The great thing about modern digital signs is that they don’t require expensive installation, they are easy to set up, the signs are relatively cheap and the software required is a bargain. We have now entered a golden age where most businesses have some sort of digital signs, and digital sign features are becoming the bigger selling point. Here are a few must-have features for digital signs if you run a small business.
A Good Piece of Digital Sign Software
Let’s start with what is probably the most burningly vital element. Now, it is true that you can buy a digital sign or any sort of cheap TV, you can put a video on a flash drive and play it on loop. However, using your digital signs in this way is the fastest way to “Under Utilize” your digital signs. It would be like buying a 10-tonne truck and then using it to store your gym sneakers. A good piece of software can add a dramatic amount of value to your digital signs.
Take KitCast for example. With this software, you can create your videos and then schedule them. You can have the videos stream onto tens of digital screens, and you can have them adapt depending on whatever parameters you set up. You can quickly create announcements, build new advertisements, and you can run your videos in sequence so that all your digital signs are showing different things in sequence.
1. Control From a Central Hub
In a perfect world, you want to be able to control your digital signs from a single place. These days, it is all done online. You control your signs and stream information using an online platform, but that may not be suitable for some people. The worst way to do things is to have a small PC or digital device plugged into every sign. If you can even use something like an Apple TV system or an Apple Mac Mini, then that is at least better than having a device for each digital sign.
Another good thing about controlling from a central hub is that it takes less work to manage your digital signs, and it means other people can contribute, but they still have to pass their efforts through the hub in order to enact any changes. This allows you to monitor what your contributors are adding to your digital signs before you actually have the content run in your stores and various commercial locations.
2. Digital and Local Security
In the 2010 movie “Iron Man 2,” we see Tony Stark hijack the digital signs in the court, in what is supposed to be a show of his technical brilliance. These days, we have seen Chinese teens do the same thing across the world from a tiny Internet cafe in a feat that is as impressive as it is scary. Hijacking a stream is not easy, but the tech you can buy on the dark web is making it increasingly easy, especially if your streams are unsecured. You need good local hardware security, and digital security to stop competitors or online/offline activists from taking control of your digital signs.
3. Interactive Displays
If you have the budget and the necessary programming skills, you can incorporate interactive touch screen software into your digital displays. This technology has gained immense popularity in recent times as an effective way of guiding people through various processes or helping them navigate from one location to another. Things like interactive maps are popular, as are interactive menus. Even if you cannot afford the touch-screen varieties of digital signs, there are some that can be controlled with mobile devices. Though in that case, you will need suitable digital signs or suitable receiving and transmitting hardware.
4. Video Walls
As you have probably seen in larger chain stores, you can buy digital signs that fit together on the wall. This allows you to create a wall of digital signs that are as high or wide as you wish. The digital signs will sync up so that they are running the same video feed, but the numerous screens work as if they were a single whole screen.
This setup of video walls has obvious benefits. For example, instead of spending £8000 GBP on a 98 inch digital sign, you can buy three 35 inch signs at £900 each and have a 105 inch display. What’s more, when you have several signs working as one, you can change their location more easily, and you don’t have to worry about the sign being too big or small for the new location. If the space is too small, then remove some digital signs. If the area is too big, then buy more digital signs and add them to your video wall.
