Hotel Lobby Dynamic Signage

On a recent visit to the Marriott hotel group, we where met at the reception with a digital advertising screen that had a inbuilt motion sensor.
This gave us some basic information for the hotel, such as what leisure facility operating hours are, what was on the menu in the restaurant and in the bar and information about Internet access.

This bought time as the receptionist was busy dealing with another customer who was checking in, and by the time the ads had looped completely we where being checked in.
This is the most basic use of digital signage, however a more complex digital signage solution is deployed at the Hyatt group of hotels, here they have an interactive check in and an express check out. Also in their car park they utilize outdoor digital signage to advertise their group of hotels in various destinations throughout the globe, this type of solution is common in hotels and this is how they achieve it.
Check in desk dynamic advertising.
Here numerous large flat panel displays are deployed above the desk and are viewed by guests as they check in. The content is stored on a local networked media player just behind the wall, kind of a back office application; this is then connected to the massive displays using Category 5e network cables, this enables the content to be uploaded from a local PC connected to the media player.

Self serve check in and check out.
This application uses a floor standing kiosk that is touch sensitive so guests can input their data, i.e. reservation number. This can either be on a secured wireless network that is also used by the handheld terminals used by staff to take card payments, or alternatively they can be wired to the main computer network or be a standalone solution with the media player inbuilt.
Advantages of WIFI interactive kiosks - is there are no unsightly wires running across the floor or from the ceiling, also the kiosks can be located any where in the foyer of the hotel lobby and can be moved to another location with very little disruption.
Disadvantages of wireless touchscreen kiosks - these can be costly.
Benefits of hard wired interactive kiosks - kit costs are less than the wireless type as the hardware is more expensive.
Challenges of hard wired interactive kiosks - due to the nature of the installation, the location is really restricted to either the edges of a room of near a pillar to conceal the cables. Moving the kiosk to a new location is expensive as engineers have to be called in to re-lay to the new location.
Advantages of an interactive digital kiosk - these are very affordable, due to the media player being built in and can even run Flash content. Moving to another location is easy, just move the kiosk with no purchase any wireless adapters or having to pay for engineers to come to site.
Conclusion.
If you are going to install digital signage in a hotel lobby, you need to think how to connect it, bearing in mind if it is likely you be moved during any event, such as a wedding - the bride does not want to be upstaged by the digital signage hardware. If this is the case a digital poster is the most affordable solution.