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How to get started with school cafeteria digital signage

Technology in education isn’t just limited to the classroom, it is increasingly being used in many areas such as with school cafeteria digital signage.

The days of unappetising school dinners have long gone. But as schools grow in size, cafeterias have had to adapt and become more efficient. After all, it can be tricky to process large numbers of children in a limited timeframe – typically during break times as well as lunch.

From providing information about what’s on the school menu to helping to reduce the length of queues with smart PoS and self-service terminals, there are plenty of ways in which you can exploit technology to improve a cafeteria’s efficiency and productivity. Advertise your wares One obvious benefit of a digital signage solution is that it’s dynamic. You can easily update it with the latest data, whether that’s providing information about school opening times, what’s available on the menu or advertising the daily special. Choose a display like those in the ASUS SA Series and you get an industrial-grade, energy efficient panel that’s designed to deliver reliable operation and economical running costs. These screens give you lots of options as they can be wall-mounted in portrait or landscape orientation. These SA Series displays come equipped with all the tools you need to deliver eye-catching messaging, including a built-in Android OS and pre-installed ASUS SignArrange software. The latter offers a user-friendly way to design and play content from a series of templates, using content that can either be stored locally (on a USB thumb drive or an SD card), or pulled remotely from a network folder.

The user guide comprehensively steps you through the process of naming and organising your content into specific folders and sub-folders, which are named to match your choice of content template and which zone you want that content to appear in. The templates themselves are split into three categories: landscape, portrait and number calling – the latter used to process a queue of orders. You can then show individual templates on a schedule or select a series of templates to cycle through, with a set interval between each template. Text can also be displayed easily, with various options available for bringing it on-screen (for example, by sliding or scrolling it into view). Go self-service Congestion is a problem in even the best-run cafeteria, which is where technology can help reduce delays and ease the flow of students from the queue to lunch tables. Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems and self-service vending machines are two such examples. Here, All-in-One (AiO) PCs with touchscreens can provide both children and staff with a user-friendly, efficient frontend. But don’t assume that any AiO model will suffice. Firstly, any touchscreen device in this scenario needs to be business-grade, designed to withstand the rigours of daily use in a restaurant setting. Secondly, the AiO you choose should be capable of being mounted on a wall for both easy access and to keep it out of the way. There are a number of different models available including those with a fan-less design, robust construction and 15.6-inch 10-point touch panel, LED-backlit display. How robust is this ‘robust construction’? Rigorous testing by ASUS – including vibration, drop, temperature and humidity tests – ensure that the systems will survive the demanding environment of a busy cafeteria. You should look for a system that offers industry standard connections, including COM, USB 3.1, VGA and HDMI, so it can connect seamlessly to other commercial devices, including PoS and payment systems and also self-service vending machines. For some schools having signage such as this might sound impossible, however, it is very easy to get set up without having to spend a lot.

Find out more about how ASUS can help education establishments of all sizes