All categories of restaurants, from quick service to fine dining, are implementing digital menu boards as they see opportunities to increase sales. A recent study by Eclipse Digital Media reports that 29.5 percent of customers say digital menus influence their purchases, and restaurants can capitalize on this by placing tempting offers in the right place at the right time, using digital displays to disseminate their messages.
所有类别的餐馆，从快餐店到高档餐厅，现在都在尝试安装电子点餐板，因为他们看到了能够增加营业收入的好时机。最近Eclipse 数字媒体（Eclipse Digital Media）做了一项研究，报道称，29.5%的客户说电子点餐板影响着他们的消费，饭店也可以利用这一点，在正确的时间正确的地方，用电子点餐板来传播信息。
Sign professionals can help a potential customer understand the advantages of digital menu boards, such as the ability to update content quickly and dynamically. Digital menu boards allow a restaurant to promote new menu items or limited time offers every day, week or month – or even market targeted items depending on the time of day or weather – by updating content in a couple of keystrokes, with no need to replace or re-install anything; it’s just as simple to eliminate an item that’s not selling well and swap it with a better option.
而那些标识行业的专业安装人员则可以帮助他们的客户更好的理解电子点餐板的优势，例如内容和动态更新的速度。电子点餐板可以帮助餐馆推出新的菜品，或者不定期推出限时优惠，一天，一周，或者一个月，营销的目的也是取决于时间和天气，通过在几个键盘上更新内容，这样就不需要替换或者重装任何东西，就是简单的把销量不好的去掉，用更好一点的来替换上。
After a restaurant owner decides to make the jump to digital, a sign professional can guide him or her through the installation process from start to finish, beginning with the restaurant's reasons to install a digital menu board.
餐馆老板决定做电子点餐板后，一个专业的安装人员就会从安装的原因着手，并参与安装的整个过程，帮助电子点餐板的安装完成。标识设计人士就会在整个安装过程中引导他，从着手到完成，从餐馆安装点餐板的原因开始指导。
Before You Install
安装电子点餐板前你需要注意的事项
A sign professional can help a restaurant create an understanding of its objectives – which could include increasing customer engagement, boosting awareness, creating brand loyalty or driving revenue – to ensure a successful digital menu board installation. Even before a restaurant begins selecting displays, there are a few key planning elements to look at.
一个专业标识公司的安装人员，首先会先了解餐馆的营业额目标，然后通过电子点餐板帮助餐厅达到增强客户参与度、提高认知来为餐厅提升品牌知名度以及增加其收益。这些都需要安装人员与餐馆之间进行协调与商讨。
First, the restaurant should know why it wants to move to digital menu boards. The end goal should be something tangible, such as boosting sales by marketing services like catering or promotions, or making it easier to update seasonal items or limited time offers.
首先，餐馆应该知道为什么要安装电子点餐板。最终的目标就是能够看见一些实际带来的价值，例如通过促销或者承办等之类的市场营销服务来促进收益，也可以及时更新保证最新的产品，使得每天限量限时供应更方便些。
The restaurant's answer can help a sign professional determine installation factors like placement or setup; for example, if a QSR franchisee wants a digital menu board simply to promote limited time offers, and isn't able to invest in a full digital setup, the setup might consist of a single digital display in the drive-thru, with standard menu items listed on print “wings” attached to the display that can be changed out as needed.
餐馆对于自身的定位与目标能帮助标识专业人士决定安装要素，像放置以及安装的位置。例如，如果一家快餐店的经营者想要安装数字点餐板，仅仅只是为了促进限时供应，又不投资全数字点餐板，这样的话安装程序可能只有一个单一的数字显示。通过单一驱动，在显示器上滚动显示，这些内容可以根据餐馆的需要进行调整。
Helping a restaurant understand the cost is another part of a sign professional's duties. The cost will depend on the number of restaurant locations, number of digital menu boards needed for each location, and size and type of digital display. Digital signage software is an additional cost that also needs to be figured into the budget. The needs, wants and level of integration the restaurant is looking for will dictate the total cost.
帮助餐馆老板理解制作成本又是标识安装人员的另外一项职责。具体的花费取决于餐馆的数量、餐馆期望达到的效果、点餐版制作的水准以及每一个位置的电子点餐板的需求量和显示器的类型和规格来决定。
Finally, the restaurant needs to determine the type of content on the digital menu board, and sign professionals may be called on to offer feedback or advice based on what he or she has seen in prior projects. There are six main areas of content for a restaurant to focus on: menu, limited time offers, promotions (such as sweepstakes or giveaways), targeted marketing (e.g., asking customers to connect on social media), infotainment, and ancillary services such as catering or private party venues. A restaurant should not just digitize its printed menu, as the digital arena allows greater creativity and vibrancy than print, and gives more opportunities for a restaurant to showcase its deals, services and brand.
