May 1, 2012
by Advantech iServices Team
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The Stickiness Of Queues

When a digital signage system is really thought out, one of the key questions early on is about dwell time. How long will people be in the viewing range of these screens?

It’s a big question with respect to programming strategy and delivery. But it’s just as big a question about the opportunity and applicability of a digital signage installation.

Long dwell times no longer guarantee an audience just because they’re captive, because people have smartphones and tablets to keep them occupied. But long dwell times do mean there is more chance people will be looking around, and there’s more of a rationale for putting up screens if they deliver a service.
Continue reading “The Stickiness Of Queues” »

April 3, 2012
by Advantech iServices Team
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The Mission Critical Digital Signage Network

The lack of full remote access has killed or crippled many digital signage networks because of the costs brought on by having to send technical people to installed sites to resolve whatever problems have developed with the media players or screens.

Often, the equipment is located in areas that are accessible only after normal operating hours, and sometimes only by a pair of workers using anything from ladders to hydraulic lifts. Rolling a truck – the oft-used phrase for field service calls – during overtime hours, and then renting equipment such as man-lifts, can send network operating costs through the roof.

The problem is especially troubling because it often takes hours to make the service arrangements, while the actual fix might take minutes or even seconds. Every network operations manager can tell you stories about trying to resolve issues with local managers, and then giving up and going on site – only to discover a PC or screens was unplugged. Continue reading “The Mission Critical Digital Signage Network” »

March 21, 2012
by Advantech iServices Team
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Android’s Next Move –> Industrial Market

The recent Digital Signage Expo trade show in Las Vegas was the first time we’ve noticed well-established companies in the digital signage sector move from dabbling on the R&D bench to actively marketing solutions based on the Android operating system.

A handful of companies – actually not as many as we might have expected – were showing working versions of solutions that had moved fully off of Windows or Linux to Google’s open source operating system. While we have all seen things at trade shows that never make it beyond the proof of concept stage, we think the industry is on the cusp of a substantial shift to Android because of the advantages it offers.

Android is labelled and known as the go-to operating system for smartphones and tablets not made by Apple, but there’s actually much more to it. It’s a complete operating system, middleware layer, and application layer that runs on top of a Linux foundation. It already has strong device and communication protocol support, and there is a huge inventory of Android applications (or “apps”) that add functionality and open these devices up to back-end, instantly-deployable solutions.  Continue reading “Android’s Next Move –> Industrial Market” »

February 29, 2012
by Advantech iServices Team
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Back from ISE, What’s the Next Show for Digital Signage?

We could argue the case that Integrated Systems Europe has grown to such a degree it is THE must-attend for people in the digital signage industry, but as many or more people will argued the singularly-focused Digital Signage Expo -http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net- next week in Las Vegas is the primary event.

DSE attendance is just a fraction of ISE, but everyone who goes is there to talk about digital signage and digital out of home, whereas ISE has a much broader scope.

The DSE event has now been around for many years and attracts vendors and attendees from around the globe. Spread over two, three or four days, based on whether you are there for training and education, or just to roam the trade show, DSE packs a lot into the agenda. Continue reading “Back from ISE, What’s the Next Show for Digital Signage?” »

January 13, 2012
by Advantech iServices Team
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Make Sure ISE Is On Your Digital Signage Events Calendar

Integrated Systems Europe is coming up quickly, at the end of January in Amsterdam, and we’ll have a very substantial presence at the show.

Whether a buyer or seller, ISE is just about an essential event to be at for companies active in the digital signage sector. It’s the largest professional AV and systems integration trade show in Europe, with manufacturers, distributors, integrators, specifiers and technology managers from more than 100 countries around the globe.

Observers who’ve attended InfoComm in North America often say ISE is the superior show. The 2012 version is expected to attract 750 exhibitors and some 35,000 attendees over three days at the RAI facility in Amsterdam. Continue reading “Make Sure ISE Is On Your Digital Signage Events Calendar” »

December 13, 2011
by Advantech iServices Team
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Partnerships are critical in digital signage

Let’s face it – digital signage looks easy from a distance, but on closer inspection, people tend to realize there’s actually a lot to it.

Though we’ve often seen marketing by companies that suggests they offer full end-to-end solutions, the truth is very few companies can provide full services on their own. They are sub-contracting some of the work, or they have partners.

