running all-day and commercial product lines will feature advanced burn-in protection to avoid images becoming "frozen" into the display.

Other features of commercial displays include:

Hardened enclosures that stand up to wear-and-tear
Additional input ports that allow for communication between the display and the media playing device
Standard 3-Year Warranties

Find an Easy-to-Update and Scalable System

Maintaining and keeping your system up-to-date is of critical importance. Many digital directory software providers assume that you have design and technical professionals on staff (and perhaps you do!) but if you're like most commercial building management firms, you probably need a system that can be updated by non-technical office personnel.

The best way to understand exactly what the directory updating process entails is to request a demo from the solution provider you're evaluating. You'll want to preview the software to get a feel for the level of technical proficiency and ease-of-use for your new system. Lastly, if you're interesting in scaling your system to other floors or building, inquire as to whether the system is easy to scale and deploy in other locations.

Make Sure Training & Support Are Included

The relationship with your chosen vendor doesn't stop once your digital directory system is setup, looking beautiful and bringing you in new business. Make sure your staff is trained on how to update the system as things change and who to call if things go wrong or they have questions. Best-in-class providers will supply you with a support line that you can reach out to for resolving issues immediately. Don't get caught up in a ticketing system that will leave your system out of service for days at a time.

If you found this post useful, consider downloading The Ultimate Guide to Digital Directory Systems to go into more detail about what digital directory systems can do for your business:

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