Tuesday, 02 Feb 2016 17:11 GMT

Digital Signage Software

Burgeoning global demand for digital signage goes hand-in-hand with demand for more sophisticated content. Rob Lane investigates the power of innovative digital signage software systems

Content-driven

Global demand for digital signage across all sectors has never been higher. A 2014 report by consultants Markets and Markets states that the international digital signage sector could be worth up to $14.87bn (£10.3bn) by 2020, with compound annual growth of 8.94 percent between 2014 and 2020. Confusingly, another report, by Markets Reports Hub has the global digital signage market topping $14bn (£9.7bn) in 2014, with a 2020 projection of $23.76bn (£16.45bn) and compound annual growth of 8.18 percent.

Whichever is accurate, what is clear is that the digital signage market is evolving as well as growing, with the Internet of Things (IoT) having a huge impact on digital signage content and the software that facilitates it. Many businesses are looking to create IoT ‘ecosystems’ dovetailed into their digital signage hardware, and the growth in the use of Bluetooth-equipped beacons and radio frequency ID tags (RFID) to distribute information through smartphones and other mobile devices—alongside real-time asset tracking—is having a huge influence too.

Cloud-based content management systems (CMS’) are influencing much of what is happening also.

“It is one thing to invest in a roll-out of large format display screens across multiple sites; it is quite another thing to ensure that all the content is consistent, correctly formatted, regularly refreshed, brand aligned, company-wide and yet local,” says Terry Wilson, commercial director at AVMI, the UK’s largest integrator of AV, video conferencing, and digital media solutions, adding: “Central monitoring and management of this content—and yet with the ability to locally tailor—is an increasing demand.”

It is one thing to invest in large format, multiple-site displays; quite another thing to ensure that all the content is consistent”


His colleague, David Sumner, product manager, digital media, adds that SaaS (software as a service) CMS platforms that support multiple end-point standards will become the norm going forward. Summer says: “We expect a move away from proprietary media players and towards multi-channel both in terms of the playback hardware and OS but also integration between the CMS software and other retail back-end systems. HTML5 content authoring and CMS software with APIs are also important parts of this trend.”

Digital integration

Of course, the beauty of today’s digital signage is that it is able to integrate with a whole host of back-office systems, as well as the ‘end users’. iBeacon (which uses small transmitters to assist in providing accurate way-finding information), NFC (near field communication), and other BLE (bluetooth low energy) devices allow real world, real time data to influence the experience the digital signage displays are creating, bridging the gap between online and physical experiences by recognising mobile devices, pushing relevant offers and information.

At the same time, media and data can be streamed, real-time into signage, sharing content such as social media interactions, live events, stock market figures, and the latest news to immerse people into a particular lifestyle. The number of available digital signage software systems has therefore unsurprisingly mushroomed in recent years, and continues to do so.

DooHapps is the world’s first interactive application store for digital-out-of-home and retail. Working with its partners, it manages and creates interactive campaigns to boost business results. The company recognises that the industry is evolving fast, and sees interactivity as key, with audience measurement software and Wi-Fi tracking dominating.

“As we move forward, beacons, smartphone apps, wi-fi tracking and audience measurement will gather real-time data to guide the customer and adapt content dynamically to its current audience,” says Frederik De Wachter, co-founder of DOOHapps.

Beacons, smartphone apps, Wi-Fi tracking and audience measurement will gather real-time data to guide the customer and adapt content dynamically to its current audience”


The ActiVia ‘media software’ solution from Statacache creates, schedules, manages, and monitors marketing messages from any web browser, to centrally deliver real-time, targeted messages to specific locations based on customer demographics and promotional campaigns. “Whether you have ten locations or tens of thousands, ActiVia is robust enough to power your entire digital signage network,” enthuses the company’s marketing blurb.

In addition, ActiVia’s Traffic Pattern Analysis establishes optimal digital signage placement, whilst ActiVia Audience Measurement gathers consumer metrics and tailors messages based on customer interests, needs, and habits.

