Jackson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is a not-for-profit electric cooperative supplying power to 225,000 business and residential customers in 10 northern Georgia counties. Many of their employees are linemen and field employees who are out at various sites throughout the day and nowhere near computers, and they needed a quick and efficient way to communicate with them. After shopping around, Jackson EMC decided that AxisTV digital signage software from Visix was what they needed.
They have 17 screens across multiple facilities, each with a dedicated media player, which allows them to tailor content for each specific location. “That’s the whole reason we have it set up that way – so we can send the right message to the right screen at the right time,” says Mark Owen, Manager, Employee Communication for Jackson EMC. “We have screens in break rooms, turnout rooms for linemen – everywhere our people go before heading out into the field. The content is customized to that location and updated daily.”
One thing that can change from location to location is weather, something workers spending time outside certainly need to have current updates on. “The speed at which you can publish new content is fantastic,” says Owen. “We can show local weather in real time, so they’re properly prepared. They can also see other information like the outage map, also in real time, so they know exactly what’s happening.”
Jackson EMC gives employees at each facility extensive training on the AxisTV system, so they can easily add content on an as-needed basis, and the look remains consistent. “We have published guidelines as well as some templates for events that are more common. For example, we have a blood drive template for those messages – maybe it’s in one area on Tuesday but another area on Thursday – so the information is always accurate and current for each location.”
Though the AxisTV system was originally intended for internal communications, Jackson EMC also uses it to deliver messaging to customers. Screens show customers energy efficiency tips, rates, changes to service and other topics supplementing their take-away newsletter. “We used to produce posters for customer-facing content, which was very time-consuming and costly,” Owen says. “This is a much more cost-effective solution. There’s a one-time cost up front, and then you can push out content essentially for free after that.” He adds, “And it’s eye-catching.”
Another aspect of AxisTV that Owen likes is that it’s scalable. “Maybe we renovate a break room, making it bigger, and we can add a second screen there with no problems,” he says. “Adding new locations or changing layouts is really fast and easy to do.” If Jackson EMC adds new district offices, they can also add new screens and players with no difficulties.
For localized communications in a geographically-diverse organization that needs to respond quickly to changing conditions, AxisTV content management software is a comprehensive solution that saves time and money.
“I think a lot of companies may think digital signage will be expensive, but it really isn’t”, Owen tells us. “As I said, there’s that one-time cost and that’s basically it. It also allows your information to be a lot more timely, and you can be more nimble in reacting to events as they occur.”