Are you thinking about buying a digital signage system? How about upgrading your old system? If so, you have likely encountered some snark when it comes to software-as-a-service versus on-premises software. Which is best for you is totally determined by your needs and if it works for your budget. Object lesson: cheaper is not always cheaper in the long run.

Some digital signage companies like Keywest Technology have developed both SaaS and on-premises software based on Android, Linux and Windows. Since developing and launching our newest platform in the Cloud, we sometimes hear unjustified reasons for rejecting cloud signage. Here are some typical comments and questions (or objections) to cloud-based software vs. on-premises software.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: I’m afraid my data won’t be secure in the Cloud.

KEYWEST TECH: Find a digital signage SaaS provider who uses HTTPS for all data transfers. This layers the HTTP protocol on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, thereby adding military-grade encryption for both the up/down transfers. This is the same level of security that the World Wide Web uses everyday for millions of financial and other secured transactions. Additionally, any reputable cloud-storage company provides storage secured with encryption and other techniques. For these reasons industry experts report that such schemes are more secure than most corporate networks.

Additionally, more advanced cloud signage uses a technique called “cloud files” that actually keeps clients’ data, media, account and billing information in separate locations. This greatly reduces the likelihood of a successful hack.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: Digital signage in the cloud is a bandwidth hog!

KEYWEST TECH: This statement used to be somewhat true back in the “video streaming” days, but most modern SaaS systems today use pull technology, which caches the playlist on the media player and therefore uses bandwidth only for the original download and future updates. This is similar to the bandwidth of on-premises software that stores the playlists on local hard drives--except the cloud systems may have the advantage of using web-optimized media encoders that reduce the file size using more efficient H.264 technology among others.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: If you lose the Internet connection to a cloud media player, the screen will go dark.

KEYWEST TECH: If the cloud player is designed to cache the playlist, the lost connection should not affect the pre-loaded playlist, which continues to play "as is" with no loss of picture or content. When the connection is restored, new content gets updated seamlessly and automatically.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: Will I lose the ability to change my content on the fly with a cloud digital signage system?

KEYWEST TECH: No, you can change the content on the fly with SaaS digital signage just like with on-premises software. It may be true that the download takes a bit longer than an on-premises system, but we are measuring seconds and minutes at most here, not hours, assuming you have a typical broadband connection. Plus, with a cloud system, you can easily schedule downloads to occur at a time that is best for your network. This is not so easy with on-premises software unless you have a local server, which adds greatly to the cost of ownership and system complexity.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: SaaS costs way too much. All we need is a simple system.

KEYWEST TECH: Cost savings is a huge factor that a well-designed SaaS system should provide. We help our customers calculate the ROI (return on investment) and COO (cost of ownership) of both platforms we offer--cloud vs. premise. When you factor in the savings from reduced hardware cost, reduced downtime, minimal maintenance cost, and then weigh in the added benefits of a cloud service like anywhere accessibility, free upgrades, free content, free widgets, comprehensive database and real-time cloud sourcing of third-party data and content, interactive integration, ease of use, etc., the cloud systems win (almost) every time in the ROO (return on objectives) arena.

Saying this, Keywest Technology continues to provide multiple platforms because there are some digital signage applications that are just simpler and cheaper to go with on-premises software. However, you don't need to be a large enterprise to benefit from a cloud system. SMBs are benefiting from cloud digital signage everyday without the objections mentioned in this article.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE BUYER: Why should I pay for digital signage? After all, some offer it for FREE!

KEYWEST TECH: Some people think at first that "free digital signage software" is going to come rolling out of the box like an Apple and set itself up and proclaim it's ready to go, but here’s the skinny: you will spend maximum time and effort to make it all work only to learn that what you really want will cost you anyway. From our experience with clients who got sick of paying too much for "free" software, we suggest you "cut bait" and go with companies who don't use such gimmicky marketing tactics and instead go with providers who know how to deliver true value. Full-service digital signage solution providers—who deliver not just digital signage software—but support, system design, content design and marketing know-how, provide business value beyond a flashy sign.