Finally, Statacache’s ActiVia SaaS solution implements digital signage into marketing campaigns without the burden of managing a server, content distribution or database. With ActiVia SaaS, users are directed to a hosted ActiVia server where they can import digital content into a secure, authenticated content designer/management console.
Just this snapshot proves how complex and rich this sector has become, with software solutions being tailored to meet the demands of a very fast-moving and competitive retail market that need to try and get very specific consumer demographics to open their wallets.

Juicy platform

Ayuda Media System’s platform is another stand out example in this field and currently manages over 1,200,000 billboards around the world. The company’s Juice solution is a comprehensive suite of sales tools for out-of-home (OOH) advertising vendors, boasting ‘the industry’s only customer relationship management (CRM) platform that exists exclusively for the needs of the OOH media sales-person’—allowing them to manage contacts, leads, sales pipeline, and generate reports.

Ayuda Splash further allows traditional outdoor vendors to become digital OOH vendors. A comprehensive management system for digital OOH inventory, Splash includes detailed asset management capabilities, and ties in seamlessly with the rest of the Ayuda Platform.

In conjunction with the Splash content management features, Splash Player can play back high-definition, full-motion video synchronized across multiple screens and is available for Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS devices.

A more simplistic approach, Cloud-Scene from SceneDigital is a content management network system, designed to be user-friendly for those with all types of technical ability. The software package is usually supplied on a media player so it can be easily connected to any display with an HDMI port.

CloudScene is ideal for displaying still images, video formats, URLs, and social media, and is the only available system that allows clients to upload PDFs and PowerPoint files without having to format them.

It offers practical solutions for putting digital content onto screens, enabling any number of displays to be deployed wherever they are needed and managed remotely. Their system is also designed so there is no need for end-users to install software, manage servers or undergo extensive training.

Comprised of a web service that securely communicates with media players connected to digital signage, CloudScene also allows users to control displays, from any location, using any modern web browser—all managed by Scene Digital and securely hosted by Amazon.

Supplied media players all run CloudScene’s proprietary operating system—sourced locally by CloudScene resellers and installed in minutes. CloudScene also has an open Application Interface (API), allowing it to handle requests from external services to control displays. This allows it to be readily extended to display information from any source, or cater for most interactive requirements. This is all supported by a dedicated team of Cambridge-based developers, enabling SceneDigital to provide ‘genuinely bespoke’ signage and content management solutions.

Omnivex is another key player in this field and offers systems that enable users to collect, process, and deliver targeted information across an entire organisation on a variety of devices including digital screens, kiosks, video walls, tablets, and touch screens. Another interesting facet is that it connects people with real-time visual information where and when they need it, ‘empowering them to make better and more informed decisions’.

The company’s Moxie solution has long been a world-beater and has also reportedly 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’.
 
On the other side of the coin, Moxie DataPipe aggregates content from internal or external sources and automatically triggers screen updates from real time events, whilst MoxieStudio is a design application that enables users to easily create eye catching visuals and manage content from one location for their network of screens.

Finally, Moxie Player brings content to life and can capture local event data from a variety of devices to ensure messages are targeted and relevant. Other applications supported by Moxie include texting, NFC, QR codes, and RFID, and iBeacon.

Closer to home, a company that has long targeted traditional sign-makers as potential integrators is Signagelive, which was the first company to develop software and logistics support for SoC displays and to date has over 5,000 displays across 250 digital signage networks, globally, all using SoC displays with Signagelive’s system. Customers are in retail, quick service restaurants, corporate communications, and education.

O Factoid: Market research company, Markets Reports Hub, has predicted that the global digital signage market could top $23bn (£16bn) by 2020. O


“Our support for SoC displays enables our resellers and customers to deploy digital signage solutions at a cost that is typically 50 percent of alternative digital signage solutions,” explains chief executive officer Jason Cremins, who adds: “We have ensured Signagelive delivers all of the functionality in a SoC display that you would expect from an external player, so there is no comprise in features.”

ONELAN’s CMS software is another key product to research in this arena and has more than a decade of development and industry experience behind it and delivers users a business tool that is said to make creating, publishing, and managing content ‘simple and dependable’. Featuring a simple multilingual web user interface intended to create full screen and multi-zone content channels, the ONELAN solution also enables local on-site content updates and basic content control. Created to balance simplicity and ease of use with access to more powerful features for experts, the CMS is suitable for both novice and professional users and ‘scales seamlessly from single to thousand player networks’.


