I was in a restaurant the other day and as usual the waiter gave us the spiel about the specials of the day. The specials sounded really good and it left me having to rethink my choices for dinner. By the time I went through the choices on the menu again I forgot what the specials were and not wanting to ask the waiter to repeat the spiel I was left undecided.

I know that the usual blackboard that you see in cafe’s was probably not going to tie in the daecor of this restaurant but they could have made it easier for the diner to make the choice. In this situation digital signage could have been the answer. With a few quick keystrokes the specials could appear on a screen in the restaurant and to make the specials look really good the restaurant could even upload pictures of the specials. Specials could be changed quickly and often with minimum fuss and without confusing diners.

Digital signage could also be used in restaurants to make functions more personal and special. Birthday messages, engagement pictures, videos and picture slideshows add to an occasion and allow the special guest/s of honour to have a night that they will remember. And the best part is that if you don’t want to use digital signage for an occasion the screen can just remain blank. There is no need to install equipment or climb ladders to put banners up or down. Digital signage is the easy answer.

So if you are a restaurant owner, think about how you can change your diner’s experience with digital signage.

Click here to view examples of digital signage in restaurants.

Tweet This Post

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info

We would like to wish every digital signage blog reader a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Due to the festive season, we will not be able to post any articles on this blog until the new year.

Have a safe and joyful festive season.

Tweet This Post

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info

Currently the majority of people using digital signage technology have yet to realise the true potential of the technology. Most people have put images on a TV screen and think that this is a good investment of their resources. Some have gone so far as putting a bit of background music and they may have even included a few snazzy transitions between the images but what else can you do?

Digital signage can be used in real time. If you have an announcement to make don’t just use a loudspeaker or send a mass email when you have the technology at your fingertips. Let staff know that there is a fire drill happening or let your customers know about the special for the day via digital signage. Your screen can be used to reflect anything you want whenever you want!

You’ve been told that digital signage can be used for multiple purposes at the same time but what does this mean? Well you can have constant entertainment for your staff, customer or client on one part of the screen and then use the other part of the screen to get your message across. But why limit it to two purposes? Use digital signage to display the images from your security camera and as part of your queuing system. The potential of digital signage is only limited by your imagination.

So if you have digital signage technology or are looking to invest in digital signage, take the opportunity to make your visions a reality.

Tweet This Post

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info

Today, I entered a large retail store and surprisingly I noticed several small LCD screens and an old CTR TV scattered around the store. I believe these screens were used to promote products from various manufacturers but it was hard to tell because the majority of these were turned off.

I’m assuming that the arrangement between the retail store and the manufacturers is that the manufacturers would pay for the installation of the LCD/Monitor/CRT screen. The manufactures would then be responsible for displaying their promotional content by using a VHS or DVD player. When they have new products or promotions, they would be required to redistribute their content via a DVD or VHS to all their retailers. This is not only a time consuming process but the postage and distribution costs can also become very expensive.

Funnily enough, the CRT TV located in this store had an old VHS tape player connected to it and I was surprised to see this early adoption of digital signage as this should have already been phased out with the introduction of digital signage players. Basically, connecting a VHS or a DVD player was a very early method of implementing digital signage. The current method of implementing digital signage is to use dedicated digital signage players which are either embedded or small form factor PCs.

With the introduction of dedicated digital signage players, the process of distributing, scheduling, centralising and monitoring content via a local area network has enabled manufacturers to have more control of what and when their promotions are seen.

In many cases, I have seen DVD players displaying their screen saver rather than the actual DVD content – here is an example:

I have also seen situations whereby the LCD screen is obstructed by other marketing material or the screen is not even switched on. Many current retail stores in Australia are still using DVD players to drive content to their screen. These retail businesses need to start realising the true benefits that digital signage players can bring to their stores and to their customers. Some of these benefits are:

• they remove the need to have staff update content as this can be done remotely via the LAN or the Internet
• increase sales
• play live content from the Internet (news, weather, stocks, etc)
• monitor the status of the digital signage player, content and screen. The player and screen can be remotely managed via the LAN or the Internet
• content at different locations can be updated and centrally scheduled via a Content Management Server
• information to customers can be targeted at different times of the day

The benefits of digital signage players are endless, and it’s up to the retail business to start realising the ROI and urgently make the switch from DVD players to Digital signage player NOW.

Tweet This Post

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info

In the past several years, there has been a significant growth in the digital signage industry and this growth has meant that large hardware and software organisations are making their mark in the Digital Signage industry. Large organisations such as Sony, NEC, Cisco, Google and Microsoft have already made their move and many other companies are following their footsteps. This sudden change has been a result in the technological advancement in digital media, computers, infrastructure and technology.

With the increasing demand for retail businesses to get noticed, it has meant screen companies are developing bigger and better screens.

NEC has recently launched their massive 65 inch MultiSync Full HD LCD Screen (LCD6520).

Sony also released their first 52-inch Full HD LCD Screen (GXD-L52H1) at a similar time.

For many digital signage network operators and advertisers, screen size does matter. The bigger the screens, the more your content will likely get noticed. The more your screen gets noticed, the more advertisers will be interested to add their content onto your network. More advertisers, means more money.

Now, whilst screen companies are building bigger screens, digital signage manufacturers are doing quite the opposite and are developing smaller players. There are many embedded players out in the market that are actually smaller than an A4 piece of paper. In this case, does size matter? For the majority of small retail shopfronts, “YES”, size does matter. The advantage of having a smaller sized player is that they can be located almost anywhere and won’t take up a lot of room. In some retails stores, having smaller sized digital signage players eleviate the issues of space, location, power costs and the likelihood of being noticed by thieves.

Tweet This Post

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info