Digital signage for manufacturing plants is probably the least understood and talked about of all applications. However, when it comes to applications that yield qualitative benefits, digital signage can display critical production line alerts, plant metrics and reinforce safety information that make it an instrumental resource for any modern operation.

Oftentimes, ROI of digital signage for businesses is spoken of in terms of cost savings, measured impact on sales, improved customer experience, brand reinforcement and the like. But when it comes to manufacturing plants, ROI is often first realized with an improvement in safety. The cost savings of a safer work environment is huge, especially considering that just one injury costs a plant $78,000 on average.  This is where digital signage can shine in manufacturing, considering how well and easy it accomplishes repetitive and engaging communications that include safety reminders and alerts. 

Modern manufacturing often involves lean manufacturing initiatives, which digital signage can address with built-in production data integration. Digital signage often supports “set it and forget it” programming, so floor managers can spend more time on the floor accompanying their plant workers, which has a tendency to boost morale and promote teamwork. With digital signage on the production floor, displays easily communicate reliable and timely production metrics, such as, quality control, up-to-the-minute production totals, inventory levels, and assembly line alerts.

For manufacturers that employ Kaizen initiatives, digital signage is an asset. It can increase worker safety awareness, improve plant communications, alert workers to supply-chain concerns, and help reduce response time for production quality issues, more so than less-agile communication methods. It can also eliminate or greatly reduce print publishing that will help eliminate waste, too.

Company communication is also a major challenge on the plant floor. Considering that 40% of workers don’t have access to e-mail, plants often rely on word-of-mouth and bulletin boards to get their message across. This is not very effective or efficient. Digital signage placed away from the production floor where workers take breaks, socialize and eat have proven to effectively communicate company updates, reminders and messages. Employee contests and event highlights can be broadcast to increase worker morale, supporting overall the team atmosphere that foremen work so hard to achieve.

Imagine an industrial plant where management wants to communicate vital information to hundreds of workers. Perhaps it's production quotas vs. actual performance; perhaps it's mean time between accidental employee injuries; perhaps it's delivery information regarding vital components that are en route. In all of these instances -and others too numerous to recount here- digital signage has the ability to convey important information to a workforce that is vital to employees maintaining a safe, efficient environment.

Digital signage for manufacturing is an excellent reminder that ROI can occur in so many ways; let’s not forget it when we figure ROI for any industry.

Part one pointed out that for many business owners – even those who understand the potential of digital signage – deciding to add digital signs to the communication channel raises a thorny issue: Who's going to create the content that feeds the sign network fresh information of interest to viewers in a professional format that makes a great statement about the business?

Certainly there are a number of third-party content aggregators that can provide fresh information by using real estate on the digital signage screen, just keep in mind that too much syndicated content and you risk squandering your core communication strategy. There is nothing wrong with syndicated content; it’s extremely desirable for many kinds of communication strategies. It’s just that too much of it and your message becomes diluted to the point that, well…what is the point?

Most importantly, fresh content that is focused on your company’s communication effort is paramount if viewers are to keep coming back for reasons that meet your company objectives. Creating the right mix and balance of information sources is the ‘secret sauce’ only you and your stakeholders can answer considering business type and viewer preference.

Now on to the elephant in the room: Who is creating the content that is going to drive the company vision, value proposition, market differentiators, news, promotions and entertainment? Here, I examine solutions that go beyond the obvious answer of hiring someone like a full-time graphic artist or ad agency – two steps many business owners are likely unprepared to make until they see results that justify investing in professional talent.

Before you read my ‘elephant busting’ content tactics below, keep in mind that the success of any digital sign relies on having a clear communication strategy with stated goals and ways of measurement that are accepted by stakeholders.

Tactic 1: Create and use attention-grabbing templates that carry a consistent theme, which match a specific campaign, product or company branding effort. Templates reduce the complexity of creating digital signage content. They can be constructed to accommodate nearly all of the information – whether it's menu items for a restaurant or special event listings in a hotel lobby – that a digital signage user needs to display. Once created, templates also minimize the time that must be devoted to the communications process because they can be used over and over again.

