Handing out audio guides automatically with the Orpheo M-Box

A smooth welcome is the start of a good museum visit. Yet handing out and taking back audio guides and multimedia guides is often an underestimated bottleneck: queues at the desk, overstretched staff and no idea of what visitors actually use. With the Orpheo M-Box (formerly D-Box) you automate that process and get real-time visitor data on top. In this article you can read how it works.

The drawbacks of handing out by hand

• Waiting times: visitors stand in a queue, and that colours their first impression.
• Workload: staff are busy handing out and taking back devices, at the expense of hospitality.
• Little insight: without automation you do not know which languages or tours are popular.
• No feedback: there is no easy moment to ask visitors about their experience.

How the Orpheo M-Box works

The Orpheo M-Box is a distribution station with a 7-inch multi-touch screen, NFC and a network connection via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. You place a device on the station, choose the language and tour, and within about three seconds the guide is ready for use. It works with the Orpheo Mikro LX, the Orpheo Hybe and the Orpheo Touch. The station has three modes.

Distribution mode

This is the standard screen, divided into three parts: counters at the top, the language selection with flags on the left and the choice of tour on the right if you offer more than one. The staff member or the visitor makes a choice and the guide is set up in one go.

Return mode

When a device is handed back, the M-Box registers it along with the duration of the tour. That keeps you on top of your fleet and shows you how long visitors spend on average.

Survey mode

After returning the device, the visitor answers a few short questions in their own language, with smileys as answers. A progress bar shows how far along they are. The answers go straight to the cloud.

Real-time insight into your visitors

In the online dashboard you can see live how many devices are in use, how many are handed out per hour, which languages and tours are chosen and how that is spread across your distribution points. Groups and individual visitors are also tracked separately. If you wish, you can receive a monthly report. With that data you can tailor your offering, your opening hours and your staffing to actual use.

The benefits at a glance

• Faster service: handing out and taking back in a few seconds per visitor, so hardly any waiting time.
• Lower workload: staff have time left to give visitors a real welcome.
• Data-driven decisions: insight into languages, routes and use helps your planning.
• Direct feedback: the survey mode tells you what visitors thought of their visit.

You can start small

The M-Box is not an all-or-nothing decision. You can start with one station at the desk and later expand to several distribution points. The station does need an internet connection, because the data is processed in the cloud.

Let's talk

The M-Box is typically the kind of device where it helps to discuss your situation first: how many visitors, how many distribution points, which guides. We are happy to think along with you.