Static Backlit Display + Digital Signage + Custom Encasing = Digital Menu Board Beauty

Even in the smallest, most backwoods areas, digital restaurant menu boards are cropping up everywhere. You know what I am referring to. Our custom manufacturer of industrial computer hardware allows for the creation of nearly any display and any display encasing. For some of our clients we have combined static signage with digital in a very unique way.

Most are likely familiar with static backlit displays that are found in many restaurants worldwide. In many instances, the location may have multiple backlit displays whose content remains stagnant all day long. For some, this is what is required. Think for a moment of a place like In-and-Out. Their menu is so

SOLD: DigitalSignageSoftware.com

The auction for http://www.digitalsignagesoftware.com/ just finished over at NameJet. There were certainly less bidders in this auction than there were for the main domain when we purchased it back in 2008 and luckily the price was also much more reasonable as well.

According to Google, the exact match phrase [digital signage software] is searched approximately 6,600 times per month globally. Exact match keyword clicks cost about $9.41 per click, on average. On a broad match basis, the term is searched about 18,000 times per month and the average cost per click is $8.56.

For now, we’ve no other desire for the domain other than performing a forward to www.digitalsignage.com/software

Five Digital Signage Content Blunders

Of course there are many more problems than just the five outlined below which could prove fatal for a display network looking to make an impact on its audience. But, I thought it necessary to outline a few which I felt could aid in improving content on networks generally. So, here they are–Five Content Blunders to Avoid.

Avoid the Temptation to Budget More for Technology Rather than Content

Because technology is the means and content is the end, content on your screen must never be an after thought, or even a second thought. It must be priority one. This should be readily evident in both the time and money spent in making sure your content is looking the best it possibly can.

mediaBox, Y U No Work?!

When it comes to network crashes, the blue screen of death and connectivity issues, it is often more a hardware issue than anything else. Sure, software plays its own nefarious role in bringing down Troy with little glitches, but there are so many more problems that can go wrong and often do when it comes to hardware and digital signage.

A recent customer issue involved a simple unforeseen hardware issue wherein the customer states the following:

The screws were not flush. The screws in the wall mount were touching the Circuit Board on the mediabox. Nothing would work: monitor, TV, mouse, keyboard etc. I ran the screws

read on

Posted at 10am on 04/26/12 | No Comments » | Filed Under: Hardware, Players

Three Things I Hate

1. Cooked-Up RFPs

While it is required by many orgs to submit an RFP and to receive quotes from several vendors, it is generally easy to smell if the fish has been “pre-cooked” or not. We generally do not respond to RFPs which boarder along the “fishy” edge of being pre-treated for a particular vendor. They just are not worth our time. Worse still are those request for bids that come in disguised to no end, but whose intent is simply obtaining the required quota for the organization’s particular bid requirements. There is no way to eliminate this, but it will always have an aggravating edge to it.

2. Requests for Free Pilots

Digital signage is a business, not a charity function. When

Dayparting Nightmare: Don’t Get it Wrong or You Could Go to Prison

A Lockport, NY man was sentenced to serve a 15 day jail sentence for violating an ordinance on his electronic sign. The ordinance stated the man could not rotate messages more than once every ten minutes. The man violated the ordinance twice. Details are not given on the first of the two violations, but the second violation said the man used a “charitable” non-profit message thinking that it wouldn’t be a big deal. Now he’s facing jail time and a $250 fine.

While I’m not the biggest fan of large electronic billboards, it does strike me as quite out-of-the ordinary to jail someone for two weeks for violating

Quote Us X,XXX Units, STAT!

It always amazes me when we receive a quote request for 1,000 units (or more) and they want it yesterday. There are generally a couple of explanations to this phenomenon. First, these are quite possibly RFPs which have already been “cooked” to specific provider’s requirements. Another explanation could be that they are fishing several companies for differing price quotes. In other words, they are shopping based on price. Not always the safest route–certainly the most aggravating for providers. Finally, and perhaps the most common, is the organization or individual that has successfully procrastinated the project to the the last second. We get a great number of requests for things done quickly. While we certainly have the partners and resources to

Digital Signage Network Retirement

I had a great uncle who passed away recently. He was into his 90′s, so it was certainly his time. However, about two years before his passing, he was placed into a rest home and his car was sold off to an immediate family member. He was quoted as saying, “they took away my car!” When it comes time for retirement it means independence is often lost–which in his case was heightened with the revoking of his driving privileges. Nothing says, “it’s time to let go” like taking away the car. Retirement can be difficult on one hand and easy on the other. This depends on a couple of factors. There are two possible reactions that can take place when

“No Shortage of Digital Signage Providers”

If you finally admit it to yourself, you will recognize that there are too many cooks in the kitchen in this overly-crowded industry. I still click on Google ads now and again with curiosity as I see yet another software developer looking to get into DOOH in some way. In fact, I was speaking with an old friend from the Helius days who pointedly remarked that there were certainly “no shortage of digital signage providers.” But when will this change? Will there ever be a shift from technology to something different?

I’ve said it before, but the tools for narrowcasting will eventually become free (much like the technology backbone of the web) and the currency for the industry will continue