Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
If you ask my six-year-old son the question in this post's title, he'll say that "screen time" (when he gets to watch TV or play computer games) is always welcome.
And I have to say that when he and I waited in line for two hours to get his second H1N1 shot in November, I thought bringing my laptop (screen) and a kids' movie was about the best thing I'd ever done.
But screen time isn't really always welcome. On Facebook not too far back, a former boss of mine posted something to the effect of "Do I really have to watch TV when I pump gas?" And I have to say that if I ever did wait in line at a branch of my credit union (I am a home banking junkie), I wouldn't really want to watch TV then, either.
Facilities expert Paul Seibert of EHS Design in Seattle cautioned in a story in the January issue of Credit Union Management that replacing tellers across the counter from members with remote teller systems isn't always accepted. Yet I had a recent experience where I wished I could have seen a screen with the image of the teller who was helping me. So let's turn the tables on this one more time.
I made a rare visit to my credit union's drive-up a few months back. (Full confession: I'd lost my ATM card and I had to get cash before the replacement card could reasonably arrive.) I couldn't see the teller because of the way the sun was shining on the drive-up window. I would have welcomed a screen with her image next to my car.
Sometimes sreens are welcome, sometimes not. How does your credit union decide when to use them in branches, drive-ups and other settings?