A well thought out template for digital signage will go far; plus, it can be repurposed for other campaigns with little effort. If you are short on manpower to accomplish this, consider your company’s website designer or nascent employee with starlet skills. Another possibility is to outsource the template design to a third-party firm. Either way, you are still in control of your key message.

Tactic 2: Select digital signage software that has the ability to automatically import data from company databases and content sources to relieve staff from re-keystroking data into the digital signage page. For example, a hotel might rely on event or property management software to track reservations, meeting room bookings and conference events. For instance, meeting room booking data, such as the name of the party renting the room could populate a text field in a template built for use on a digital reader boards outside individual conference and ballrooms.

Tapping into data automation is a great way to repurpose existing resources without needing a content manager, graphics artist, or a third-party service provider. Additionally, widgets or other software programs can be used to source news feeds, social media feeds, weather forecasts and corporate web pages. This could happen simply by sitting down with stakeholders and identifying pieces of data that could populate a digital signage template automatically without staff intervention.

Tactic 3: Leverage existing marketing, promotional and advertising materials to minimize the amount of original content that must be created. Existing content, including social media assets, TV, Internet or YouTube commercials, viral video and corporate video can be reused on digital signs when appropriate.

This may only require sitting down with the person in charge of marketing and finding out what media assets are available to repurpose on the digital signage system. If such media fits within your company’s communication objectives, your marketing department may be a rich source of Web videos, PowerPoint presentations, animations, logos and other valuable assets.

Tactic 4: Use RSS feeds to keep a stream of fresh content constantly updating on the screen. Depending on the business and the application, Internet RSS feeds from various sources can provide fresh, new content to attract viewers and hold their attention.

Better digital signage software will support RSS as a source feed. RSS feeds are often available directly from one’s website, which may be great way to reinforce corporate news. Additionally, there are countless sources of both local and national news feeds from many Internet providers on popular topics that could supplement a digital signage communication strategy.

Tactic 5: Rely on a traditional television programming to supplement your digital signage content. This may seem counterintuitive for a corporate digital signage channel, but TV is a proven medium that attracts attention. And placed in spots where employees take breaks, such as cafeterias or lounges could prove a dynamic way to provide both corporate messaging and entertainment all at the same time.

Some digital signage systems are available with optional TV tuners that allow programming to be imported into a digital signage layout. Integrating TV relieves much of the burden of creating a lot of fresh content.

However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. The cable or satellite TV source may not allow retransmission of its programming without first paying a licensing fee. Another is possible competitive conflict. For instance, how would the owner of a used car lot feel about unintentionally displaying the commercial of a competitor on his digital sign?

Relying on these five tactics can help any business owner – small or large – create the content that gets and holds the attention of viewers without taking on a new employee or vendor. In my next column, I'll offer five more tactics that can be used to help create content, and may finally chase the elephant out of the room.

 

Without the ability to monitor each sign in a digital signage network from a central location to confirm playback, achieving confidence in the performance of the network will be next to impossible.

One day when I was in college many years ago, I took my handy cassette recorder to class because I knew my professor was going to be covering some particularly important material that I would want to review in detail before my next exam.

That's not to say I wasn't well versed in the Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals and the finer points of outlining. It's just that for this particular class I wanted to get every detail. (I'm clearly showing my age. My college-aged kids turn to Blackboard and other online tools for notes and PowerPoint presentations of their professors' lectures.)

Imagine how disappointed I was when I returned home in the evening, rewound my cassette and for whatever reason there was no audio of the lecture. What I needed - although I didn't know it at the time - was the ability to do what audio engineers call "confidence monitoring." In other words, I needed the ability to listen via an audio jack and an earpiece to the actual audio as it was being recorded to tape.

