Soft options
Want to send a text? What is the temperature today? Where are you and how do you get from here to there? Need some help and advice? Well, there’s a digital solution to answer all these questions.
So many devices that we use and take for granted today incorporate digital signage technology, and yet we rarely give a second thought to the software that powers them, from mobile phones to sophisticated way-finding systems that operate in real time using a whole gamut of different technology. And that software itself ranges from simple PC driven options to highly sophisticated bespoke solutions.
Easy PC
Fairfield Displays and Lighting has opted for CloudScene software, which it supplies to its customers along with digital signage hardware.
“CloudScene is a unique content management network system which has been designed to be user-friendly for all types of technical ability. The software package is normally supplied on a PC-player so it can be easily connected to any screen which has an HDMI port,” explains Fairfield Displays’ marketing director, Janice Fairfield.
She adds: “It’s ideal for displaying still images, video formats, links to websites and social media; and it’s the only system on the market that allows clients to upload PDFs and power point files without having to format them.”
Stephen Oakley of Stephen Oakley and Co. in Buckinghamshire, explains how estate agents are separating their displays into zones. By using up to date data like the weather he is drawing people to look at his window; they then get drawn into the screen and look at his properties.
Estate agent Stephen Oakley and Co. uses digital displays, supported by CloudScene supplied by Fairfield Displays, to draw people to look at their window
“Since we have had our screen installed there are always people stopping at our window,” says Oakley, adding: “The window display looks highly impressive after dusk and this is when it really works for us, when we are closed. We have split our screen into three zones, with a property display taking up 70 per cent, and we have added a clock, the latest weather and a link to our home page on our website which has images that are constantly changing.”
Fairfield adds: “This concept could be used by all types of business. CloudScene is designed to be user-friendly; anyone can learn the system within 30 minutes—just drag and drop.”
One platform
On the other side of the coin, in terms of complexity and scale in this sector, are companies such as Omnivex. Since 1991 it has been pursuing its mission statement which revolves around, ‘helping businesses transform the way they interact with their audiences by enabling them to deliver targeted visual messages, using a single software solution across their businesses. According to Omnivex, its solution driven approach provides a digital signage platform that is intelligent and adaptable, giving users the capability to respond to, and anticipate, changing business environments or customer expectations and behaviour.
“Our unique selling point is the ability to bring in real-time data to contextualise content and really drive value,” affirms Omnivex chief executive office, Doug Bannister.
He adds: “Our leading data driven digital signage platform, Moxie, is used by customers as a platform on which to build their applications.”
According to Bannister, Moxie has also been designed to, ‘enable organisations to drive business results, improve operational performance, and empower and engage people, enabling the collection, distribution and presentation of the right information to the right people at the right time’.
Available in Commercial and Enterprise versions, the former is designed to support small- to medium-sized organisations with limited budgets and has been optimised for single site installations, although it will support up to 50 full function players. Further to this, the system includes access to a large collection of design templates and artwork to help users to create professional looking content, as well as saving time.
Moxie’s easy intuitive interface also allows the building of sophisticated content for displays such as messaging, interactive wayfinding, menu boards and room scheduling, as well as optional data management tools enable interface with the user’s own internal systems. Users can build the system they require to suit their budget as Omnivex linking products can be purchased separately—systems can also be up-graded to Moxie Enterprise at a future date if required.
Moxie Enterprise on the other side of the coin is designed for organisations with multiple buildings or locations looking to disseminate data across a large network of devices. In addition to all the components of Moxie Commercial it includes Omnivex’s suite of data linking products—Sync Manager, Script Manager, Permission Manager, Proxies and the QuickLink tool that allows local content management and contribution, using a web browser.
Omnivex’s USP is our ability to bring in real time data to contextualise content and really drive value”
As part of its service Omnivex also offers advice and evaluation to soft-ware users to ensure that they not only get the right software package, but also the right hardware and back-up systems for their application.
“Put simply, we look at whether an application is mass—it can be used by anyone; specialist—where some degree of training is required; and whether its uses are many or niche—solving single problems,” Bannister explains.
He continues: “For example, a Smart-phone has many uses and requires no specialist knowledge or training, whereas gesture control, where an individual can interact, requires some specialist knowledge.”
Other applications supported by Moxie include texting, near field communication (NFC), QR codes, radio frequency identification data (RFID) for scanning badges, smart passes, manufacturing components, and iBeacon—which uses small transmitters to assist in providing accurate wayfinding information.
“As a software company our role is to provide technology to integrate with these applications,” continues Bannister. He adds: “However, just because a technology is niche or highly specialist, for example gesture control used in hospital operating theatres, doesn’t mean it has no value. It won’t become a mass use but will deliver for a specialist market.”
With regard to hardware, Bannister offers a cautionary note regarding 4K Ultra High Definition screens: “The screen is only one link in the chain. Monster files that are four time the size of those for a 1080p screen, larger bandwidths, large capacity PC storage capability, and higher capacity media playback are all required. You need to consider whether viewing requirements are close or distant. If close viewing is required then a 4K screen is worth-while. Otherwise it is not worth the additional cost of the screen and all the accompanying back-up as, at a distance, most viewers would not be able to tell the difference.
“In the next three to five years I can see 4K becoming the standard, but at the present time DVD, BlueRay and television will not produce at this definition.”
A flying start
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), one of the largest in the United States, features four terminals with seven boarding areas and services more than 45 million domestic and inter-national passengers annually.
Due to its size, navigating the airport, particularly when going from terminal to terminal, had been complex for travellers. Historically the airport used over 270 paper maps airport wide to help travellers get to where they need to go.
