Project Overview

Ulster University is a complex and large Higher Education institution based in Northern Ireland. It maintains a dual focus on research and teaching while actively driving exemplary social mobility and civic engagement. Ulster University’s highly secure signage system is used across their multi-campus estate, including within lecture theatres, university halls, libraries, gyms, receptions, and cafes. Broadcasting advertisements, cultural information and events using landscape and portrait video and stills across dozens of screens using the NowSignage CMS platform.

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Project Requirements

1. Replace incumbent digital signage system requiring frequent manual resets of multiple Android media players across three campuses.
2. Address inefficiencies, unreliability and dissatisfaction among university staff and students caused by legacy technical debt.
3. Implement robust cyber security measures to address concerns from the Digital Services team.
4. Provide reliable remote management capabilities to reduce need for dedicated on-site technical staff across multiple locations.

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Amino's Solution

Audio Visual and Unified Communication solutions experts Pure AV secured the tender for providing general teaching technologies at Ulster University and recommended Amino's digital signage solutions, with security, service quality and reliability identified as key factors in the selection process.

• Amino H200 Media Players for digital signage playback integrated with NowSignage Digital Signage CMS.
• Orchestrate Cloud-Based Remote Management Platform enabling efficient support across all three campuses in Belfast, Derry ~ Londonderry and Coleraine.
• Extensive demos and training sessions provided to the university's technical support team, with Amino's support team remotely registering devices via Orchestrate.

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Key Benefits

By implementing Amino's solution, Ulster University achieved significant operational improvements:

1. Outages, which were previously a frequent occurrence, were virtually eliminated.
2. Remote management meant the need for technicians to visit the site was significantly reduced.
3. Time and resource previously sepnt troubleshooting was significantly minimized.
4. Issues with blank screens were eliminated, improving the perception of the system among staff and students.
5. Regular firmware updates including maintaining the latest security patch level enhanced the system's security and addressed network operations team concerns.

Customer Testimonial

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"It's massively flexible. In fact, it is so multi-functional and easy to use, the university is considering how else to use Amino’s technology for marketing and event support like livestreaming graduations and wayfinding to support our Health & Safety requirements. It’s been a real gamechanger for us. Once you start using it you think, ‘Oh, I wonder if it can do that?’ And you know what, it probably can!"

Norman Blair, Project Manager and Head of Digital Services, Greater Belfast Development Programme

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Key Highlights

Ulster University's deployment demonstrates the adaptability, security and manageability of Amino devices across a complex multi-campus environment. The first phase replaced players in campus totems, but the university was so satisfied with Amino's quality and service they have standardized on this solution for new digital signage deployments.

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• Direct Technical Support: Low-latency video creates real-time streaming for an engaging betting experience.
• Pre-Purchase Testing: The ability to test the system with demo hardware before purchase was particularly appreciated by the team.
• Future Expansion: Plans to expand the system for streaming graduation ceremonies and improving wayfinding demonstrate the flexibility of Amino's platform.

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Conclusion

Ulster University modernized their digital signage infrastructure by selecting Amino's reliable hardware and software platform. This deployment highlights the power of Amino Orchestrate for enabling robust remote management. The partnership with Pure AV and Amino has resulted in significant improvements in the university's ability to engage, communicate and distribute content across campuses, whilst at the same time reducing content management, support and administrative overheads within support teams.