Funeral directors · Chapels of rest · Crematoria

Digital signage for funeral directors: the right information, without having to ask for it

A family arriving at your premises should not have to look for the right chapel of rest, or ask again what time the service begins. Screens linked to a single platform carry that information in the window, in reception, outside the chapel and on to the crematorium — and you can correct it in seconds when a time changes.

The starting point

In this profession, getting the information wrong is not a small matter

Being sent to the wrong chapel of rest, arriving after a service has started, failing to find the crematorium entrance: these are moments that cannot be put right afterwards. That is where this page starts — not from a need to look modern.

The same question, all day long

“Is this the right place?”, “what time?”, “which chapel?”. Answering is part of the job, but a well-placed screen answers before the question is asked.

The sheet printed that morning

A service moved, a chapel changed at the last minute: the taped-up notice stays where it is. It says one thing while your staff say another.

Several families on the same day

Three chapels of rest, two services, mourners arriving at different times: the directions must be right for each of them, without one family seeing another family’s details.

What the family has entrusted to you

Photographs, a reading, a chosen piece of music. This material often arrives the day before and has to be ready, with nothing to sort out during the service itself.

The journey

From the window to the crematorium: six moments worth equipping

Here is a family’s journey, followed as they live it: they walk past your premises, they are received, they spend time in the chapel of rest, the service takes place, mourners make their way to the crematorium. At every step the screen answers one precise question — and the last one is no longer for the family, but for your own staff.

Diagram of a family’s journey in six linked steps: shopfront, reception, chapel of rest, service, crematorium and back office

Screen in the window of a funeral director’s premises, seen from the pavement

1 · Outside your premises

Many people walk past without feeling able to come in. A window screen gives the opening hours, the out-of-hours line and the number to call — including when the shutter is down, which is precisely when it matters most.

Inform

Reception area of a funeral director’s premises with a screen giving directions

2 · In reception

The family is expected. The reception screen gives the chapel of rest and the way to it, quietly, without announcing out loud what concerns them alone. A kiosk can also let visitors read up on the formalities on their own.

Direct

Screen beside the door of a chapel of rest in a quiet corridor

3 · Outside the chapel of rest

By the door, the screen confirms the chapel and the visiting times. This is where a mistake costs the most, and where a change of time has to be visible straight away.

Confirm

Quiet service room fitted with a large screen

4 · During the service

This is what E-SPEECH is for: bringing the readings, photographs, videos and music entrusted by the family together in one running order, prepared in advance and started at the right moment, with nothing visibly being operated.

Accompany

Forecourt of a crematorium with an information totem at the entrance

5 · At the crematorium

Mourners often arrive separately, sometimes from a long way off. A totem at the entrance gives the chapel and the time; outdoors, digital ink needs no mains supply.

Receive

Back office screen in a funeral director’s premises

6 · Behind the scenes

The one screen that is not for families: which chapels are in use, the day’s services, the cortège departures. Everyone sees the same thing, which saves the crossed phone calls.

Co-ordinate

The six screens do not all arrive at once. Most funeral directors start with reception and the chapels of rest — where a mistake shows immediately — then add the rest. The platform is the same from the first screen to the last.

E-SPEECH: the service prepared in advance

This is the module built for this profession. A family entrusts you with photographs, a reading, a piece of music; those elements are put together the day before, in the order they asked for, and run on the day without anyone having to go looking for a file.

  • ✓Readings, images, video and music in a single running order.
  • ✓Prepared in advance, and reviewed with the family if they wish.
  • ✓Started with one tap at the right moment, from a tablet.
  • ✓Only what the family has chosen — nothing else appears.

The E-SPEECH page sets out how the running order is built, screen by screen.

What a screen should not do

A screen has no business announcing to a whole room what belongs to one family. In a shared reception area, the usual practice is to give the chapel of rest and the time, and no more; and to leave the family to decide what appears during the service. The platform allows that to be set screen by screen: it is your premises that decide how discreet the display is, not the software.

The content

What your screens actually show

Three families of information cover most of it. They are not meant for the same people, and that is what decides which screen they appear on.

For families and mourners

  • ✓The chapel of rest and the way to it
  • ✓The visiting times
  • ✓The time and place of the service
  • ✓How to reach the crematorium or the cemetery
  • ✓The formalities and the useful documents

During the service

  • ✓The photographs entrusted by the family
  • ✓A reading, shown or spoken
  • ✓A chosen piece of music
  • ✓A tribute video
  • ✓Nothing beyond what was asked for

For your staff

  • ✓Which chapels of rest are in use
  • ✓The day’s services and cortèges
  • ✓Arrivals and preparation
  • ✓Internal instructions
  • ✓The notices you are required to display to staff

In practice

What matters in a funeral director’s premises

The constraints are not those of a shop: discretion comes before visibility, and the hardware has to go unnoticed.

