Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s new Terminal 2 houses a $4.5 million digital signage network displaying flight and baggage information, corporate data and advertising.

“We use an IBM BladeCenter solution to drive all the different displays and content to the screens,” says Mark Posner, deputy airport director of information services. The airport network comprises between 250 and 280 NEC LCDs ranging in size from 32 inches to 65 inches, as well as a content management system. Professional services and integration costs, which include nine airline, FAA, Official Airline Guide (OAG) and other system interfaces, ran about $650,000.

“The blades are centralized in our communications room to control power and PCs from one location, which reduces the power, heating and cooling consumption,” Posner says. When a system requires repairs, it’s a simple matter of pulling out the blade and configuring it, rather than sending workers up on a lift to replace flight information display computers.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, digital signs capture the attention of passengers using an automated digital walkway. Worldwide advertising firm JCDecaux deployed 40 70-inch screens in clusters of five throughout a mile-long stretch of the airport.

JFK relies on C-nario’s software for content creation, management and control. The software maker’s product allows JFK to manage three channels of HD video on a single PC, reducing the number of PCs and expenses needed to run the installation.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Do your employees have trouble getting a wireless signal in your office building or is signal strength spotty in your home? Consider deploying an in-building wireless amplifier system to improve voice and data signal quality and data communication rates, extending cell phone battery life in the process.

Wilson Electronics’ In-Building Wireless Dual-Band SOHO 801245 Cellular/PCS Amplifier works on all generations of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), and can be used by multiple phones and cellular data cards. The device plugs into a standard wall outlet and requires two antennas — one outside and one inside — plus coaxial cable to connect the antennas to the amplifier. The product costs about $369 for the amplifier and power supply.

Voices

“The Miami-Dade County Emergency Operations Center has 15 40-inch flat-panel screens that are used to display updated emergency information during an activation.”

— Jaime Hernandez, public information officer, Miami-Dade County Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security

“We can utilize our digital signage network to give out community messages.”

— David Kellerman, retail manager, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

“In a budget crunch, a mixed revenue model is not a bad way to get the money to deploy digital signage.”

— Rick Sizemore, president and chief strategy officer, MultiMedia Intelligence

“Learning how to effectively support the hardware remotely, 24 hours a day, proved challenging for a small IT staff.”

— Chris Anelick, IT operations manager, Columbus (Ohio) Regional Airport Authority

By the Numbers

$2.6 billion

Projected revenue for digital signs in 2011, according to InfoTrends

103-inch

Size of New York City Hall’s Panasonic plasma HDTV screen

$150,000

Amount allocated by the Federal Highway Administration to study the effects of digital billboards on drivers

40 Percent

New digital displays using SMS for interactivity by 2012, as forecast by MultiMedia Intelligence

$5,893

Five-year cost per display for hardware, electrical power, software and IT, according to MultiMedia Intelligence

18,000

Estimated number of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employees who will be reached by a new 33-location digital signage network