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The value of digital signage software isn't in its price

July 12, 2011 by Jeff Hastings — CEO, BrightSign

A few weeks ago, ABI Research announced that the global market for digital signage will grow from nearly $1.3 billion in 2010 to almost $4.5 billion in 2016.

The driving forces behind this growth range from the changes that are taking place in business and end-user needs to the more affordable, easier-to-use digital signage solutions that are now available.

Today's sophisticated consumers want fresh, relevant information that will help them make good decisions — and they want it in a familiar, high-quality form that competes with their entertainment devices. On the other hand, today's budget-conscious small-to-medium-sized organizations want affordably-priced solutions that deliver the quality and reliability they need but consume very little power and can be managed and updated by their non-technical staff.

Choosing the right hardware and software is a critical factor in the long-term success of all digital signage solutions and should be based on your current application(s) as well as your plans for future expansion.

The digital sign controller platform you select will often determine what software you can use for creating, managing and updating your displays. There are various platforms available for driving stand-alone or networked displays. However, solutions based on a solid-state platform cost considerably less than PC-based players — both initially and long term. They're also more reliable because there are no moving parts to fail, are not subject to viruses and use a fraction of the power required by PC-based players.

Either way, the software that creates, publishes, manages and updates your signs is an extremely key component that deserves serious consideration. The software component is the interface that you will rely on regularly, so you need to select carefully and also consider the costs associated with it in the long term.

Selecting the right software for creating, managing and updating the displays is essential for businesses with small staffs and limited budgets. For example, when an organization's signage displays can be created, scheduled, managed and updated by employees with no technical training, the savings are even greater. Ongoing presentation development costs as well as IT support are virtually eliminated.

With the availability of affordable, turnkey solutions that include the PC-less media player for your particular application; free wizard-driven management software; and networking support with no hidden fees, now, virtually any organization can use digital signage to effectively communicate with compelling, targeted messages that can be changed in real time. These all-in-one solutions take the complexity out of digital signage because there are no hardware/software compatibility issues and the added cost of site licenses is eliminated. And, with everything included, these plug-and-play devices are also easy to deploy.

Businesses that are looking to add a solid-state digital signage solution or replace their vulnerable PC-based system should be aware that many digital signage players do not include software, which can add to your initial cost—sometimes substantially. Others may offer free software, but it isn't really free, just a limited time trial. Or, you may get a very basic version of the software for free but will have to pay for the features you really need.

Free signage software doesn't always mean you have to be satisfied with less functionality, security and/or flexibility than commercial-grade software. By comparing digital signage software features and ease of use, you'll see for yourself that the value of digital signage software isn't in the price.

Look for a solution that includes the following features.

Scalable: Hardware providers that include the same software with media players for driving applications ranging from a simple, one-screen implementation to a multi-screen, multi-site managed installation provide scalability. You can buy only what you need now and expand the system as your needs change without losing any of your creative work. For example, you can start with a basic looping model and move up to fully interactive and networked models with live video feedback.

Flexible: The digital signage software you select needs to be flexible enough to schedule automatic content changes based on time-of-day or day-of-week and the immediacy to change schedules in real time. With support for features such as dayparting, you can optimize the relevance of your messages because it enables you to schedule various presentations to play automatically at different times of the day and specific days of the week.

Versatile: The software should support full HD video and image quality as well as the leading video, image, audio and live news feed formats. Some of the free software included with today's solid-state players will also enable you to use industry standard "zones" to play back multiple content files on a single screen and to control each zone with its own playlist. With today's more robust free signage software, you can even create a unique wall of linked and synchronized displays.

Local and Remote Updates: In addition to supporting local updates with a memory card, look for software with multiple networking options supported for delivery of remote content to one or one hundred units. With this capability, you can network your remote units either over the Internet or on a local area network. Then you can easily send files and updates to your remote media players to promote special events, limited-time offers, etc.

Ease of Use: Ask for a free trial. The software you select should make creating, updating, managing and monitoring your digital signage displays so easy, no IT person's assistance will be required. It should provide intuitive templates, simple tools and wizards that enable you to quickly make eye-catching full-screen or multi-zone presentations. Scheduling should be simplified with click and drag functionality.

With the ability to drag and drop networked content feeds such as SignChannel and RSS onto multi-zone or full-screen presentations, users can create localized and dynamic signage that includes news, traffic and weather tickers.

Simplified Content Development, Publishing: Look for signage software that offers simple tools and wizards to guide users step-by-step through the process of creating presentations. Features such as preset multi-zone templates and custom layout tools can save a lot of time by helping users create displays without having to manually configure coordinates and image sizes.

With the ability to create interactive playlists using a graphical interface, the need to use text files and commands is eliminated. The software should also make it easy to add triggers or buttons on touch screens to initiate the playback of image, video or sound content files within playlists.

Once completed, the presentations will be faster and easier to prepare for publication if the software automatically creates the playlist file and bundles it with the selected content, ready to drop onto an SD card or the network for playback.

Will digital signage software that includes all of these features free, make the expression "You get what you pay for" obsolete? Probabably not, but it does give credence to the claim that the value of digital signage software really isn't in the price.

About Jeff Hastings

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