IRON MAID

The Idea of this system was the result having a meeting room where you can't see from outside if it is actualy used and who is inside. People came in very often searching for other peoples and disturbing the ongoing meeting and discussions.
So I thought it would be cool to have a display mounted in front of the meeting room that displays the current status. Actually it's always a combination fo Hardware and Software - not just a Panel PC that you connect and there you go. So - the System is based on a Panel PC, the Operating System used is Windows XP. The Footprint of the XP System is extremly reduced, so the System has a minimal memory usage of 48mb after boot. The System shuts down every night at @10.p.m. and an timed switch is shutting the whole system off. In the morning the power is turned on again, and the System boots. After booting the System, it queries an Microsoft Exchangeserver via WebDAV / Webservices for the Appointments of the next 60 days and caches the Information localy. When the Exchangeserver is not available (Maintainance, Errors)- it displays the Room Information from cache. The Software is designed for displaying Logos of the invited attendees companies and displays subjects, agendas, motto, etc. Between displaying the room status it displays video commercials.
So the main benefits of this System compared to others are:

- Easy integration into an existing Microsoft Exchange environment
- No extra Software required at the client - just invite the rooms as Resource using Microsoft Outlook
- No extra Server or Infrastructure required
- Using WLAN just a power source is required

Below you can see some sample hardware configurations.

Just an Infoterminal	Touchpanel with Feedback	Internet Terminal with Keyboard

Here is a Screenshot of the Software displaying content of a Meeting Room.

Here are some Pictures of an IT-Convention at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich with Iron Maid in action.

Iron Maid in action...	Displaying Multimedia Content...	Even in old Buildings...