A screen that does not impose itself

A measured size, a plain frame, reduced brightness: in a chapel of rest, a screen that is too large or too bright draws more attention than the information it carries. The hardware is chosen room by room — see the compatible equipment.

An entrance with no power supply

A forecourt, a cemetery path, a crematorium entrance: digital ink (e-paper) draws nothing at all while the image stays the same, runs for up to five years on battery and stays readable in broad daylight.

A correction in seconds

A time that moves, a chapel that changes: the change is made from a phone and applies to every screen concerned. That is what stops an out-of-date notice contradicting your staff.

Reading up without having to ask

A touch kiosk lets visitors go through the formalities, the paperwork or the services on their own — useful for people who would rather read before they speak.

Rights held per user

Who may change what a chapel screen shows, who prepares a service, who only sees the diary: every profile has its own scope, and access is protected by two-factor authentication.

More than one site

A group running several branches and a crematorium can send shared instructions in one move, and still let each site manage its own chapels of rest. From 1 to 1,000 screens per account.

How it works

How a screen comes to show the right information

Four steps, with no technical skills required. Getting the first screen running usually takes less than half a day.

1

You prepare

In EMITY’s built-in editor, you put together a chapel display or a page of visiting times from a template, directly inside the platform. If your staff already use Canva or Adobe Express, both connect to it as well.

2

You assign

Each screen receives what concerns it: the window its opening hours, the corridor outside chapel 2 its visiting times, the office its diary for the day. Nothing gets mixed up.

3

The screen plays

An E-BOX player plugs in behind the screen, or E-SOFT installs directly on professional Android, Tizen and webOS screens. Playback is local: a network outage will not leave a black screen in your reception.

4

You correct

A change of time is made from a phone and goes out immediately. E-MANAGER shows what each screen is displaying, so nobody has to walk round and check.

EMITY is sold through a network of certified resellers: an installer near you can take on the project, from choosing the screens to fitting them. The platform itself is described on the E-MANAGER page.

EMITY

A French software publisher, with a network of installers

+7,000

connected screens

+1,000

customer accounts

+130

distribution partners

+20

countries

Frequently asked questions

What funeral directors ask before they fit screens

It carries the practical information to where families need it, without their having to ask for it: which chapel of rest to go to, the visiting times, the time and place of the service, how to reach the crematorium. A second use concerns the service itself, with the readings, photographs and music entrusted by the family. A third is for your staff: which chapels are in use, the day’s cortèges, internal instructions. All three are run from the same platform, but not on the same screens.

That is the most reasonable question to ask, and the answer depends entirely on what it shows and where it is placed. A discreet screen reading “chapel 2, visiting from 2 pm to 5 pm” is a service to families; a bright screen scrolling through content in a chapel of rest is an intrusion. The platform lets you set the brightness, the content and the hours of operation screen by screen: it is the funeral director who decides how discreet the display is.

Technically yes, and many funeral directors do so to help mourners find their way. But it is a matter for agreement with the family, and some would rather nothing were visible in a shared space. The platform allows both: a named display outside the chapel concerned, or simply the chapel number. We would suggest raising it when the funeral is being arranged, as you would for the death notice.

That is the main reason funeral directors use it. The correction is made from a phone or a computer and reaches every screen concerned within seconds — the window, the corridor outside the chapel, the office. It avoids the most awkward situation of all: a sheet printed that morning contradicting what your staff are saying in the afternoon.

No, and the distinction is worth making plainly. EMITY does not handle case files, estimates or the statutory paperwork: those belong to dedicated funeral management systems. EMITY looks after what appears on the screens in your premises and how a service runs. The two sit alongside each other without difficulty, and this page does not claim to replace your management system.

No — that is exactly what E-SPEECH avoids. The running order — readings, photographs, music — is prepared beforehand, in the order the family asked for, and starts with one tap on a tablet at the agreed moment. Nobody has to look for a file or operate a computer while the family is in the room.

Yes, in most cases. EMITY works with every manufacturer: either by plugging an E-BOX player in behind the existing screen, or by installing the E-SOFT application directly on professional Android, Tizen (Samsung) and webOS (LG) screens. A set of screens installed by another supplier can therefore be taken over without buying new hardware.

Getting the first screen running usually takes less than half a day: creating the account, preparing a first display, plugging in the player. The real timescale of a project depends mostly on the hardware — choosing screens suited to each room, sourcing them and fitting them, normally through a certified reseller.

Alongside this

Three pages that go with this one

E-SPEECH, the service module

Readings, images, video and music in one running order: E-SPEECH.

The window screen

Window hardware, brightness and formats: digital window display.

Digital ink

For a forecourt or a path with no power supply: e-paper, and our subscriptions for what each plan includes.

Get in touch

Let’s talk about your premises

Tell us how your chapels of rest and your services are organised, and we will show you what the screens would display — with no commitment, and with nothing to install in order to have the conversation.