Hi Everyone:
Currently my library has a set of iPads we use as digital door
signs (in conjunction with an app called Kiosk Pro). We manage reservations
using LibCal and utilize the iPads to display the related web page for that
room so patrons know when it is booked. However in the four years since we put
the devices in place, they have proven problematic to manage. Although the
iPads are in single app mode, which prevents patrons from breaking out of the
kiosk app, configuration changes require us to take the devices down, hand them
to IT for unlocking, receive them back to make the change, then hand them to IT
again for re-locking into single app mode. Also, since the only power option
at the wall is power over ethernet, each device has a USB-PoE adapter behind
the mounting brackets. However due to a miscommunication with our facilities
folks, those adapters are also behind a piece of wood and so we would need to
call them in order to change them.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying we feel our lives would be easier if
we replaced the iPads with purpose built devices. These units from Visix are
our leading candidate: https://www.visix.com/connect-conference-room-signs/ .
Does anyone have any experience using them, especially with LibCal? I'm aware
we will need to use Google Calendar as middleware as the Visix signs don't work
with LibCal directly, but am interested in how people who have used these signs
found them to work in practice. We're also open to hearing what other digital
room signs folks have used.
Best,
Mike
Michael Paulmeno
Systems Librarian
Lucy Scribner Library, 210
Skidmore College
(518) 580-5505
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
He/Him/His