Many restaurants, including Tim Hortons, use narrowcasting to deliver a mix of ‘infotainment’ through digital signage to their dining areas.
Photo courtesy Tim Hortons
Industry-specific features
Depending on the client’s vertical market, some CMS features may need to be prioritized over others. It is a good idea to review case studies within the same market to keep on top of trends and understand how the client’s competitors or counterparts are using their own displays.
The following are some examples:
Retail
Retail represents the largest market for digital signage. Its uses for displays have been diverse.
Interactive kiosks with specially developed CMS software allow customers to look up, compare and even customize products. Third-party technology that detects the ages, genders and races of people approaching a screen can work with the CMS to present content most likely to appeal to them. In-store promotional campaigns via digital signage allow marketing departments to gain better access to shoppers.
Further, digital signage technologies can be integrated with content triggers (such as speech recognition), radio frequency identification (RFID), bar code scanning, digital transmitter ‘beacons’ and components of the broader ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT).
Digital signage can even help enhance store security. Short messages welcoming shoppers can remind them security cameras are in place and encourage them to watch their belongings and report any suspicious behaviour to staff. It helps if the CMS can play live video feeds from the cameras, interspersed with the specified messaging.
QSRs
Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) that use digital signage have seen a five to eight per cent increase in revenue. This increase can be attributed, in part, to easy-to-read digital menus that can actively promote select food and beverages.
In addition to the ability to schedule different content for different times of day (i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner menus), the CMS should be able to distribute content such that if one screen goes down, all necessary information is still viewable on the other screens. Similarly, the software should cache content on media players, so it will continue to play out if the Internet connection is lost.
The aforementioned beacons, which use digital transmitters to communicate with customers’ smartphones, can also be useful. They may detect when a loyalty club member walks in, for example, and bring up customized specials on a digital menu board accordingly, so the customer is personally catered to without saying a word.
There are also opportunities for advertising. Many restaurants use narrowcasting to deliver infotainment through digital signage to engage diners, with a mix of third-party ads, news and entertainment. (Editor’s note: Tim Hortons, for example, showcases its own channel, TimsTV, on screens in its dining areas.)
For certain touch screen applications, the CMS software must support the creation and display of interactive maps.
File photo
Education
Digital signage can serve many purposes in the educational sector, such as visual aids for classroom lessons, displaying announcements of events, reminding students about upcoming assignments or tests, in addition to supporting emergency notifications.
Today’s students are ‘digital natives’ who expect information to flow quickly to them through engaging media. Digital signage and CMS software can make it easy for teachers to import online content as it is made available to them.
Among the most valuable features of a digital signage CMS for educational facilities is the ability to push out emergency alerts to screens. These may be linked to emergency notification services, requiring third-party software to connect to the CMS, rather than the feature being built into it. As such, it is important to check the third-party software is compatible with the selected CMS and determine whether or not there is any cost to add it. Also, the CMS should be able to display different information on different screens, since different zones within the same facility will correspond to different evacuation routes or shelter areas.
Speaking of routes, digital signage can also be helpful for wayfinding on school campuses. For a touch-screen kiosk to be able to assist students, staff and guests, the CMS software will need to support the creation and display of interactive maps.
One out of hundreds
Ultimately, the best CMS is the one that fits the client’s needs. It supports the right content file types, offers built-in widgets for social media, weather reports or other desired feeds, does not exceed the budget and is intuitive enough in its design for the employees in question to use. In some cases, special features and customizability must be sacrificed in favour of streamlined use, but the software should still be able to deliver on the client’s vision for digital signage.
It is important to be as thorough as possible when comparing all of the CMS software options. There are hundreds out there—and a digital signage project will need to rely on just one for years to come.
Linda Hofflander is vice-president (VP) of global channels and alliances for Agosto’s SkyKit digital signage CMS software, which is based on Google’s Chrome platform. For more information, visit www.skykit.com and www.agosto.com.
