UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE

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1 UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE STEP Committee Technology Fee Application Expansion of Digital Signage and replacement of Rex Street LED sign Title Keith Guillory Abhijeet Chodankar Name of Submitter (Faculty or Staff Only) Office of STEP Support Organization

2 Title: Expansion of Digital Signage and Rex Street LED sign replacement Date: Name (Contact Person): D. Keith Guillory Address: FGM #313 Phone Number: Department/College/Org: Office of STEP Support ABSTRACT (250 words or less): The Office of STEP Support is implementing a unified digital signage program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This digital medium efficiently and effectively disseminates information across campus. Students, faculty and staff have instant access to announcements, advertisements, news alerts and event information. One of the most visible digital signs on campus is the Daktronics LED sign at the corner of St. Mary and Rex streets. This sign is malfunctioning and in need of complete replacement. Additionally, the current digital signage management software has some major limitations. The absence of emergency notification system (ENS) integration and proof of play reporting are keeping the digital signage program from reaching its full potential. This grant seeks to replace this sign as well as the current limited software. Recent technological advancements are paving the way for revenue generation from advertisements on room signs, kiosks, interactive wayfinding, transit tracking applications and desktop screensavers. A unified, feature-rich management platform is sufficient for both present and future digital signage infrastructure needs and result in an additional revenue stream which will further enhance the STEP program.

3 Purpose of grant Digital signage programs have uprooted traditional print advertisements like billboards, flyers and newsletters and revolutionized the information dissemination process in our campus community. Students, faculty and staff, and visitors are kept updated with announcements, news alerts, advertisements and event schedules. The primary objective of this grant is to fund the replacement of the Rex Street Daktronics LED sign & provide a complete software package to manage the new signage. Rex Street is a hot spot location for broadcasting all announcements and advertisements. Since this sign contributes a large percentage of advertisement revenue, a replacement would enable us to deliver quality service to the student community and our clients. The current open source software lacks the ability to expand and provide coverage for additional services. The major drawback of this software is its inability to integrate with Emergency Notification System (ENS) for automated emergency alerts. Campus safety is of paramount importance and digital signage will serve as one of the faster mediums to alert all individuals on campus. In addition, the present system is unable to provide a proof of play logging or reporting to clients, making it difficult to provide assurance to all our customers. There is no ability to offer scheduled content to our customers, since content also shows up in a random order. The STEP office staff has repeatedly reported the failure of content updating during network outages. A software upgrade would reduce the down time during these outages. A complete software package would allow the digital signage program to include advertisements on room signs, interactive wayfinding boards, kiosks, bus transit tracking, and desktop screensavers. Live streaming and TV are also possible in the recommended software upgrade. This allows any university official to live stream their message to the campus community. A complete software package will overcome all these deficits, promote revenue accruement, ameliorate student services and result in the enhancement of the STEP program. Student Impact The new sign on Rex Street will keep all the students updated with daily announcements, news alerts, student organization meetings, bus transportation times, and advertisements of different services. The software upgrade will affect the present and future needs of the student community in the following ways: Present needs 1) The integration of Emergency Notification System(ENS) will help to spread emergency alerts quickly. 2) The campus community will be kept updated with all the latest news, regardless of network outages. Future needs 1) The introduction of room signs will assist on-campus organizations to book labs, smart classrooms on the go. 2) Interactive wayfinding application can be designed with respect to building directory, events, class schedule or people. This makes reaching destination very easy for all students and future clients. 3) Bus transit tracking will help students to track the location of bus and save their time.

4 4) Desktop screensavers will promote relevant advertisements on all PCs in the computer labs when the PC remains idle. This helps students to keep them updated with all discounted promotions and services. 5) Live streaming on these signs will help the university officials to stay connected directly with the campus community. 6) Self-use kiosks will be an essential part to automate and expedite student administrative related works. All the above recent technology needs are potential revenue generating services and will run on a complete content management software (CMS). Projected lifetime of enhancement Implementation should occur within the semester following the acceptance of this proposal. The new LED sign should function appropriately for 2-3 years, while the software package should work well consistently. Person(s) responsible for Implementation, Installation, Operation: Responsibility for implementation and installation The Office of STEP Support Services Responsibility for maintenance and operation The Office of STEP Support Services Responsibility for training The Office of STEP Support Services Narrative for Budget Proposal Hardware: Daktronics LED sign Software: Content Management Software (Complete Software Package)

5 Budget Proposal 1. Equipment $ 120, Software $ 80, Supplies $ 0 4. Maintenance $ 0 5. Personnel $ 0 6. Other $ 0 TOTAL: $ 200,000

6 Qualifications: Mr. D. Keith Guillory: Mr. Keith Guillory is the Manager of the Student Technology Enhancement Program. Mr. Guillory worked as the College of Business IT manager from He has a degree from UL Lafayette in Liberal Arts. Previously Funded STEP Grants: Spring EDCI Computer Lab operating fund Spring 2006 COE Materials Center Computer Enhancement Spring 2007 EDCI Computer Lab Summer Operating Fund Spring 2007 EDFL Dell Memory Upgrade Spring 2007 Maxim Doucet Instructional Computer Lab Replacement Spring 2013 FGM 101 Interactive Classroom Enhancement Fall COBA Instructional Lab Replacement (FGM 111)

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