最后一步，餐厅需要确认电子内容的类型，而在这个过程中，标识专业人员则会被要求根据他在以前的项目中观察到的事情，提供反馈或建议。而餐厅，则要重点关注以下内容：菜单、限时优惠、促销活动（如抽奖或者赠品）、有针对性的营销（如要求客户在餐厅的网站上进性互动），若是餐饮或者私人聚会场所则应注意信息娱乐和辅助服务的功能。当然了，一间餐厅不应把重点全部放在其电子菜单上，毕竟菜单只是一种科技形式，而合理地运用这种工具，让其比老式的打印菜单创造出更大的活力和创造力，给餐厅更多的机会展示其交易、服务和品牌，才是更重要的。
A sign professional can guide the restaurant toward the appropriate digital displays for its needs depending on what the restaurant wants to get out of its digital menu boards, what type of content it will run and what its budget is. Whether a customer wants the menu boards inside or outside – or both – can affect the type of digital displays.
一个专业的标识安装人员能够基于餐厅的需求、菜品的种类以及预算，做出最适合餐厅的电子点餐版。而他们还会根据餐厅究竟是需要室内或室外的点餐版来改变其形式。
Indoor Digital Menu Boards
室内点餐板
The major considerations for indoor digital menu board installation involve visibility: location, angle, readability and where the restaurant's customers will be viewing it from. Analyzing the prospective physical location of the menu board and its structure is key. Looking at where the digital menu boards will be installed and whether the current structure (wall or ceiling) can support a mounted LCD or whether additional structures are needed to hold displays in place will drive size, content and functionality. The location will impact the physical size of the display as well as the content; for example, a menu board installed high above the order counter at a fast-casual restaurant will be larger and need a bigger font size in an easier-to-read font than a menu board set into a wall at eye level.
室内点餐板要考虑的因素主要有可视性：位置、角度、易读性以及用户查看点餐板的位置。菜单板究竟应该安置在那里，则取决于它的结构。而室内点餐板在哪里放置，是否需要在墙或者天花板上进行改造来放置液晶显示屏等问题、则都会影响菜单板的尺寸、内容、功能。例如，如果一个菜单板被安置在水平视线上为了利于阅读的话，则它的尺寸相对来说要小一点。而当它安装在一个快速休闲餐厅，高于点菜台的地方时，为了有更大的字体方便阅读，则它的尺寸也应该较大。
A display that is a full menu should have simpler content and design than a board advertising special offers, which might use pictures, video and audio to flash the specials with just a name and price.
相比于传统的广告牌介绍餐厅特价的方式而言，电子点餐板会有更简洁的内容以及设计，它只需要图片、视频、音频来突出特价商品的名字和价格。
Outdoor Digital Menu Boards
户外点餐板
Some of the considerations for an outdoor menu board installation include enclosures/weather proofing, brightness/contrast and government regulations.
户外菜单板的安装要注意的一些事项包括外壳、耐候性、亮度、对比度以及政府规章。
Many outdoor menu boards are for QSR drive-thrus (70 percent of a QSR's business comes from outside) and will require enclosures, which need to be rugged, weatherproof, and hard to damage or remove, while still allowing the screen inside to be visible. The enclosure will require some kind of heating and cooling system as well.
需要户外点餐板的往往是快餐行业（快餐行业的70%消费量都源于户外点餐板）。所以这种点餐板需要坚固、防风雨以及稳定的外壳，并且不会影响观看外壳内屏幕的内容。最好还能安装一些负责控温的系统。
As for location, the board has to be placed where it can be easily read from a vehicle and anchored into the ground. Installers should be mindful of where the venting for the heating/cooling system is located, because if the vent ends up in the direct line of car exhaust lines, the enclosure's vent system could become clogged over time.
户外点餐板的安装则应该找一个固定在地面上的位置，同时还要能让司机在车里就方便地看到。同时安装者还应该留意控温系统的安装位置，如果当排气管路影响了通风孔的时候，很可能会导致位于外壳上的通风系统也发生故障。
Climate-specific considerations include extreme temperatures and humidity. If a display mounted in a humid climate requires an enclosure, moisture may develop inside the enclosure, which means an outdoor-specific LED rather than an LCD that requires an enclosure would be better for that climate. Any menu board outside in extreme temperatures will need a heating and/or cooling system, which will require periodic maintenance and cleaning. Temperature/humidity sensors and alert systems will help ensure that the solution is always running at optimal levels.