O Factoid: Navori was one of the first pioneers in the field of digital signage software and released its first platform in 1997. It is credited with inventing what many in the sector consider the first ‘modern user interface’, which is still in use by a significant number of digital signage software vendors today. O
While effective, these were not ideal as they could not be immediately updated when there was any change, and the cost of reprinting and staff time involvement was high. As a part of a project to renovate Boarding Area E, SFO implemented an interactive way-finding system that would eliminate the need for paper maps, assist in navigating from terminal to terminal, and provide travellers with the best route to get where they need to go.
Having previously used the Omnivex Display solutions for a number of years, prior to the interactive wayfinding project, SFO upgraded to Omnivex Moxie and decided to standardise on this as their digital signage platform across the entire airport. This essentially enabled travellers to easily find where they need to go anywhere in the airport and the best route to get there, whether by walking or by taking the airport’s automated AirTrain.
Travellers can easily find where they need to go anywhere in the airport and the best route to get there, whether by walking or by taking the airport's automated AirTrain”
It also allows passengers to explore their options for dining, shopping and things to do, giving them a more rewarding airport experience. The touchscreens are location-smart and thereby predetermine appropriate destinations based on the passenger’s pre-or post-security location.
Digital touch screens at San Francisco Airport are supported by Omnivex’s Moxie software to enable travellers to find their way quickly and easily around one of the USA’s largest airports
This is achieved because Omnivex Moxie can tie data in from various source systems such as maintenance, elevators, emergency alarms, RFID and barcode scanners, interactive maps, and floor plans so what users are seeing reflects the current environment in the facility and takes into consideration things such as construction closures or other things that might impact a particular route.
Supported by Omnivex’s Moxie software, digital touch screen displays throughout San Francisco International Airport provide travellers with the best route to any point, whether walking or using the airport’s automated AirTrain
In addition, through the use of conditional formatting, Moxie factors information like elevator operation times and route lighting when deter-mining the best route for getting from point A to B at a particular time of day. By interfacing with a variety of source systems the software can also handle multi-floor and multi-region wayfinding, providing users with maps covering multiple areas, such as buildings or terminals, and multiple transfer points such as stairs, elevators, tunnels, or bridges. The connections into real-time data and devices also ensure that the system is kept current.
The bespoke touch
Sometimes a standard, modular soft-ware system cannot provide sufficient options to meet a user’s specific requirements and this is where bespoke solutions come into their own.
Protouch Solutions, which specialises in interactive kiosks, provides and end-to-end service solution, from kiosk software to hardware, installation and maintenance. The company’s multiplatform Protouch Kiosk Management (PKM) software solution is customised to meet the application requirements of customers in sectors such as retail, local authorities, and the healthcare services.
To read information more easily and find out more about a product Lloyds Pharmacy customers can simply scan the barcode at one of the interactive kiosks supplied by Protouch Solutions
Taking retail as an example, Sam Pryor, Protouch Solutions sales, says: “Interactive kiosks are the latest and greatest avenue that a lot of retail outlets are now pursuing in order to drive customers into the store. Online shopping is taking customers away from bricks and mortar stores, so retailers need to make sure that the in-store experience is the best possible—making people want to go into the store to shop rather than going online.”
There are many ways that in-store touch-screen signage can be used to retain customers, such as browsing in-store for items not currently held in stock and then ordering for home or in-store deliver; printing off information and advice; watching self-help videos; and scanning product packaging and labels in order to read the information at a larger size. It can also be used as a guided selling too to assist staff in explaining products that are not currently in-store.
Comfortable stations, an element of privacy and an interactive touch screen, supplied by Protouch Solutions, create a virtual consultation area for Lloyds Pharmacy customers
Lloyds Pharmacy, the second largest pharmacy chain in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, is well known for its ‘consultation areas’ where customers can speak privately to a pharmacist; indeed nearly 97 percent of its estate of over 1,650 stores offer consultation areas.
The company’s initial focus was to update the pharmacy image and improve the way customers access healthcare. The stated goal of the company was to enhance the customer experience and augment its services by providing up-to-date and accurate information on their product range both within store and online. It had also been identified that sourcing product information from customer service representatives and the typical distribution of leaflets and traditional discussions with a pharmacist, was labour intensive, costly, and time-consuming.
Therefore, an interactive technology solution was sought, which led to the selection of Protouch technology in the form of touch screen kiosks, thermal printers, PKM software and full service support—thereby reducing labour costs, employee time, collateral production costs and improving the utilisation of management employees.
In addition to this a bespoke application was written by the Protouch programming consultants to enable Lloyds Pharmacy data to be integrated into the PKM software due to the Lloyds Pharmacy unique data set of product information, enabling interface with the back-end system.
Protouch initially implemented a ten store trial to test touchscreen kiosks with a subsequent roll-out into 70 of the premium stores. The ‘Health Kiosks’ have proven popular with Lloyds’ customers. Collected data has demonstrated a high level of inter-action with the kiosks and particular features such as product scanning, where customers can obtain information on the product, watch videos, read reviews, purchase and subsequently have their selected product delivered with minimal to no employee interaction.
The PKM software enabled us to have complete control of the content as well as giving us complete visibility of the kiosk estate”
Damian Lloyd of Lloyds Pharmacy comments: “Protouch was selected because of their expertise in this area. They were able to demonstrate that they had already created similar solutions, and the PKM software enabled us to have complete control of the content as well as giving us complete visibility of the kiosk estate.”
In the end analysis, it comes down to individual requirements and budgets when choosing a digital signage software solution. However, there are plenty of options to choose from, with different entry levels and opportunities to expand or upgrade as situations, markets and customer expectations change. So, what was your question? There is definitely a digital device to give you the answer.
Your text here...