Black Country Chamber of Commerce has installed a high-tech TV system to keep visitors to its offices up to date with its latest initiatives and national news.
Chamber TV - which costs £50,000 a year to maintain and run - features the latest in large screen display technology combined with digital signage and software.
The project is funded by advertising and sponsorship.
It will see Brierley Hill-based City Hi Life providing up-to-the-minute news, TV, chamber-related advertising and information on topical business issues and forthcoming events to visitors and staff. An instant messaging facility allows managers at the Chamber office to place welcome messages to visiting dignitaries and important and urgent announcements to staff and visitors directly on to the screens.
As well as local control of the screen, City Hi Life can change the sequence and content of the screens from their remote Media Centre, simplifying the task for the Chamber and providing new information without disrupting the local display.
It is the first of four screens to be installed at Chamber offices. Others are to be installed shortly and again connected through a broadband network to City Hi Life's centre.
The system was launched by local MPs John Spellar (Warley) and Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton SE) during a visit to the Chamber's Sandwell office in West Bromwich. The MPs were at the National Metalforming Centre to meet local business leaders.
They discussed the future of manufacturing in the region and the challenges and opportunities posed by globalisation.
The Chamber's Sandwell director Tony Carroll said: "We were delighted to welcome two MPs to the Chamber for an important discussion on local business issues and then to invite them to launch our new TV system. This new network will allow us to keep visitors up to date with Chamber events and other news."
