Vanten And Quividi Team Up in Japan

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Chris Phelan at the Daily DOOH has posted an article about the first integrated digital signage  measurement service in Japan:

Vanten K.K. (Tokyo, Japan, CEO: Neil van Wouw) and Quividi (Paris, France, CEO: Olivier Duizabo) recently formed a strategic partnership where Vanten will act as an integration and sales partner to assist Quividi’s entry in the Japanese Digital Signage market with its automated audience measurement solution.

As part of this strategic partnership, Vanten will add audience measurement metrics to the existing Ad reporting in EngageMedia, Vanten’s Intelligent Signage Platform. The new service will be available starting Sept. 30, 2009. Both technical teams will work together to increase their competitive advantage in the market and investigate further options such as localizing and jointly operating Quividi’s VidiCenter service in Japan.

EngageMedia currently stores playback information in a database for all content and includes location, time, and actual duration as well as a time-stamped screenshot of each content playback. Customers can easily create reports for any content, time period, or group of displays. New functionalities will add information from Quividi’s VidiReports, keeping track of how many people looked at each content item and for how long. It will also record how many people in the vicinity of the displays have an Opportunity To See (OTS) the screens and how long they remain in range (dwell-time).

Vanten started testing Quividi’s audience measurement system at Yodobashi Camera’s in-store media, YodobiTV, in December 2008. The test period showed impressive results with a very high data collection accuracy and remarkably low requirements in terms of computing resources.

Until recently, audience measurement systems have been slow to detect faces and have used significant amounts of computing power, often requiring special, dedicated computing hardware. The accuracy was also insufficient for producing reliable metrics or quality customer reports. The high price tag also proved to be a major barrier to widespread adoption of the technology. Whereas alternative systems are usually deployed only in key locations, Quividi’s affordable pricing model makes it possible to consider audience measurement with each and every display.

“We’re very excited to be working with Quividi”, said Neil van Wouw, CEO of Vanten , “Our evaluation showed them to be a best-of-breed solution. Quividi showed commitment to standardization by quickly demonstrating consistency with the OVAB audience metric guidelines, and in our estimation, Quividi is currently the only practical way to bring true audience measurement to every display in a large scale deployment. Together we can leverage EngageMedia’s ability to bring more content and advertising variations than ever before, and Quividi’s ability to provide automated and precise metrics at fine grained, single content play level. This is the vision we are striving to realize.”

“Vanten is rapidly emerging as the leading player in Digital Signage in Japan, and we’re delighted to be teaming up with a such a visionary company”, said Olivier Duizabo, CEO of Quividi. “Vanten’s plan to include audience measurement in its standard offer is perfectly tuned to our own vision: ubiquitous real time metrics will generate trust and sharpen the execution of marketing campaigns to ultimately boost the performance of Digital Signage networks. We’re confident that, jointly, we will deliver a superior solution to the Japanese market”.

About Vanten

Vanten has been operating since September 1998, and currently delivers a full suite of digital signage services and solutions. Vanten’s Intelligent Signage Platform, EngageMedia, offers world class digital signage advertising and content management, data network management, security and dynamic content feature modules. Vanten also makes award winning content for Digital Signage, and with its AdChoice division, is a leading DOOH Agency in Japan.

The Maturing of Digital Signage

Posted on Aug 28, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

SelfService.org posted an article about how the digital signage industry is now considered “mainstream.”  Author Ajay Chowdhury, the CEO of EnQii, has done a great job explaining this:

There has been a great deal of talk over recent years that the digital signage industry is finally “crossing the chasm” of early adopters and pioneers into the mainstream. We believe that this process is now underway and that the growth in the industry that has often been predicted is materializing.

We believe that this is based around five key factors:

a) Clearer understanding of the benefits of digital signage by sector.

When any new medium arises, it tends to use paradigms from old media to launch the new medium. For example, television borrowed from theatre and the Internet borrowed from magazines. This continues for a while until the new medium begins to create its own vocabulary and changes things in line with the way consumers use the new medium.

Similarly the DOOH space initially used the paradigms of billboards and television when it first launched. While these paradigms may be appropriate in certain situations, it is only now beginning to re-invent itself as its own medium meeting the specific needs of consumers in a place-based way.

There is now a much clearer focus on understanding the role and objectives of the network it is an advertising, merchandising and information network with clearer metrics on measuring the ROI.

This also spills through into understanding how the signage network will work in different environments and how the customer should be addressed. Advertising has classically gone through four phases: interruption, entertainment, engagement and dialogue. In the first phase, the ad interrupts what the consumer is doing and often forces them to watch the ad. This was the classical television advertising model of the seventies where consumers had no choice but to view the ad.