Fast forward to today and to the topic at hand, namely digital signage networks. A critical element of effectively managing a digital signage network is the ability to monitor playback of scheduled content on each monitor in the network - sort of a visual confidence monitoring. For the digital signage network manager, having the ability to look across the entire network, which might stretch across a campus, throughout an arena, or even across the entire nation, to confirm playback makes the seemingly impossible quite doable and improves productivity of the entire enterprise.

Rather than relying on someone else who happens to be working within viewing distance of each monitor in the network to notice a problem and then report it to the digital signage network manager, a manager in the network operations center has the ability to view what's playing back on any given monitor in the network from the network operations center (NOC).

Often, the digital signage network software that makes this happen will display thumbnail images of multiple monitors, any of which can be enlarged with a simple mouse click. Frequently, the software also makes it easy for managers to group thumbnails in a logical manner. For instance, thumbnails of all of the monitors in a particular building, on a specific floor or in a certain type of application, can be assigned to the same group so that it's easy and convenient for a manager to confirm that all is well with any given grouping of monitors.

Confidence monitoring paired with software capabilities to log playback is particularly important for digital signage ad networks. For these networks, having the ability to prove to customers that advertising ran as scheduled on the network is essential. Similarly, monitoring playback and documenting those instances when an ad failed to run as scheduled gives the ad network the ability to schedule make-goods and in the process build and win the trust of customers.
 
More decades have passed than I care to admit from my first encounter with the consequences of not having adequate confidence monitoring, but the lesson is as relevant today in the realm of digital signage as it was back then with my broken cassette tape. Without the ability to monitor the performance of technology as it apparently goes about fulfilling its function, it is ultimately impossible to have confidence in that technology.

The use of simple network management protocol (SNMP) messaging can make it much easier to manage a digital signage network.

If you don't want to be the Erich Brenn of your digital signage network, you might want to consider how SNMP (simple network management protocol) messaging can help you lead a happy, productive professional life.

For those who don't recall my last column, Erich Brenn was "The Ed Sullivan Show" performer who impressed me as a young boy for his ability to keep numerous bowls and plates spinning. His feat required a high-degree of attention and some pretty quick feet.

I envision administrators of digital signage networks without the proper tools to be in a similar space as Brenn -constantly running from one display monitor to the next to confirm playback, inspect presentation quality and identify potential problems on the horizon. Unfortunately, for the network administrators, the distance they must cover isn't the length of a dining room table, but rather can be as great as across a mall, a campus or even around the world.

One tool at the disposal of digital signage network administrators is SNMP messaging. The idea behind SNMP is devices on the network -for instance a local digital signage player, whether it's integral to the monitor or a standalone device connected to the display- are equipped with the ability to monitor their condition and alert a central server of problems or potential problems. Local condition monitoring of these devices is done via an agent that reports information via SNMP messaging.

So, for instance, one simple task of an SNMP agent in a digital signage network is reporting. In this example, an agent can be setup to report in to the central server at specific intervals, letting the system and the administrator know that the device is still connected to the network and on. However, if there's a problem and the agent fails to report in at the expected time, the server immediately knows there is a status problem with the device that must be addressed. Communications in the form or an email or text message can be sent to the administrator so the issue can be corrected. SNMP can allow a variety of conditions to be monitored, reported and acted upon. Others might include temperature, moisture and even component-level warnings where available.

While SNMP messaging is a smart way to monitor, report problems and ultimately take corrective actions, it's also stupid. Or, more accurately, SNMP doesn't have the smarts to do anything more or less than the administrator asks.

Thus, if an administrator tells an SNMP agent to report in to the central server every minute with a status report, that's exactly what it will do. If the action that's tied to a failure to report is to send out an email to the administrator every time the device fails to report that administrator may one morning be greeted with literally hundreds of emails reporting the failure of that player on the network. While an annoyance, simple steps like extending the reporting interval can reduce those emails from hundreds to a handful.

SNMP is a valuable tool that digital signage network administrators can use to sidestep emulating Erich Brenn. Another is serial control, which I'll explore in my next column.

As digital signage network size and complexity grows, remote monitoring and control become essential.

