London Borough of Enfield tell their visitors where to go!

London Borough of Enfield are leading the way in innovative communications with civic centre visitors and councillors by using bespoke electronic programmable noticeboards supplied by Esprit Communications.

With approximately 3,500 visitors and staff passing through the civic centre every day, a solution had to be found, to solve the continual problem that the public and the councillors had in finding out where their meetings were taking place, "Prior to having electronic noticeboards, there was ongoing concern expressed by both the public and our councillors, that they had difficulty finding meetings and events within our civic centre complex. The large electronic noticeboard in the downstairs reception area provides a clear dominant display, which informs all visitors to our civic centre where meetings and events are occurring. The smaller electronic board, which is located in the main meeting area, acts to inform or remind persons already in the building where their particular meeting is occurring," explains Garry Markham head of facilities management at London Borough of Enfield

"We wanted to have an electronic greeting as part of our customer care. It offers a greeting prior to the public encountering our receptionists and helps to focus visitors to the information / reception area. The boards are also used to display special notices or to highlight forthcoming events. They have been an unconditional success and have fundamentally improved the felt experience of our visitors and improved the circulation of users of our premises," says Markham.

London Borough of Enfield uses two boards that are connected to a program which deals with room bookings, layout, catering and other needs, so every time room details are entered into the computer the messages on the boards are automatically updated without further staff intervention.

"We chose an electronic solution because it catches people's attention, the information can be changed quickly and automatically, it can be put to special usage's, e.g. notices or warnings and no alternative approach that we explored even gets within a million miles of it," explains Markharn

"We explored the market and invited the leading providers to offer a solution to meet our particular needs, Esprit Communications offered the best product, support service and best value. The company met our expectations and was tolerant and helpful when we chose to vary the specifications The boards have been reliable in their operation and Esprit Communications have always responded effectively to our request for advice and assistance." Markham comments

Before these boards were in place an old-fashioned system of white letters on felt-boards was used, The information given was often out of date as it couldn't be updated regularly and the letters kept getting lost! With the electronic boards provided by Esprit Communications, London Borough of Enfield is able to convey a slick and professional image whilst communicating with clarity and solving the problem of confused visitors.

"To get the same effect as we have with the boards now," Markham remarks, "We would need one member of staff to tally dedicated to directing people around the building and it would cost about £ 14,000 per year."

Esprit Communications are established market leaders in supplying electronic programmable signs and now Camden, Richmond, Newham, Waltham Forest, and Thurrock councils all rely on these visually stimulating signs to enhance their internal and external communications.