Greencroft Communities, a continuing care retirement organization with five affiliated and managed communities in Indiana and two in Ohio, has deployed RedPost’s digital sign solution at its two campuses in Goshen and Middlebury. RedPost’s software and hardware drive the visual and audio aspects of each campus’ internal cable channel as well as digital signs in two facilities.
Rydell Bontrager, Corporate Director of Information Services, wanted to replace their aging cable channel software. “We were frustrated with our old software. It was buggy and we were having trouble getting it fixed, not to mention training new staff.” Bontrager wanted a replacement that was easy-to-use and saved staff time. “One of the biggest advantages of RedPost is that it’s decentralized — before, it was all up to one person.”
The over 1,800 residents and staff of the two campuses can submit their own announcements and photos via a special website. Rachel Adkins, the manager of Greencroft’s Goshen’s cable channel, reviews and records audio for each announcement, enabling viewers with poor eyesight to listen to the announcements on their TVs as well as see them.
According to Adkins, “The biggest improvements over our old system are time and simplicity. I have almost a half-day free that I used to spend wrestling with the old system.”
Eric Kanagy, CEO of RedPost, sees the Greencroft project as a great example of how software development should work. “The customer knows what they want much better than the developer can guess what they want. Clients like Greencroft are an integral piece of our software development process.”
In the event of an emergency, within 60 seconds, Bontrager can switch the cable channel and digital signs *to an emergency message, with weather alerts appearing automatically.
RedPost installed two of their 19″ digital signs in common areas in two of Greencroft’s Goshen’s independent living facilities. These two signs only display announcements relevant to those facilities. RedPost also held training sessions for both residents and staff to help familiarize them with the capabilities of the new software. Greencroft hopes to expand use of RedPost’s technology to more facilities and campuses in the future.