ONELAN’s solution enables local on-site content updates and basic content control



Intelligent management

While there are a huge number of possible platforms and providers in the digital signage software, there are a key group that are continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible and how to monetise it. Play iQ from Clear Channel is the company’s new digital data, content, and inventory management system, which is intended to ‘intelligently and automatically’ manage Clear Channel’s digital inventory—including booking, pricing, and content management—enabling ‘dynamic and contextual’ campaigns and offering real-time proof of play.


Clear Channel’s Play iQ software solution is a big part of its nationwide Adshel Live display rollout



“Play iQ represents one central point from which over 2,500 digital screens can be managed in an automated, real-time, data-fuelled fashion,” explains Clear Channel technology director, Victor Porter, adding: “It underpins our entire digital inventory, including Storm, our super premium brand, and makes Clear Channel advertising easier to buy, to plan and to optimise.”

Play iQ is a fundamental part of Adshel Live, the company's national UK network of 35,000 6-sheet display screens, and launch partners have been afforded an unrivalled opportunity to experiment with the new platform and shape its development since it launched last year.

Porter continues: “Play iQ puts our business on the web for our clients to transact with us. That means live inventory and availability, ability to place options and confirm bookings online, as well as managing content and providing transparent reporting on live campaign delivery. And that’s just the beginning.”

Founded in 2004, Radiant Europe is another established provider of enabling technology for digital signage. In 2010 the company launched Euro-signDS, an ‘easy-to-use’ digital sign-age solution for the ‘everyday user’. Today it is widely used across the UK and Ireland in the education, corporate, leisure, hospitality, and retail sectors.

The company’s new DSA Cloud Service leverages Google Services and Android Devices, and comprises a platform-independent CMS hosted in the Cloud and an Android Player app. DSA is accessible from any web browser and allows users to distribute content, control operations, and monitor the status of large numbers of Android platforms equipped with the DSA Player app.

“The solution is targeted at larger network operators where a low cost per player is required, without compromising system management capability,” says Darach Kelly, director of Radiant Europe, adding: “DSA supports complex playlist parameters such as day-parting and conditional play, proof of play, system metrics, inter-activity and remote control, including player software updates.”

Highly scalable, DSA is compatible with a wide range of Android powered devices including mobile phones, tablets, set top boxes, smart TV’s, and all-in-one screens. The Cloud service technology allows rapid response to particular customer requirements, and Radiant’s Android player can accommodate integration with other local platform apps such as games, way-finding, and other kiosk applications.

Future deployment

The system has already been deployed in a wide range of retail signage network applications including Jewson Providers, Popcorn Outdoor, Dunkin Doughnut, Butler Irish Chocolate, Heineken, and Meteor Ireland. And with the demands for digital signage applications continuing to evolve, it could be set for much wider deployment.


AVMI is committed to ‘consistent, correctly formatted, regularly refreshed, brand aligned’ content



Kelly reckons he knows where the industry is heading. He says: “Digital signage is moving to the point of purchase and product shelves. A key issue for signage network operators is moving beyond the traditional OTS (opportunities to see) and correlating proof of play with actual viewing data. For small screen signage it is essential to capture the mind of the local viewer by tailoring content to the audience. Integrating facial recognition software with the digital signage player is the solution to this challenge.”


AVMI utilised Samsung Samsung UE46 with Onelan NTB750MS media players for the beauty concession in Debenhams' London Oxford Street store



As digital signage requirements broaden and demand for more innovative uses for displays continues to grow, it is imperative that digital signage software also keeps on innovating. Content, as they say, is king, and the days when signage meant a handful of passive, rotating paper images are largely over. It is now about touch, gesture interaction, iBeacons, the IoT, the ability to dovetail with ‘back-end’ systems, and perhaps even eye and facial recognition. Digital signage software developers are taking digital signage displays the world over into a new era, helping it become the multi-billion-dollar industry it is today.

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