Photos courtesy Scala
By Clive Fort
Digital signage is much more than just an electronic version of posters or billboards. When deployed properly, it uses content—from virtually any source—to connect to a wide variety of dynamic displays for a highly impactful, interactive communications experience. Digital signage can inform and influence passersby, promote and explain the benefits of products, provide directions, reinforce branding, manage key performance indicators (KPIs) and more.
The following checklist provides a starting point for organizations that are new to the medium, whether they are looking to deploy a small number of displays or thousands of screens around the world. The listed criteria are recommended for consideration when evaluating various digital signage systems.
1. Start easy with a pilot.
Digital signage pilot deployments are essential for learning. They should be conducted with the goal of determining how best to engage viewers, with an experience that will excite them. At this point, the only limits to the system should be one’s imagination.
2. Compare standard and customizable systems.
Digital signage can be started up very quickly by using a simple, ‘out of the box’ system, as its capabilities should meet almost all of the network’s needs. At the same time, however, there is no need to sacrifice the ability to customize digital signage to ensure the desired user experience.
3. Keep it intuitive.
The digital signage software should offer content creation tools and easy-to-use templates, balancing sophisticated technological capabilities with the simplicity of access through any standard web browser.
4. Consider SaaS.
A digital signage network with the option for Software as a Service (SaaS) will help enable the aforementioned web-based access to its content management system. This approach can reduce upfront costs and reduce the support requirements for the organization’s information technology (IT) department.
Web-based access for these digital menu boards at Hamilton’s Mohawk College allows their content to be easily edited as necessary.
5. Manage centrally.
With a SaaS approach, the software should relay all information for the displays through a single database, delivered over the web. This will make any multi-location adjustments easier, allowing constant and instant display updates across the entire network.
6. Connect with multiple data sources.
By automating the use of content, the digital signage system can continuously pull up new information from multiple sources, including the client’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and/or customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This way, screen content can become more meaningful, delivered in a timely fashion.
