Rise Vision solves the biggest problem with internal communication: getting people to actually see your messages. You can send all the emails and Slack notifications you want, but if half your team never checks them, you're just shouting into the void.
The platform puts announcements, safety reminders, and schedules on screens in hallways, break rooms, and common areas where staff can't miss them. No login required. No apps to remember. Just information on where people already are. You update content from anywhere, push changes to specific displays or all of them at once, and schedule everything in advance so you're not scrambling every morning.
But let's back up. What makes any internal communication tool actually effective?
Visibility without extra effort. That's the main thing. Your tool needs to reach people where they already spend time, not where you wish they'd check more often.
The second thing? It has to serve everyone, not just desk workers. If your workforce includes teachers between classes, warehouse staff on the floor, or nurses moving between patient rooms, anything requiring a login falls flat. You need information delivery that doesn't depend on someone remembering to open an app.
That's why digital signage handles this better than most alternatives. Screens just sit there in high-traffic areas. People see updates while walking to their next meeting or grabbing coffee.
Rise Vision integrates with Google Calendar and other platforms you're already using, so updating content doesn't mean learning a whole new system. One IT administrator managing a K-12 district mentioned that the centralized management saves time, and the templates look professional enough that the content doesn't feel thrown together.
So what else belongs in your communication stack?
Digital Signage
Place displays in common areas, and staff see information without doing anything. You control what appears and when, which means time-sensitive updates actually get noticed.
This approach handles daily schedules, safety protocols, emergency alerts, meeting room schedule displays, and employee recognition.
Schools post event announcements and lunch menus. Manufacturing facilities display production targets and safety records. Corporate offices show meeting schedules and company news.
Content management is the catch. If updating displays means editing files manually or wrestling with clunky software, people stop keeping information current.
Rise Vision lets you update content from anywhere, push changes to specific displays or broadcast to everything at once, and schedule content in advance. Someone running communications for a school district said being able to update information in minutes matters when you're juggling multiple buildings and constant schedule changes. An office administrator mentioned managing all their displays from one laptop, which beats the old system of updating each one individually.
Messaging Apps
Slack, Microsoft Teams, and similar platforms handle quick back-and-forth communication. They're solid for teams coordinating on projects or asking quick questions without filling up email inboxes.
The downside? Message overload. Channels multiply, notifications pile up, and staff start missing things because there's too much noise. These platforms serve active collaboration best, not broad announcements that everyone needs to see.
If you're using messaging apps for internal communication, keep channels focused. Don't rely on them for critical updates. People mute channels. They miss messages. For announcements that actually matter, you need something more visible.
Email still handles detailed information that people might need to reference later. Policy updates, benefit enrollment instructions, things requiring reading, and maybe responding.
But email fails at time-sensitive updates or quick reminders. People get too much of it, and messages disappear. If you're relying on email alone for internal communication, you're probably repeating yourself constantly.
Intranet Portals
Company intranets can centralize resources like HR documents, training materials, and policy handbooks. They're useful for information people need occasionally but not daily.
Getting people to actually visit is the problem. Most intranets become digital filing cabinets. Helpful if you know what you're looking for, terrible for pushing out new information.
Digital Bulletin Boards
Some organizations still use physical bulletin boards in break rooms and common areas. They function in theory, but they're annoying to update, and half the time the information is outdated. Plus, if you've got multiple locations, keeping everything consistent gets messy fast.
A digital bulletin board solves this. Same concept, but you update all locations from one place and know that every display shows current information. A school mentioned that switching to digital displays eliminated the need for printed posters, which adds up when you're running announcements every week.
The right setup depends on your environment. An office where everyone has a desk and computer can get away with more app-based platforms. A school with teachers bouncing between classrooms needs something more visible. A warehouse where most staff don't have email access at work needs displays that they can see during breaks or shift changes.
Consider where people spend their time. If most of your team walks past certain hallways or gathers in specific break rooms, put displays there. If people sit at desks, messaging apps might handle some communications. If your workforce spans multiple shifts, you need platforms that don't depend on everyone being online simultaneously.
Also, think about who's updating the content. If you need multiple people managing communication (like different departments in a university or different shifts in a manufacturing facility), pick platforms that let you control permissions without creating complexity.
Rise Vision handles this well because you can give different people access to different displays or content. The IT team can manage district-wide announcements while individual schools control their own building-specific content. The same idea applies to corporate offices with different departments or facilities with different shifts. A university administrator said being able to separate departments while managing everything under one system has been helpful for keeping content organized without creating silos.
Scattering communication across too many channels kills effectiveness. Email, Slack, an intranet, and bulletin boards. When information lives everywhere, people stop checking all of them.
Pick a few platforms that cover different needs and stick with them. Digital signage for broad visibility, messaging for collaboration, and email for detailed information. That's usually enough.
Ignoring non-desk workers is another big one. If a chunk of your team doesn't sit at computers all day, platforms requiring logins won't reach them. Teachers, warehouse staff, healthcare workers, maintenance crews. They need information too, and digital signage often serves these groups better than app-based alternatives. One business that's been using digital signage for over a decade says it's still the best way to post information for employees who move around during their shifts.
Stale content kills trust in any communication platform. If people see outdated information on displays or in channels, they stop paying attention. Choose platforms that make updating simple enough that it actually happens.