One of my earliest memories as a small child was sitting down with my folks to watch the "Ed Sullivan Show." Many may remember the variety show for the historic appearance of the Beatles and the beginning of the British invasion. Others still may remember the program for the host's famous catch phrase - something like, "We have a really big show" with the word "show" sounding exactly like the drawn out pronunciation of the word "shoe."

What I remember the most was a stage act in which the performer began spinning bowls on wooden poles protruding from a platform. As the act progressed, he also began spinning up dinner plates, positioned between the poles balancing the spinning bowls, on their edges. To keep all of this in motion, the performer would run back and forth between poles, adding more spinning momentum to the bowls as he added more plates and bowls to the action. To the amazement of this little boy watching in awe with his parents, not a single bowl or plate crashed to the ground; rather the performer concluded his act by collecting each spinning object and neatly arranging them on the platform.

This childhood memory paints a mental picture for me of what it must be like to manage an extensive network of digital signs without proper monitoring, alert notification and control functionality. I can see in my mind's eye some poor soul having to run between monitors to make sure they are on, playing back the right content and functioning properly. But instead of traversing the width of platform no bigger than dining room table, this digital signage manager would have to run back and forth between signs scattered around an arena, across a campus or even around town.

Fortunately for digital signage network administrators, tools exist to eliminate the need to visit individual displays in person and instead provide the ability to remotely monitor and control all displays from a central command center.

Various approaches can be taken, but some of the more useful elements in any such system include support for: SNMP (simple network management protocol messaging); snapshot confidence monitoring of all displays on the network; serial control of monitor functions, including on, off and volume control; and some degree of network and device diagnostics.

Without these basic tools, managing, controlling and monitoring the performance of a digital signage network would be a feat akin to keeping all of those spinning plates and bowls in motion.

In future columns, I'll layout more details about each of the important elements of digital signage network monitoring and control, but for now, I just wanted to set the table with lots and lots of spinning plates and bowls.

One final note: If you are interested in seeing the spinning plate and bowl act, go to YouTube and search for "Erich Brenn 'Plate Spinning' on The Ed Sullivan Show."

Cheers & Happy Holidays

Digital signage networks are powerful communications tools, but to get the most out of them requires proper monitoring, content management and control.

Digital signage networks are enticing to marketers, advertisers and large institutions because they offer exceptional reach and wrest control away from traditional gatekeepers, thus collapsing the distance between the communicator and the medium.

So much for the highfalutin talk; let's get practical and take a journey on the road to succeeding with digital signage networks. If digital signage networks are to achieve these lofty goals, they must offer certain fundamental capabilities, including making it simple to manage content, monitor playout, detect network faults, diagnose problems, control individual monitors and override playout schedules to issue emergency messages in times of distress, such as weather events, fires and other catastrophes.

The first stop on this journey is the content management server. The content management server provides a network operations center (NOC) with access to every, or targeted, digital signs along the network. Rather than manually communicating point-to-point, addressing one digital signage player after another sequentially from a central location to distribute media and playout schedules, the content management server pushes out new media and schedules to targeted players over a LAN, WAN or VPN as instructed by someone with administrative rights -often long after that person has left for the day and is snoozing away in bed.

Depending upon the application, it may also be necessary for the content management server to accommodate hyperlocal content playback on specific monitors, which, for example, may share the same general geography. Imagine a university with a digital signage network. A content management system could serve media files and playlists for all but a single onscreen area to ensure consistency of messaging across campus. However, in that reserved onscreen space hyperlocal content regarding individual schools, colleges and departments could playback messages tailored to their needs.

The next trailmarker to success is confidence monitoring of individual signs in the network. Think of the nightmarish task of continuously making sure every sign in a network is functioning if there were no IP network connectivity. You'd need some comfortable running shoes or lots of reliable people to watch the monitors locally and report problems as they arise. A far more practical approach is to ping each monitor via the IP network at a regular interval -maybe every 30 seconds- take a snapshot of what's on the screen and visually inspect each representation when alerted to a problem from a central location in the NOC.

