Reflections from Suomi/Finland

Hi, just got back after visiting Finland 2 times in a week. I have meet potential new clients, conducted a seminar with one of Finland leading media agencies and trained sales personal at our partners office. There are some things I find extra interesting:

• Not many screens, I did not see a single screen in food markets and hardly any in retail environment.
• The Digital signage I saw was driven by advertisement (free monitor in exchange for showing ads from other companies) and some menu boards in fast food chains. Not even with moving content to make impact. I wonder why?

On the other hand there is a huge interest and many intelligent questions asked, thoughts and ideas are in the front line. Evaluation and proving benefits in figures is very important. Business models for new "not ad-driven" digital signage are reasonable and focused on revenues. Schools are planning courses in digital signage.  My impression is that platform suppliers that can offer 24/7 solutions, open API:s, service and support, extended warranties fit very well in that model .

Niklas Forslund

Business Developer, MultiQ

Who is to create and publish content, do installations and maintain digital signage within your organization?There is really very little difference between managing a website and managing a digital signage or self-service kiosk system.

One of the most common worries I have found among customers is that they worry about who is going to handle digital signage in their organization? It is not as complicated as you think.

In a previous blog spot I mentioned the initial problem of getting different departments within an organization to work together. When it actually comes to starting up a pilot project there are many worries about who is actually to do the job to get everything up and running. Things may seem to fall between the chairs which eventually may jeopardize the project.

The important thing to remember is that to handle a digital signage (and self service kiosk) system that has a central server is very similar to handling a website.

When it comes to content, this may be handled by the same people as are in charge of the website. Content is similar and much may be reused from the web activities. Many websites already include videos and the technical quality of video on the web has increased considerably during the last years. Today HD quality video clips are commonly used and handled by the same people that are handling the website.  Therefore much already existing content can be reused. When it comes to publishing, handling the content management system is really quite similar to maintaining a website. The main difference is that in a website you work with a tree structure to organize the content while in digital signage you work with loops of content. One thing that is much easier than in conventional website development is the fact that when using web content you only have one kind of web browser to take into account, the single kind of web browser that is used in the media player. This is to be compared to websites on the Internet where you need to consider all kinds of web browsers that are in use.

Another worry is how to handle the server system and security issues. The answer to this is the same as before. The similarities to handling the web make it possible to use the same solutions as for your website. The management server of the digital signage system can be hosted by you or by a hosting company (MultiQ can also provide this service). Just as for the website the server can be placed outside your company firewalls. It is always the media players that address the central server and not the opposite and you will not get any firewall problems at the sites. It is the media players that surf to the management server. All very similar to how your website works.

Installing the monitors, media players and kiosks is very similar and even easier than installing other similar equipment in the stores such as cash register systems and security camera systems. Digital signage is based on the well-known existing technologies of today such as broadband-, local area network-, computer- and display system techniques. Digital signage and kiosk systems do not include any unique components that cannot be handled by installers dealing with public areas. It is more or less just to plug in the power and network cables.

Setting up and maintaining a digital signage system is obviously very similar to running the company website and installing and maintaining the already existing equipment in the stores. Even though you may think that digital signage and self service kiosks are something new and strange, you have probably done it all before.

There is really very little difference between managing a website and
managing a digital signage or self-service kiosk system.

Lars-Ingemar Lundström

Documentation and Training Manager, MultiQ

Where does digital signage and self-service kiosk systems belong in an organization?

Who is the best suited to handle digital signage and self-service kiosks within an organization? Should it be the marketing department, IT department or somebody else?

In most cases it seems as it is people involved in marketing activities who start up digital signage and self-service kiosk projects. Suddenly there is someone that sees the potential of modernizing the marketing and bringing it closer to the products and the customers. It’s often in the marketing departments where you find these visionaries when it comes to new marketing and sales methods. However digital signage and kiosks are often regarded as new and unknown tools. This may be compared to the days of website introduction. In those days using the web was something new and untested. There were lots of discussions about the profitability and value of entering such a medium. Despite the many doubts by many in the early days, the website is today a natural and necessary part of any marketing organization. The questions in those days were the same as you will hear today regarding digital signage; what are the benefits in relation to the costs, and who in our organization is going to maintain the media content used in the new system?

In many companies there is a sole person driving the new ideas. This person, often someone in the marketing department, then tries to start up a pilot project. This may cause some debate within the organization and the early adaptor may need quite a lot of help from the supplier of the digital signage system.

In some cases there is someone in the IT department that starts the discussion about digital signage. But in most cases the IT department is involved at late stage in the process. This may cause some resistance to the introduction of the new system. A better solution is that the marketing and IT departments start working together at an early stage. Unfortunately I have seen cases where IT departments have been forces to use systems that they cannot fully support.

Introducing a digital signage or kiosk system is very similar to handling the company or retail chain website. Also, there are many synergies between the two.  In a digital signage system there is a central server that may be compared to a web server and the server may be hosted internally or externally. Many questions are the same when it comes to content. Much images, video clips and text used for the website can be reused in the digital signage or kiosk system. In kiosk systems the kiosks can even be regarded as extensions of the web activities since web pages and database content may be reused. This means that it is useful to get the IT department and the people involved in web activities involved at an early stage to see the benefits of the new possibilities brought by digital signage and kiosks. By using open standards and relying on external industry standard creation tools, that are already used by content producers and web developers, the MultiQ digital signage system paves the way for a smooth entry into this new medium.

In most cases it is the marketing department that is most eager
to introduce digital signage and self-service kiosks.  

Lars-Ingemar Lundström
Documentation and Training Manager, MultiQ