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One system to inform both students and staff |
Delft University of Technology: “Using PCs and TVs as communication channel”
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One system to inform students and staff using PC and TV screens; that was what the Delft University
of Technology (TU Delft) was looking for in 2006. The TU eventually selected Netpresenter software to
achieve this goal. |
“Netpresenter software is now used to broadcast TU news on dozens of large TV screens, for example in faculties, educational buildings, at the library entrance and in large study halls. Because many departments are asking for their own screen, we are still adding screens,” states Roel Dik, functional application manager Netpresenter at TU Delft. “We also use the Netpresenter PC screensaver in the central university library and in two faculties at the student PC workplaces. Another faculty plans to start using the Netpresenter screensaver software on student PCs soon. Especially in areas with lots of PC workstations, like library study areas, this is an ideal way to communicate with students. Employee PCs are also being used as communication channel. We first installed the Netpresenter screensaver software on the M&C PCs (our marketing and communications department). This is in line with my philosophy that if you want to implement something in an organization, you should first ‘harass’ your own team with it. This allows you to foresee any obstacles in time.”
Dik: “I see Netpresenter as the next step in internal communications media. ‘Paper based’ thinking, collecting news and sending out a newsletter on a fixed time, is really outdated. But as with every new medium, people need some time to adjust. Some people ask me for a training, but with Netpresenter users really do not need one. If you can send an email, you can work with Netpresenter. Now I just give people a brief manual and I hardly ever get additional questions.”
“Everyone is very enthusiastic about Netpresenter; students as well as employees are asking for new screens or to have Netpresenter installed on their PCs ever more often. If your target audience is asking for the system you are implementing, you really have reached your goal”, states Dik. “To ensure people keep appreciating a new system, I think you should offer the additions they are asking for. That is why we look into every user request we receive. Just to give an example: at the moment we are looking into the possibility to automatically broadcast updated timetables, as well as the availability of PCs in a study hall.”
Messages on the screens vary from announcements from the Education & Student Affairs department, thesis presentation news and congress announcements to ICT department messages. News items from the employee pages (a sort of public intranet) are also automatically displayed on Netpresenter, often including a link to the full message on the employee pages. Dik “Before Netpresenter, not many employees visited the employee pages. It is a maze with tons of information, making it very hard to find the information you are looking for. The fact that Netpresenter is being used as a ‘signpost’ in this heap of information, is much appreciated.”
TU Delft also looks into expanding the existing emergency communication plan with Netpresenter. “In 2008 the TU Faculty of Architecture building burned down. Students and employees of that faculty were scattered across the entire campus. To reach everyone with emergency information, large TV screens were placed in the lobby of the TU Delft congress centre in great haste. Messages were broadcasted on every screen in buildings people from Architecture frequented,” says Dik. “We plan to incorporate Netpresenter into the emergency communication plan, but would also like to use it for less tragic urgencies, such as ensuring everyone leaves the library before closing time.”
 Read the complete TU Delft case study
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