What Should A Digital Signage Software System Do For You?

The digital signage technology has taken hold throughout most of the world . If there’s one thing you can say about Digital Signage Software is that there is no shortage of platforms to choose from. Almost all of them will do a pretty good job at getting media from A to B and displaying it. So, if you take that as a given, what should you consider as priorities when trying to pick one from the bunch? Whether your networks are designed to be self-funding or not, ongoing cost of maintenance ought to be your number one concern. In self-funding networks, site visits can quickly erode profit margins. In networks that are designed for information or entertainment only, business tolerance for high ongoing costs is going to be even less. So, what are some questions that bear asking when considering a platform? Here’s a small selection which should help you focus on what really matters for your chosen solution.
How stable is the player software?
Software stability is not something easily achieved. Just look at how often products like web browsers and office suites crash. Coping with a crashed browser on your PC is an annoyance. If your remote player crashes however, there’s no one there to get it going again. The software you choose should be proven to be rock solid stable.
Does the system cope with unreliable connectivity?
Many systems these days require connectivity through perennially unreliable 3G connections. Will the system cope with poor connectivity? Will you end up running massive bills on data by continually attempting to download files and then failing? Check that the software copes with poor connectivity and is intelligent about how it distributes its files.
Does the system have any self-recovery tools?
What happens if the software crashes? Will it recover? Your system should automatically detect problems and act independently to recover from them whether those problems are with the software itself or the underlying system.
What tools does it provide for managing hundreds or thousands of remotely connected machines?
Let’s imagine a new software update is required or your ISP requires some technical network change. How do you deploy that to all your machines? The system you choose should provide the capability to write script to make changes remotely and provide for executing batch files or Windows PowerShell commands according to schedule. This has the potential to save you hundreds of man hours.
Does the system facilitate remote connectivity?
Remote desktop can be very handy when troubleshooting remote machines. But what if they’re on a dynamic IP network? Your system should provide single click remote desktop connectivity regardless of whether you’re using dynamic or static IPs.
How does the system help avoid physical visits to the deployment?
This is probably the most important thing. Examine what tools are being provided so that you rarely if ever have to send a technician on site to remedy something that ought to be resolvable through the software.