The eighties marked the start of entertaining advertising where the consumer wanted to see the ad and received a payoff from it. The Internet moved things along in the nineties towards an engagement model where the consumer focused on ads that interested them and they became more engaged with the products. Finally in the last few years brands have realized that advertising is about a dialogue with the consumer. Mobile and social networking technologies facilitate this ongoing dialogue.

Digital signage can also use these models effectively in different environments. For instance, in environments with a fast moving audience (outdoor, transport hubs, malls), the interrupt model still dominates the out of home space. In areas with a higher dwell time (cinemas, beauty salons), you start seeing more of an entertainment and engagement model while in other specific areas of healthcare, some retail environments and food services you can now move towards an engagement and dialogue model.

The dialogue model is being used effectively by some digital signage providers. For example, EnQii partner with Ping Mobile, who link the digital signage software to their mobile marketing infrastructure. This allows viewers of digital signage ads to respond and interact using their cellular or mobile handheld technology.

This type of strategic analysis of the networks allows the operator to ensure the best content is delivered in the most appropriate fashion to get the desired result.

b) Maturing of the technology and content

Another area that is driving the industry forward is the maturing technology. Historically, the industry has moved from unconnected DVD based networks to simple connected networks to more complex networks with sophisticated advertising scheduling.

Going forward, it will be important that the network owner has technology that utilizes the basics – it needs to be scalable, reliable and secure. But it also needs to be an open platform that allows third party and internally developed applications to link to it to provide cost and revenue benefits. EnQii, for example, has always been a believer in open API’s (Application Program Interfaces), which allows customers to create front ends that link to the software so that they can link into their own workflows. This also allows linkages to “best of breed” systems such as ordering systems for digital menu boards, wayfinding, ePOS and queuing systems on an as needed basis.

Finally, the technology needs to be easy to use, but complex enough to perform all the key tasks needed. This is no mean feat, as the software has to be used by marketing professionals as well as systems administrators. The wrong design fill frustrates both types of users, whereas the right design will ensure neither of them notice the complexity.

The content has also matured. Initially networks often put up TV or stills that they had available. However, current networks such as Footlocker, Care Media, Harley Davidson, and the WHEN network are realizing that ultimately what matters is that what is seen on the screen and a deep understanding of customer behavior will allow the networks to get the best results.

c) ‘Serious’ companies beginning to invest in signage networks

As is typical for companies “crossing the chasm”, network operators have gone from an entrepreneur with a dream and some family funding to large multinational companies beginning to invest as well as financial companies putting serious investment behind networks.

This is important because a lot of early failures in the industry’s experimental years have been from entrepreneurs who secured a good estate and some financing, but they made the mistake of assuming that they could build advertising revenues as they rolled their network out. Typically ad revenues come in on a stepped basis over time. Ideally, networks need a certain critical mass which is dependent on the advertising strategy (national, regional, local) and the desirability of the demographic before receiving any revenues. Hence, there is a need for adequate funding to bridge the gap to that critical mass as opposed to assuming ad revenues will flow as soon as just a few locations are installed.

In the last six months we have seen companies like McDonald’s and well-financed companies like Care Media and Zoom all invest in the space. These rollouts bode well for the industry, especially in recessionary times. The food services sector, healthcare, hair salons and a few others continue to do well in a soft economy as the network operators realize the importance of staying close to the consumer and influencing their purchases when dollars are tight.

Finally, the ad agencies have also started to set up dedicated divisions for digital out of home with Kinetic and Posterscope taking the lead in this area.

d) ‘Serious’ suppliers providing a full service

The flip side of serious network owners is that of serious suppliers. Historically the digital signage industry was a bit of a cottage industry. Over recent years this has changed and EnQii was set up specifically to create a leadership position in the space. The focus moved from hardware to communications – having a deep understanding of what signage works and what does not and how to get the best return. Operating as a global player and being well funded became the focus in order to be able to invest in the best technology for the customers. It became about creating the best partnerships and offering a full service solution to large networks. The idea is to let the networks do what they do best – monetizing their customer by offering the best service and content while allowing the service provider to do the rest and minimize the risk of the venture.

e) The view from China

Finally, the growth of DOOH in the Chinese market has proved that there is a real business there. Focus Media is generating close to $400m a year in revenues and has bypassed many of the agencies to go directly to advertisers for a large portion of this money. AirMedia had revenues of $119m and Vision had revenues of over $100m. While some dynamics in China are different – for instance, there is a higher propensity for out of home consumption – it proves that there is real money to be made in these businesses.

