Quebec's Desjardins bank deploys staff-facing digital signage dashboard solution

June 29, 2011 by Dave Haynes

Banks have long been seen as a primary application for customer-facing digital signage, and indeed a lot of banks are either now installed or in the process of deploying solutions.

What’s not seen very often – at least not as far as I know – is staff-facing signage in banks. So the note I got from Montreal’s Mirada Media was an interesting read.

The digital signage systems integrator has deployed what it calls a customer service dashboard system that shows real-time information on customer queues, wait times, and teller performance on LCD panels in a large branch of the Caisse Desjardins bank.. There is also a ticker for corporate news and branch alerts located at the bottom of the dashboard.

The dashboard is powered by Mirada Media’s ChannelView content management system and is integrated with legacy systems created by Frisco Bay. In addition, branch managers are able to remotely access the dashboard, view statistics, and compare results across branches via Mirada’s ChannelView online interface.

The management team at the Caisse Desjardins De Lorimier wanted to increase teller productivity by providing real-time metrics on customer queues in the branch. Jean-François Lauzon, Associate Director of Assisted Transactions at the Caisse Desjardins De Lorimier, explained that they have “set performance objectives and the dashboard allows us to view how we’re doing relative to these benchmarks. Also, having real-time data allows us to adapt quickly. As an example, we strive to keep wait times under 10 minutes. The moment that objective becomes at risk, tellers will see it on the dashboard and ask their colleagues for help in handling the rush.”

Lauzon also noted that, “Prior to installing the dashboard system, a supervisor would need to intervene whenever wait times would increase. Now, with the dashboard as a tool, our tellers are able to manage client queues independently and much more effectively. We feel that our level of service has improved and are very happy with the results so far.”

In the retail and services sector, digital signage is mainly used in client-facing situations in an effort to promote products and increase client engagement; however, Eric Morello, Mirada Media’s Director of Marketing, sees a growing need for digital signage “behind the scenes.”

He notes that “having access to timely information is essential to making any decision. In the service industry, this means being nimble and tactically managing resources to ensure customer satisfaction. After all, no one likes to wait in line. Digital signage is an extremely powerful tool because it addresses both the needs for accuracy and accessibility. It shows you how you’re doing in real time and thus lets you adapt in real time.”

Desjardins is a big cooperative financial group, based in Quebec. They already have (or had, not sure) at least some customer-facing digital signage in branches.