How partnerships are defined can often have a big influence on their value and impact. There are lots of PR-driven partnerships – with press releases issued and logos appearing on websites – that have no material impact on day to day business. The companies barely know each other, and the partnership is just a loose notion of sending business over if and when the situation arises.

Some end-user customers see their commercial deals as partnerships, in hopes that means the vendor will actually give them the time of day once the contract ink has dried. The end user wants some sense the vendor is actually with them in building up a business. Certainly, a good vendor helps drive a client’s success, but is that a partnership or account management? Continue reading “Partnerships are critical in digital signage” »

November 18, 2011
by Advantech iServices Team
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Selling Digital Signage Effectively In The Channel

Selling digital signage technology looks relatively easy in principle, but proves much harder in practice for a lot of companies that add these products and services to their portfolios.

It’s a display mounted on a wall, driven by a PC, it’s reasonably assumed, so what could be hard about that?

The problem for companies that re-sell digital signage technology is that it is not just technology. It’s not just gear that does something. AV and systems integrators find new elements entering into the discussion – big questions about why and how. The real issue is what’s on the screen, why and how it gets refreshed.

A sales person who is very good at identifying the best, most cost-efficient technologies to make something happen for a client, or make something a client already has that much better, has probably never had a sales discussion about programming objectives, dwell times or the merits of embedded PC vs versus standalone systems.

It’s just different. And it’s why some resellers in the downstream sales channel struggle to be successful selling digital signage technologies. They can get the meetings and show the product because there is real interest in the marketplace, but closing that business is hard.

The biggest thing to remember and embrace is that this is not a pure technology sell. It cannot be treated as a SKU in a system like rack enclosures and mounting brackets. There’s too much involved.

Instead, this is a solutions-selling exercise. The person meeting with customers needs to pry out of their clients what they are trying to accomplish with digital signage, and then help them develop a plan that will deliver on those aspirations.

We break it down to three key questions: Continue reading “Selling Digital Signage Effectively In The Channel” »

November 1, 2011
by Advantech iServices Team
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Open Pluggable Specification Taking Hold

A little more than a year ago, Intel unveiled a new hardware specification intended to make operating digital signage networks a little easier.

The Open Pluggable Specification was developed to simplify the installation, use, maintenance and upgrading of small PCs that are installed with display panels in locations as widely varied as medical offices and fast food order counters.

The idea is simple enough – have manufacturers all developing small PCs to the same dimension, connector and mounting characteristics, and have display panel makers build in slots that readily accept and work with those units. It means, for example, an OPS PC that is used for a network that has NEC displays could also work in a sister network that uses Philips display panels, without any modifications.

The concept has a strong list of benefits:
Continue reading “Open Pluggable Specification Taking Hold” »

October 17, 2011
by Advantech iServices Team
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When predictable is good

Predictable can be both good and bad when it comes to digital signage.

It’s bad when the content on the screen, as well as the layout and programming approach, looks much like everything else out there. To have impact, a network needs the stopping power of strong creative and an overall look that is anything but predictable.

But when it comes to operating a digital signage network, predictable warms the hearts of IT, deployment and operations people.

Ask anyone who has started and ran digital signage networks from the early stages, and they will be happy to relate all the mistakes made – among them a big decision to use consumer grade PCs. The problem, they’ll say, was that these PCs were anything but predictable. Continue reading “When predictable is good” »

October 4, 2011
by Advantech iServices Team
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Tablets are great, but probably not as digital signage devices

The release of a new batch of tablet devices by online sales giant Amazon has raised, once again, excited discussions about using low-cost consumer devices as digital signage appliances.

The idea comes up almost entirely because of cost and form factor. First it was the Apple iPad. Then it was the Samsung tablet. Then the other Android operating system tablets that started popping up. Now it’s the $199 USD Amazon Kindle Fire.

Within an hour of the announcement, the first questions started popping up in social media, asking whether the Fire could do the digital signage job on the shelf-edges and countertops of the retail and public spaces world.

In the most basic terms, sure they can. A handful of digital signage software companies have stripped down versions of their technology that can get a scheduled set of stills and videos running on devices as elemental as WiFi-enabled digital photo frames.

But there are some big caveats that need to be considered before a retailer or network operator goes down the path of using devices, built with specific uses in mind, for something very different.
Continue reading “Tablets are great, but probably not as digital signage devices” »