In summary, optimism remains about the growth of the DOOH sector and the belief that it will continue to accelerate as all involved learn more about the medium and how the consumer interacts with it.

EnQii wins 10 major new accounts in the first six months of 2009

Posted on Aug 26, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today has listed EnQii’s major new accounts for 2009:

NEW YORK — EnQii has announced that it will be rolling out significant digital signage networks with the following new clients in the food services, health, retail and leisure sectors.

1. McDonald’s has completed its trial and is expanding the digital signage network in their restaurants in the U.K. to enhance the in-store experience and raise sales through digital merchandising. Initial results have shown a positive uplift for their sales and impressive ROI.

2. Care Media is one of the largest healthcare operators in the U.S. with screens in pediatric and women’s health centers. They are following an advertising model as pharmaceutical companies are finding DOOH an effective way to reach their customers.

3. EWI Worldwide, one of the leading U.S. designers and manufacturers of in-store merchandising and retail environments, has selected EnQii as their digital signage solution partner. EWI Worldwide’s Digital Media Solution is being deployed in major retailers, financial services and other shopping venues.

4. AMF Bowling is a leisure operator in the U.K. and chose EnQii to develop their digital merchandising strategy and provide screens in their bowling alleys to promote merchandise products available for their clientele.

5. DC Lottery is a major lottery operator in Washington DC and selected EnQii to deliver digital signage to promote their lottery products.

6. Sports Display is a company that runs activity and information centers in sports and retail locations in the U.S. They chose EnQii to launch advertising based screen products.

7. Health Media Network has screens in hospitals in the US and is using EnQii to deliver an advertising based network.

8. Prime Digital Media is Australia’s number one digital out–of–home media company and has joined forces in a comprehensive partnership with EnQii designed to employ EnQii’s EnGage technology across its DOOH media networks.

9. Village Roadshow is Australia’s largest operator of cinemas and theme parks and chose EnQii for advertising and merchandising screens in their cinemas.

10. Gloss Media has appointed EnQii to roll out their digital signage network in beauty salons, initially across the New York area.

Symon Announces Continuation of its Global Expansion: Opens New Office in Dubai, UAE

Posted on Aug 24, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

eMediaWire.com has posted a press release detailing the expansion of Symon Communications into the Middle East:

Hemel Hempstead, UK (PRWeb UK) August 17, 2009 — Symon Communications, a leading provider of visual communications solutions to clients world-wide, announced today the opening of an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Symon Dacon, a fully owned UK-based subsidiary of Symon Communications, Inc, will have oversight responsibility for the Dubai office and Joe Rabah, Symon’s new Managing Director of Middle East operations, will have operational responsibility.

“Symon Dacon has been supporting the sale of Symon’s solutions into the Middle East for several years. This move strengthens Symon’s ability to support the region and better positions Symon to serve our Middle East resellers and their customers,” says Charles Ansley, Symon’s CEO.

“Our Dubai operation strategically positions us in the region and gives us a much stronger reach in the areas bordering the Middle East than ever before,” says Joe Rabah, Symon’s Managing Director of Middle East operations. “Symon has already been successful with recent wins in the education, hospitality and telecom sectors in the Middle East region.”

Located in Dubai Internet City, Symon’s Dubai presence well positions the company to serve emerging markets in the Middle East as well as pursue emerging markets that extend from the Indian subcontinent over into Africa. The combined region houses over two billion people and boasts a combined gross domestic product of $6.7 trillion. In addition to hosting Symon’s new offices, the Dubai Internet City is also home to some of the most recognized brands in the technology industry.

About Symon Communications, Inc.

Symon Communications is a leading global provider of award-winning in-venue visual communications solutions. Symon is proud to boast a 29 year history of profitability and a client roster of over seventy-five hundred clients, which includes nearly 80 percent of the Fortune 100 and almost 70 percent of the Fortune 500.

Symon’s advantage lies within its operating model, which offers customers a single point of accountability for all visual communication implementations along with a state-of-the-art, fully-integrated and proven content management system. Symon’s value proposition is centered on providing clients with a visual communications solution that will inform, entertain and/or positively influence a viewer’s behavior.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Symon’s U.S. offices manage sales and support of clients and prospects located throughout the Americas. Symon’s European subsidiary, Symon Dacon, manages sales and support of clients and prospects throughout the EMEA region. Symon Dacon’s headquarters are located in Hemel Hempstead, UK www.symon.com.

