British Airways is centralising communications at its Heathrow academy with CleverLive.

British Airways’ Global Learning Academy (GLA) has implemented a CleverLive-based digital signage network to distribute information, schedules and internal announcements across its facilities at London Heathrow Airport. SPC Group handled the supply, installation and staff training.

The academy delivers thousands of training sessions each year for pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff. Training takes place 24 hours a day and includes initial and recurrent programmes to maintain the qualifications required for different aircraft types.The centre must communicate daily schedule changes, departmental updates and other notices related to its training activities. Given the number of sessions and professional profiles passing through its facilities, British Airways needed a system capable of distributing this information quickly and consistently.

Its facilities include a 16-bay simulator hall, full-size cabin mock-ups equipped with operational galleys and safety systems, and 28 classrooms designed for theoretical and practical training. The centre also welcomes representatives from more than 150 universities and higher education institutions each year.

A network for updating information in real time

The volume of activity and daily changes across different departments led the academy to seek a system that could update and schedule content centrally. The network replaces some printed communications and enables the same information to be published simultaneously at different points throughout the centre.To date, SPC Group has installed 22 55-inch CleverLive CL Pro displays and three CleverLive Pico XI digital signage players. Content is managed through the CleverLive cloud platform, which enables the information shown across the different displays to be administered and scheduled remotely.

This allows the responsible teams to change schedules, announcements and internal messages without having to access each device individually. The platform also enables content to be prepared in advance and scheduled to appear across the network at specific times.

SPC Group has also trained the academy’s team to use the system. The installation includes an extended on-site warranty and an annual maintenance service.

SPC Group has already installed more than 20 displays, with others planned. The system is changing how we share information with our teams and enables us to update, schedule and manage content remotely, explains Mark Vickers, Infrastructure and Contingency Manager at British Airways’ Global Learning Academy.

Less paper and greater visual consistency

The new network enables announcements to be published in real time while maintaining a consistent visual identity across the different training areas. It also reduces the use of printed materials and allows the communications and facilities teams to update information from a single environment.

Centralised management helps prevent inconsistencies between messages displayed in different areas and allows content to be adapted to the needs of each space. The displays can be used to present operational information, activity schedules and communications for the professionals using the facilities.

The implementation forms part of an upgrade to the academy’s communication systems in an environment where training activities continue throughout the day. The project remains under development, with additional displays expected to join the network installed at Heathrow.