Overloading people with notifications backfires. Too many alerts and people start ignoring all of them. Reserve notifications for things that actually need immediate attention. Routine updates can just appear on displays or in daily digests without buzzing someone's phone.
Your internal communication platforms should function when things go wrong. If your main system depends on Wi-Fi and the network goes down, what's your backup? Digital signage platforms like Rise Vision include emergency alert features that can override scheduled content instantly, which matters during lockdowns, evacuations, or weather events.
Content format matters as much as the platform you use. People skim. They're busy. So your messages need to be clear and fast to digest.
Keep text short. Big blocks of text on a display or in a message just get ignored. If you need to share detailed information, use digital signage or a quick message to point people to where they can read more.
Use visuals when possible. Photos, icons, simple graphics. They grab attention better than text alone and communicate faster.
Make the most important information obvious. Put it first, make it bigger, or highlight it. Don't bury the actual point three sentences in.
Update regularly but not constantly. Fresh content keeps people checking, but if things change every five minutes, people tune out. Find a rhythm that fits your audience.
Start with where you need the most help. If your biggest problem is people missing announcements, focus on visibility first. Digital signage in high-traffic areas might solve that. If your issue is coordination between departments, maybe a messaging platform makes sense.
Test with a small group before rolling out to everyone. Pick one department or building, see what functions and what doesn't, then adjust before going wider.
Train people, but keep it simple. If your platform requires a manual to use, it's probably too complicated. The best internal communication platforms are intuitive enough that people figure them out quickly.
Get feedback and actually use it. Ask people what's functioning and what's not. If everyone's ignoring a certain channel or display, figure out why and fix it or cut it.
For organizations using Rise Vision, setup usually takes less than an hour. You connect your displays, pick some templates from their library (there are hundreds), and start scheduling content. If you're not ready to commit yet, Rise Vision offers free digital signage for a single display, so you can test everything in your environment before scaling up. The platform integrates with Google Workspace, so if you're already using Google Calendar or Drive, integration is straightforward. One school mentioned that the Google integration makes updating calendars and announcements simple, and being able to send different content to different zones means you're not showing cafeteria menus in the administrative wing.
What are the best internal communication tools for schools?
Digital signage handles schools well because it reaches students, staff, and visitors in hallways, cafeterias, and common areas without requiring logins. Pair it with email for detailed staff communication and maybe a messaging app for quick coordination between teachers. Rise Vision is built for education environments and integrates with Google Workspace, which most schools already use. A K-12 district administrator noted that it transformed how they communicate with students, staff, and visitors, and the customization options let each school tailor content to their specific needs.
How do you communicate with employees who don't have email access?
Digital signage placed in break rooms, entrances, and high-traffic areas reaches employees without email access. Displays can show shift schedules, safety reminders, production updates, and company news where people actually see them. Some organizations also use text message systems for urgent updates, but digital signage handles day-to-day communication better.
What's the difference between internal communication tools and collaboration tools?
Internal communication platforms push information out to groups (announcements, updates, schedules). Collaboration platforms help teams coordinate on projects (Slack, Teams, project management software). Most organizations need both, but they serve different purposes. Digital signage handles the broadcast side. Messaging apps handle the collaboration side.
How much do internal communication tools cost?
Costs vary widely. Email is usually part of your existing setup. Messaging apps range from free basic versions to around $4-15 per user monthly for business plans. Digital signage depends on how many displays you're running and whether you already have screens. Rise Vision offers education pricing and scales based on your needs. Many schools and businesses find it more affordable than constantly printing and posting paper announcements.
Can digital signage work as your only internal communication tool?
For some organizations, yes. If you place displays strategically and keep content updated, digital signage can handle most internal communication needs. But many organizations use it alongside email for detailed information and messaging apps for team collaboration. Digital signage excels at making sure everyone sees important updates, but it's not designed for two-way conversation or detailed documentation.
What internal communication tools work for multiple locations?
Cloud-based platforms handle multi-location organizations best. Digital signage platforms like Rise Vision let you manage content for all locations from one dashboard while giving individual sites control over their own displays if needed. Messaging apps and email function across locations by default. Avoid platforms that require local servers or manual updates at each site.
How do you get employees to actually use internal communication tools?
Pick platforms that fit how people already operate instead of forcing new habits. Digital signage functions because people see it without trying. Messaging apps perform well if the team is already communicating digitally. Email handles detailed information that people need to reference. The platforms that fail are the ones that require extra effort to check. Make information visible and accessible where people already are.
What features should internal communication tools have?
The ability to schedule content in advance, update information quickly, reach the right people (whether that's everyone or specific groups), function on the devices people actually use, and provide some way to measure whether messages are getting seen. For digital signage specifically, template libraries and simple content creation matter because nobody has time to design from scratch every week.
How often should you update internal communication content?
Often enough that people expect fresh information but not so often that it becomes noise. For digital signage, daily updates handle things like schedules and announcements well. Weekly updates suit news and recognition. Monthly for policies and longer-term information. The key is consistency so people know when to look for new content.
Do internal communication tools work during emergencies?
Some do, some don't. Email and messaging apps depend on people checking their devices. Digital signage with emergency alert capabilities can override regular content instantly to display critical information on all displays at once. If emergency communication matters for your organization (and it should), make sure your platforms can handle it. Rise Vision includes emergency alerts that function even if the network is unstable.