Travel Agents Improve Product Communication

Exton, PA September 26, 2005 - Scala Inc. (www.scala.com), the world’s leading software platform for digital signage, announces Public Display Technologies cc (PDT), a Scala certified partner in Allensnek, South Africa, has successfully installed a digital signage system focused on the travel industry.

The travel industry is all about distribution of data. If the updated package specials are not sent quickly and accurately to shops and then communicated to customers, they would go out of business.

Traditionally travel agents spend huge amounts of money on big posters and other window signage. The process of designing, printing, shipping and hanging a new poster for a special product can take as much as 2-3 weeks. The total cost, including man-hours and shipping, of a single poster can be as much as $100. By the time the poster reaches a travel agent, the design of the next poster should be in advanced stage of design.

Airfare boards are rarely updated, because travel consultants don’t have the time. These boards also lose their appeal quickly after continuous editing of rates.

A “Dynamic Digital Signage” solution has benefits over the manual process. Controlled from a central location, this type of solution can be continuously updated, so time-to-market is immediate and specials can be launched overnight. Limited duration specials suddenly become easy to manage and control as expiration times can be set independently for each item to be displayed. The large flat-panel screens are also more appealing. Screens can be mounted horizontally or vertically, providing a “dynamic poster” look and feel.

Airfares can be updated on the digital display directly from a rates database, allowing special short term airfares to be placed on the screen almost immediately, creating a focus point on the screen that is more likely to attract the attention of a prospective customer or even a casual “passer by”.

Last minute/empty bed promotions are easy to create with a dynamic signboard and can even be different for every location (e.g. different promotions can be displayed in each city or region).

This type of system has to be reliable, easy to use and offer very flexible content creation and design options. The combination of Scala’s InfoChannel® Designer, Network Manager and Player offer a reliable 24/7 system that is managed and updated quickly and easily by the existing design team.

“In the 18+ months that we have been using the InfoChannel® system in the travel industry we have not had a single player fail or hang! Without Scala we would never be able to offer the level of service to our customer that we do.”, Cornel van Lingen, General Manager, Public Display Technologies.

As the underlying Scala InfoChannel® platform is also interactive, it supports large format touch screens, allowing even more possibilities for the future. For example, centrally controlled and updated signage systems can be created that allow customers to use large touch screens to interactively select and view different vacation packages or hotels available, including the ability to show videos for each package/hotel, etc.

Initial ROI calculations show that a Scala InfoChannel® system can be installed for about the same price as printing two posters per month and updating the airfare board once a week.

About Scala, Inc.
Scala, Inc. (www.scala.com) pioneered the industry of digital signage in1987, and is today headquartered near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with operations in California, the UK, Norway, The Netherlands, China and Japan. As flat panel and networking technologies catch up with Scala’s vision, Scala finds itself with over a 15-year head start, helping it to win some of the largest digital signage engagements and most respectable partners in the industry. Companies that are implementing their digital signage equipment on the Scala InfoChannel® 3 platform include Tesco, Best Buy, T-Mobile, ShopRite, Virgin MegaStore, Bloomberg, Kiwi, Azizia-Panda Supermarket, McKee Foods, Burger King, Muvico, Warner Brothers Movie World, RaboBank, Nedbank, Santiago Airport, Dubai Airport. A network of over 250 Value Added Resellers across the globe offer Scala InfoChannel® solutions, and constitute our sales and support force that extends to every continent but Antarctica.
Scala, InfoChannel, and the Exclamation Point Logo are registered trademarks of Scala, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective organizations.

###

Contact:
Richard F. Trask
Director of Marketing
Scala Broadcast Multimedia
610-363-3344
dick.trask@scala.com