# Lobby and welcome screens for receptions Running reception and lobby welcome boards, visitor information, today's meetings and building notices on a screen played from its own browser and edited at the desk. Source: https://channelos.tv/use-cases/lobby-and-welcome-screens ## What runs it ChannelOS plays as a web page in the browser the screen already has: Android TV, Google TV, webOS, Fire TV, a Chromebox, or a laptop in kiosk mode on the HDMI port. There is also a native Android TV app, downloaded as an APK from channelos.tv rather than from Google Play. There is no media player box to buy and no per-device licence. ## What goes on the screen - **Welcome and today's visitors.** The company name and the visitor's, typed at the desk in seconds. A named welcome is the one piece of signage people photograph. - **The questions reception answers all day.** Wifi, where the lifts are, who to ask, when the building closes. Put once on a screen rather than answered forty times. - **Today's meetings and rooms.** What is on and where, laid out on the day's hours so the board moves through the day rather than listing everything at once. - **Building notices that end themselves.** Lift out of service until Friday, placed on those dates, gone on Saturday with nobody taking a sign down. ## When ChannelOS is the wrong answer ChannelOS is not a visitor management system. It does not sign people in, print badges, notify a host, hold a visitor log or integrate with Envoy, Proxyclick, SwipedOn or a room-booking platform, so today's meetings on the board are typed rather than pulled from calendars. If reception needs sign-in, badges and host notifications, buy a visitor management product; several of them will also drive a lobby screen. ChannelOS fits the reception that wants a good-looking welcome board it can change itself, and is happy to type the visitor's name. ## Questions ### What goes on a lobby or reception screen? The things a reception desk currently keeps on paper: a welcome for today's visitors, the wifi details, directions inside the building, today's meetings and rooms, and any building notice. In ChannelOS each is a real editable board played by the browser inside the screen, scheduled on a channel so the board moves through the day instead of showing everything at once. ### Can we show a named welcome for a specific visitor? Yes, and it takes about a minute. Someone at the desk edits the welcome board with the visitor's name or company, and the screen picks it up in seconds because it derives what it shows from the schedule in real time. The editor has a real phone build, so it can be done from a phone rather than from the reception PC. ### Does it integrate with Envoy or our visitor sign-in system? No. There is no integration with Envoy, Proxyclick, SwipedOn or any visitor management platform, and no sign-in, badge printing, host notification or visitor log. Several visitor management products can drive a lobby screen themselves, and if sign-in is the requirement that is the right purchase. ### Can today's meetings come from our calendar? No. There is no Google Calendar, Microsoft 365 or room-booking integration, so a meetings board is maintained by hand. If the board has to track the calendar automatically, a room and visitor product with that connector is the better fit. ### What hardware does a lobby screen need? Usually the screen already there. ChannelOS plays in the browser built into Android TV, Google TV, webOS and Fire TV, there is a native Android TV app downloaded as an APK from our own site, and an existing Chromebox or kiosk laptop driving a display works as it is. Older panels take any cheap HDMI stick, with no per-device signage licence attached. ### How much does a reception screen cost? The first screen is free forever with no card. Free screens carry a ChannelOS banner that opens into a full ChannelOS slide roughly every two minutes, and since a lobby screen is the first thing a visitor sees, this is one of the clearest cases for a paid plan, which removes both at the per screen per month rates on the pricing page. ## Related - [Digital signage for offices](https://channelos.tv/blog/digital-signage-for-office): The whole office picture: lobbies, meeting rooms and internal comms. - [Meeting room displays](https://channelos.tv/use-cases/meeting-room-displays): The screen outside the door, and what it can and cannot know. - [Hotels and hospitality](https://channelos.tv/industries/hotels-and-hospitality): Lobby boards, function room signs and guest information. - [Office templates](https://channelos.tv/templates/office): Lobby, notice and dashboard boards, remixable into your workspace.