Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2023

Left: Dynamic signage, such as this signage greeting passengers at the security checkpoint at Lehigh Valley International Airport, is increasingly becoming the norm at airports throughout North America.

Synect and the team at MCO were connected through “a strike of lighting,” says Ran. “We were working with Microsoft stores on some of their commercial spaces when the COO of [Orlando] happened to come in and said, ‘I need something like that — find these guys!’” In 2019, Ran and his team partnered with MCO to install a large-scale communications system at the airport’s Terminal C, which launched in 2022 and includes everything from wayfinding walls that feature dynamic flight information, baggage claim updates and QR codes to concessions options and localized, seasonal, and branded content. They’ve also worked with the MCO team on the airport’s curated Orlando Experience, which features rotating footage of popular Central Florida destinations. Implementing accurate, real-time content requires a lot of “customization and iterative refinement,” says Ran, “but another dimension of digital is that updates happen in a fraction of a second, versus the time it takes to adjust [legacy signage].” It’s been a worthwhile adjustment, says Angela Starke, senior vice president of public affairs at MCO. “ The ability to relocate, expand, contract and adapt to changing operational requirements is something previous static signage could not support,” says Starke. “Things like wait times can now be communicated in real time as conditions change, in addition to integrating mobile apps and other platforms with QR codes and seasonal themes.”

Right: The Miami International app offers step-by-step navigation and airport services. The technology also includes accessibility features for passengers utilizing wheelchairs.

Smoothing the process of going through security - one of the travel’s anxiety inducing moments - has been one of Synect’s most satisfying projects, Ran says. At ABE, “Incorporating the ReadySeeGo totems modernized the new TSA Checkpoint by eliminating paper signs and wayfinding that travelers encounter,” adds Thomas Stoudt, executive director of Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority. Such modernization is a process that the team at Synect continually reexamines, adds Ran. “How can we reduce the clutter? How can we simplify the messaging? How can we provide information that will help you get a little more sense of control back at TSA?”

Some airport operators have focused their wayfinding efforts on mobile technology, delivering new communications systems through many passengers’ most-trusted co-pilot: the smartphone. In November 2015, Miami International Airport (MIA) and technology partner SITA launched the Miami Airport Official Mobile App, a “one-stop, easily accessible mobile platform” for real-time flight tracking, turn-by-turn, blue-dot navigation with estimated walk times, real-time flight updates, and shopping and dining suggestions nearby based on the user’s customizable personal profile, says Greg Chin, communications director at MIA.

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AX NEWS CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUE 2023