National Museums is a group of world-class museums and galleries with diverse venues attracting in excess of 3 million visitors each year across seven major sites. Their collections are among the most important and varied in Europe, and they have played a pivotal role in the North West for over 150 years.

Overview

Cultural institutions serve increasingly connected audiences who expect on-demand access to information during their visit. Guest Wi-Fi transforms the visitor experience by enabling instant access to exhibition context, collection details and interactive content without the cost and logistics of printed materials.

Evolve was selected to provide guest Wi-Fi infrastructure across National Museums' estate, delivering seamless connectivity that enhances visitor engagement whilst respecting the heritage architecture and operational requirements of listed venues.

The Challenge

Modern visitors carry smartphones, tablets and Wi-Fi-enabled devices as standard. When surrounded by priceless artworks and unique museum pieces, curiosity drives demand for additional context, background information and interactive content. Physical space constraints and conservation requirements limit how much printed information can be displayed in exhibition areas.

National Museums identified several objectives for a guest Wi-Fi solution:

Enhance visitor experience

Enable visitors to access additional exhibition information, collection details and interactive content at the point of interest, enriching their understanding and engagement.

Reduce print costs

Provide on-demand information access without generating large volumes of printed materials that require updating, storage and distribution.

Support educational programmes

Allow school groups and educational visitors to conduct research and access curriculum-linked content during museum visits.

Enable social sharing

Give visitors the ability to photograph exhibits and share their experience with friends and family through social networks, driving awareness and repeat visits.

Manage footfall effectively

Provide tools to encourage visitation during quieter periods whilst maintaining service during peak times.

The solution needed to work seamlessly across listed buildings with heritage architecture constraints, cause no disruption to live exhibitions, and maintain the aesthetic integrity of museum spaces.

The Solution

Evolve began with a pilot installation at the largest Liverpool site to validate the technical approach and operational model before rolling out across the wider estate.

Heritage-sensitive installation

Many National Museums buildings are listed, requiring careful planning and consent procedures. Evolve engineers worked closely with planners and museum curators to secure necessary approvals, ensure installations respected conservation requirements and maintained visual aesthetics throughout and after deployment.

Minimal operational disruption

Installations were conducted outside visitor hours and in areas away from active exhibitions. Evolve engineers worked quietly and efficiently, allowing museum staff to continue normal operations without interruption.

Scalable guest Wi-Fi infrastructure

The network design provided comprehensive coverage across gallery spaces, public areas and educational facilities, supporting thousands of concurrent users during peak periods.

Footfall management capabilities

After observing unexpectedly high adoption during initial deployment, National Museums requested additional controls to balance usage. Evolve implemented timed access windows at specific venues to encourage visitation during quieter periods whilst maintaining always-on access to on-device museum content (ODM Intranet).

QR code integration

The Wi-Fi infrastructure supports QR code-enabled content delivery, allowing visitors to scan codes near exhibits and instantly access detailed information, video content and interactive resources.

The Benefits

Enriched visitor experience

Guests access exhibition context, artist biographies, collection histories and interactive content at the point of interest, creating deeper engagement with museum collections.

Reduced operational costs

On-demand digital information reduces reliance on printed materials, cutting production, storage and distribution costs whilst simplifying content updates.

Enhanced educational value

School groups and researchers access curriculum-linked content, reference materials and supplementary resources during visits, supporting learning outcomes.

Increased social reach

Visitors share photographs and experiences through social networks, generating organic awareness and driving future footfall.

Intelligent footfall management

Timed access windows and content prioritisation enable museums to shape visitor behaviour, encouraging off-peak attendance whilst maintaining service quality.

Preferred supplier relationship

The successful pilot led to National Museums appointing Evolve as preferred partner for Wi-Fi services across all public venues.

Client Testimonial

"Evolve are now preferred partners to National Museums, providing Wi-Fi services in all our public venues. Their knowledge, ability to deliver under pressure and professionalism have been key to this appointment."

Ian Lindsay
IT Director at National Museums

About Evolve

Evolve delivers service-first managed network solutions for multi-site brands across retail, forecourts, QSR and hospitality. Our PCI Level 1-aligned SD-WAN, resilient Business Connectivity, Guest Wi-Fi and managed IT services are backed by a UK-based 24/7/365 Network Operations Centre.

We specialise in blueprint-led rollouts that protect trading minutes, reduce compliance risk and scale predictably across complex estates. Our proactive monitoring model means 86% of support interactions are outbound-we detect and resolve issues before sites feel the impact.

As Mako Networks' only Platinum Partner, we are the only network management company in the world to qualify as a PCI-certified Level 1 service provider, making us uniquely positioned to support hospitality and retail businesses requiring external PCI DSS certification.

For more information, contact us.