This leads to the next two landmarks on our journey: fault detection and diagnostics. As individual digital signage players and monitors are pinged, a range of established conditions can be inspected, such as network connection integrity, chassis airflow and temperature. Fault detection and diagnostics not only equip technicians with knowledge of what problem to look for before they even arrive at a faulty player or monitor, but also alert network administrators to impending problems that can be corrected preemptively as conditions drift beyond certain thresholds.

The penultimate stop on this quest is individual monitor control. Imagine the energy and dollar savings to be realized by an institution or enterprise with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of LCD monitors on a digital signage network if only there were a way to turn the monitors off after hours and back on in the morning. A successful digital signage network implementation will provide for RS-232 or IP control over monitors to provide just that control.

The last marker on this path is emergency messaging override. In the event of a fire, a terror situation or severe weather, emergency messaging can mean the difference between life and death. Thus, it's extremely important that authorized personnel -such as upper management, a campus police chief, or emergency response coordinator- have the ability to simply override signage playout schedules on a universal or targeted basis, depending upon the circumstance. This should be done via an ordinary Internet connection via password protected access so there is no need to travel to the NOC and thus no unnecessary delay. Additionally, the emergency messaging system should provide access and remote control of all monitors in the event that an emergency situation develops after hours when monitors are shut down and only a handful of people or at the location. Having the ability to turn on the monitors remotely ensures 24-7 communications in case of an emergency.

Taking the time and effort to ensure these way markers are accounted for when setting up a digital signage network is worthwhile. Doing so will ensure your institution or enterprise has the maximum degree of control and flexibility and elevate your chances of successfully communicating important messages to people via your digital signage network.

In the quest to attract and hold attention, consider what you can do to deliver information that your audience cares about.

A new buzzword is making its rounds in professional media circles these days that's pertinent to successful digital signage. That word, "hyperlocal," at first glance seems a little strange, but when you consider what it's driving at it should make all the sense in the world to marketers who concentrate their efforts on digital signage.

The prefix "hyper," in this instance meaning extremely, is added to the familiar concept of local to draw the distinction between something that's in your city vs. something that's in your neighborhood or something that's in your vicinity vs. something in close proximity.

Squeezed by new competition from non-traditional media, such as blogs, Web sites and even mobile phones and PDAs, the pillars of local media, including newspapers and TV stations, have begun dabbling in hyperlocal news coverage on their Web sites to win back audience and remain competitive.

For marketers relying on digital signage to advance their communications goals, hyperlocality is an important concept to grasp and leverage. Imagine you are given the responsibility for marketing at a retail store specializing in camping, fishing and hunting equipment. Some informal research showed 80 percent of customers fish, hunt and camp in the country. It also revealed 60 percent of those customers take a fishing, hunting or camping trip within five days of their visit to your store.

In this example, it's clear that the county where the store is located and adjacent county would be considered "hyperlocal," especially when compared to all of the destinations an outdoorsman could visit -everything from a hunting expedition in the wilds of Alaska to a rubber rafting trip on the Colorado River.

With those two critical pieces of information -where the customers go and when they go there- it would be relatively simple to build in "hyperlocal" outdoors information into the shop's digital signage playback to help build and hold the attention of patrons. For instance, state or county conservation department data might reveal lake levels, average water temperatures and other information for area lakes likely to be visited by fisherman shopping at the store. Similarly, weather information and forecasts are widely available that could used to help shoppers determine conditions before they head for the great outdoors.

The same concept could be applied to other retail businesses, schools, hotels and nearly any other digital signage application imaginable. For any given digital signage application there is likely to be some sort of available "hyperlocal" news, information or data that will give patrons an incentive to look at the digital sign and in so doing see the other marketing information that's also being presented.

This all boils down to building digital signage content that is relevant to the intended audience. A great place to start building relevancy is determining what's of interest to the people entering your establishment. In many cases, an element of what's interesting will be related to your "hyperlocal" locality. Use that to your advantage when developing digital signage messaging. Not only will you attract the attention of your intended audience, but you'll give them a reason to take a second or third look.