Projects: Tidy Menu Boards Served Up For UK Military

November 13, 2014 by Dave Haynes

The UK solutions provider Digital Messaging Company has started rolling out a digital menu system in restaurants run for the UK armed forces by facilities management giant Sodexo.

These are images from the first installs at Merville Barracks, Colchester. The set-up works off the PAYD (pay as you dine) system, which offers soldiers a number of different meal options, ranging from a staple menu (comprising a balanced meal to provide soldiers with a pre-determined calorific intake) to commercial menus, comparable to high street casual dining offers to create a broad range of food choices.

The set-up involves Samsung Smart Signage panels, running Signagelive. Digital Messaging supplied and delivered an end-to-end digital signage solution that involved 16 SSP displays installed in military dining areas in two venues. The Colchester site uses three portrait entrance screens to display the opening times and showcase daily promotions, while the remaining 13 screens are used to display menu content above the counters in the diners.

The onscreen menu display is split, says a news release, with the left hand side showcasing imagery of the dish items and seasonal promotional offers, while the right hand side displays the menu specific to that counter, day of the week and time of day.

Sodexo plans to roll out further sites with the DMC solution before the end of Q4 2014.

What I particularly like about this installation is the tidiness of both the install and the creative. The latter simple, doesn’t try to jam too much information on the screen, and uses strong calls to action. A lot of QSRs are selling too many things to avoid clutter, but when it’s possible, you can see here how well it works.