在气候因素的考虑上还要将极端的温度和湿度纳入考虑范围。如果点餐板被安装在一个潮湿的气候中，则需要一个外壳可以让湿气从内部的通风口中排出。这时就需要一个户外专用的LED光源，而不是一个液晶显示器。在极端天气条件下的户外广告牌都需要控温系统，并且要定期的维护和清洁。同时，温度/湿度传感器和警报系统，也将帮助户外广告牌保持良好的运行状态。
How bright an outdoor display needs to be depends on its location as well. If the display is exposed to direct sunlight, it would need higher brightness during the day, and lower brightness at night. Many states have regulations about brightness at night as well as motion, so drivers are not distracted. QSR menu boards that face the street may be allowed to have static content only for those reasons.
户外点餐板显示屏的亮度也取决于它所处的位置。如果显示屏暴露在强烈的阳光下，则需要在白天有更高的亮度，而晚上调节为较暗的亮度。许多州都对夜间显示屏的亮度做出了规定，以防止司机在驾驶时受到干扰，也因为这些规定，临街的快餐店显示屏只允许展示静态的内容。
Best Practices When Installing Digital Menu Boards
安装点餐板的最佳方法
Look through the eyes of the consumer and the brand. Installers can provide perspective from both sides of the equation, and help a restaurant integrate menu boards that meet its goals while also making the ordering process easy for the customer. The digital menu board is the vehicle a restaurant uses to communicate to its customers, and both parties should see value in it.
安装者也需要平衡消费者和餐厅之间的利益，既要让餐厅通过点餐板完成他们的销售目标，也要让顾客的点餐过程尽可能地简化。数字点餐板就是一种连接餐厅与消费者之间的工具，而双方都能从这种形式中获得价值。
Set goals. Work with the restaurant to set specific objectives for what it wants to get out of a digital menu board, while helping it to be practical about its goals. The restaurant should have a way to measure and define the value of the menu board to help determine the true return on investment. That said, this needs to be realistic; a digital menu board might not yield an immediate 20 percent increase in sales, but as the restaurant becomes more comfortable with its digital menu boards and learns what type of content works and what doesn't, and as its customers become more familiar with the menu boards, the restaurant should see an increase in sales over time.
安装者要和餐厅共同协作，制定出一个希望点餐板带来多少收益的具体目标，并帮助其实践。而餐厅本身也应该有自己的方法评估菜单板所带来的价值。而做出这个评估，则要根据实际的效益来计算。尽管点餐板不能为餐厅瞬间带来20%利润的增长，但因为电子点餐板的出现，可以让餐厅变得更加舒适，并让餐厅了解到究竟怎样的内容是顾客真正需要的。经过一定时间后，当消费者对餐厅产生消费黏性，就会为餐厅带来利润的增长。
Don't assume one size fits all. A sign professional may have completed an installation for one brand that was a certain number of displays or certain size of display, but that doesn't mean the next project will be identical, even if it's for a similar type of restaurant. Every restaurant has its own design, layout and identity, and its digital menu board solution should reflect its style.
不要以为用一种点餐板的设计可以满足所有餐厅的需求。哪怕一个标识专家刚完成一个点餐板的安装，但这不意味着下一个安装方案可以套用之前的设计，哪怕这两家餐厅是很类似的。每一家餐厅都有他们独有的设计、布局和特质，而一个数字点餐板的设计风格则应该反映出这种独一无二。
Educate the customer – but listen to them, too. Sign professionals have digital signage experience and knowledge, and the restaurant knows its brand and its customers. Both sides bring value to the process of selecting and installing a digital menu board, and a collaborative effort will help ensure the restaurant chooses the right option for today and tomorrow.
对于安装者来说，既要为人师，也要耐心听取客户的想法。标识的专业人士拥有着数字标牌的经验和知识，而餐厅的管理者则更了解他们的品牌以及客户。而只有这两方面共同合作，才能让数字点餐板的选择和安装更加顺畅、有效。而通过双方协作，则能够让餐厅做出适应当下与未来的最佳选择。
Keeping these tips in mind can help sign professionals guide a restaurant toward a digital menu board solution that enhances brand image, drives sales, and saves time and resources down the line. Whether it's a mom-and-pop hot dog stand or a chain with thousands of locations, digital menu boards can be part of a multichannel marketing strategy for a restaurant, and sign professionals can help restaurants meet their goals by implementing the right solutions in the right ways.
以上的这些方法可以更好地让标识专业人士去引导餐厅，制作出能够提升品牌、推动销售、省时省钱的电子点餐板。点餐板能够成为一家餐厅市场战略的一部分，不管它是一家街边的热狗店还是拥有数千家连锁店的大餐厅。而标识的专业人士能够帮助餐厅用最合适的方式和解决方案完成它们的销售目标。
