The rapid spread of COVID-19 had alarmed governments and health officials around the world and made it clear that real time data monitoring is key in the battle.  Every level of government and every health agency need to be making informed decisions with contextual awareness.  They need social media monitoring and news coverage at their fingertips, need to be up to speed on call counts, wait times and hospital resource availability—including beds, medical supplies, staff, etc. They need to be ready with hotspot mapping and video conferencing.

A war room equipped with a video wall is invaluable in coordinating any pandemic or outbreak response plan, ensuring the right priorities are set and that timely pandemic response has proven health outcomes.

This has been a breakthrough year in Userful’s history. We have established Userful as the leader in offering advanced AV-over-IP solutions, delivering excellence in both products and services to customers around the world. We have successfully launched a new visual architecture for enterprises, the Visual Networking Platform (VNP). Additionally, we now maintain four offices globally, have collected numerous awards for product innovation and corporate growth, and have expanded our channel network to accelerate sales growth. This year has been one for the books.

Since 2015, Userful has been a visual communications innovator, delighting customers by bringing their visual deployments to life. This year, Userful has doubled down on eliminating the need for expensive and unreliable hardware in customers’ digital signage, control room, video wall and other deployments, dramatically improving operational efficiency and reducing total cost of ownership are revolutionizing the once hardware-bound AV/IT industry.

Creating the best possible control room or command center requires more than just streamlining your solutions to generate a functional and comprehensive view of your operations across the enterprise. There are a number of different factors that your organization will need to take into consideration beyond what video surveillance, emergency communications and alert system technologies they will support. In addition to all the inherently crucial aspects of mission-critical environments, we’ve identified a few additional security measures below that you may want to consider as you construct your company’s control room.

Network Security

AV-over-IP solutions that use standard TCP/IP communication through standard switches and routers, provide a broad variety of lock-down options for security conscious customers. By using a standard network, customers can lock down their own network tools, switches, routers according to their own security protocols and using familiar network monitoring tools.

To the way we work, communicate and play. And why should an IT person care.

Digital transformation is a hot buzzword today. At Gartner’s 2019 CIO Conference in October, it was the cornerstone of the week-long event. Digital transformation means different things to different people (and different industries), but all digital transformation projects share a single driving force: modernization to ensure your business doesn’t fall behind.

Another thing every single digital transformation project has in common: there is a visual element. Digital transformation is so broad that the list of commonalities isn’t long, but when you think about it, you’ll realize it’s true: every digital transformation has a visual element.

Control rooms enable organizations to efficiently monitor multiple information streams and use the data collected to make accurate mission-critical decisions. If operators do not properly manage the numerous data streams, they end up with an information overload that becomes detrimental to their business. Learn why control room needs to be equipped with top of the line technology to operate at peak performance.

Split-second decisions

Control rooms are traditionally found in high-security, high-alert information centers—such as power plants, transportation control facilities, military facilities and call centers, among others. Control room operators must make quick decisions–where a decision may result in life or death–requiring operators to utilize all the tools at their disposal including technology, all situation variables and other team members. Operators need an effective video wall solution that serves as a visualization tool allowing operators to manage all data streams efficiently.

With the ever-growing influence of technology and trends, restaurant and bar patrons today are expecting more than just delicious food and good customer service. While these qualities remain important, people today are looking for a memorable experience above all else.

We’ve seen the rise in experiential dining exemplified through the popularity of pop-up restaurants, where a restaurant can be accessed for a limited time and often has a theme, limited menu, etc. to create a one-of-a-kind experience that draws big crowds.

Smart displays have and embedded player or computer built into the display itself. They’re common among commercial as well as consumer grade displays and they’re the device that allows people to watch Netflix directly on a TV with no set top box or media player. They also have commercial applications allowing IT departments to more easily and more cost effectively display a variety of content onto screens throughout their organizations.

Just as a Smart TV allows you to watch Netflix without buying or integrating or having another remote control device for an additional set top box, a Smart Display allows an IT department to display corporate applications without additional hardware.

Sometimes it seems there are more people flying than on the ground; 4.5 billion people took to the air in 2018, connecting between the 17,678 airports located worldwide. In a recent study conducted by airfare aggregator Jetcost at Denver International Airport, an American adult spends on average 3 hours and 20 minutes at the airport waiting for their flight. While the average time spent in an airport vary globally, there is an immense opportunity for airports, shops inside terminals and other businesses to connect with a captive audience waiting to catch their flight.

If a person on average spends 200 minutes inside of an airport, what makes the consumer rate their experience as enjoyable? According to the Skytrax World Airport Awards , travelers have voted Singapore’s Changi Airport as the World’s Best Airport for the seventh time in a row. The top-ranking airport is known for world-class shopping, local and global cuisine and picturesque installations including a 40-meter high indoor waterfall, sky bridge and forested canopy park. Changi Airport is a masterpiece of architectural design as well as passenger experience, with offers to travelers such as free movie vouchers to either of its two 24-hour movie theaters after spending a set minimum amount at the airport shops. Changi Airport rewards passengers for shopping and spending additional time at the airport, while stimulating its own internal economy.

Traverse the Traveler’s Decision-Making Process: Upgrade Your Hotel’s Offering to Enhance the Guest Experience

To stand out in a sea of lodging options this summer, hospitality industry players must find a way to modernize their amenities to remain competitive and bring in more guests. From quaint bed and breakfasts to leading corporate resorts, managers are striving to implement effective tools that increase profits and lower costs without sacrificing the guest experience.

"Where They Go. Why They Stay,” a report by Sullivan and 20|20 Research, explores the traveler decision-making process. Apart from the old classics such as location and local experience, the study shows that above all else—travelers are looking for the most value for their money. However, new research indicates that travelers are less likely to book a hotel over an Airbnb or other homeshare service. So, how do hotel operators vie for the traveler’s attention to remain competitive in this new wave of consumerism? By focusing on short-term, achievable ideas to upgrade their offering.