EMEA COMPANY CONTACTS:

Symon Middle East
Joe Rabah
Symon Dacon, ltd.
Dubai Internet City
P.O. Box 500 386
Building 9, Suite 218
Dubai, UAE
+97…

Symon Dacon, Hemel Hempstead, UK
Katrina Douglas
1 Enterprise Way
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP2 7YJ, UK
+44…

Symon Corporate
Symon Communications, Inc.
Leesa Rankin
+1 972-578-8484

Capital Networks Targets Campus Markets

Posted on Aug 21, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Gail Chiasson at the Daily DOOH has an excellent post up today about Capital Networks LTD’s new market initiative:

Markham, Ont.-based Capital Networks Ltd., a major provider of broadcasting and dynamic digital signage software, has launched a new market initiative into the Canadian educational sector.

CNL’s Audience.Campus offering has been designed specifically for educational installations, enabling high schools, colleges and universities to improve communication with students across multi-site campuses, as well as within individual faculties or departments. The Audience.Campus solution can run up to 100 channels simultaneously through a single deployment which ensures that individual departments can control the content on their digital screens and deliver local information such as room schedules, or class notifications – all of which can be uploaded easily by staff or students.

“While the university may want to control the general and emergency notices on screens, many university departments want to control their own information,” says Blake Reeves, CNL’s manager of business development. “They also often each control their own budgets so the system has to be flexible as well as powerful.

“Our system works on a contentious scheduling module, so all content is ready to go at a certain time. Emergency messages are ready to run and preempt as necessary whether in one building or right across a campus.”

CNL already has a range of high profile clients in the education sector, including the University of Waterloo, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, UCLA and University of Regina.

“We know CNL has a good product for the the campus market so decided to specialize on the educational vertical sector as one of our key targets,” says Reeves.

Among others, CNL also works with the BBC, the US Marines, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,Pan Pacific Hotels in Singapore, Cablevision and OBN.

Reeves says, “The digital signage market now stands at over US$800 million according Digital Signage Resource, and is the broadcasting method of choice for a range of industries. It’s not surprising that it’s also becoming popular in large educational institutions, like colleges and universities, because it is designed to cope with the complex layout of the buildings and the wide-reaching audience. “

CNL, founded in 1991 and a privately held company headed by Bill Trainor, president, provides its broadcasting and dynamic digital signage software to 35 countries worldwide through authorized re-sellers. educational, broadcast, cable, retail, digital signage, hospitality, military and medical applications.

Digital advertising growth drives new kiosk application

Posted on Aug 19, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

SelfService.org’s Caroline Cooper has posted an article about how savvy kiosk makers are now seeing digital signage and digital out-of-home advertising as part of their marketing mix:

As advertising continues to go digital, some kiosk makers are realizing a unique opportunity to combine a simple self-service concept with digital-out-of-home applications.

“Savvy advertisers now see digital signage and digital out-of-home advertising as part of their marketing mix,” said Digital Signage Association executive director David Drain in a contribution to USA Today earlier this year. “With an 11.2-percent growth in 2008, making it a $2.43 billion industry in the U.S., according to PQ Media, digital out-of-home is forecasted to have a 12.9-percent compound annual growth rate through 2012.”

In recent years and months, kiosk companies such as Hercules Networks and Nuvo Technologies LLC have watched the DOOH growth. Now the two are offering kiosk deployers a chance to leverage that growth to create an entirely new revenue stream.

Both companies offer cell phone-charging kiosks that feature LCD screens on which ads or brand promotions can be run. The kiosks feature as many as 10 to 24 charging tips, depending on the company and the model, and are compatible with at least 90 percent of mobile devices on the market.

Where and how to deploy the kiosk

Scott Calhoun, managing partner of Nuvo Technologies, says kiosks can be ideal for many different deployment environments. For instance, Nuvo has worked with Six Flags, United Airlines, college campuses and bars around its hometown of Baltimore, Md., in addition to convention centers and hotels. But the company is narrowing its focus.

“In the past, what we’ve done is placed them in different types of environments to see what we thought would work best,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun says airports, hotels and convention centers proved the best environments and, thus, will now be areas of focus for Nuvo.

Hercules Networks also has worked with Six Flags, and recently completed a deployment with AT&T in the Boston Celtics’ TDBankNorth Arena.

Paul King, Hercules’ CEO, says the kiosks also can make an impact in a retail setting.

“For a retailer, it’s a vehicle for them to stand out among the competition — to draw traffic into their store for a different purpose than they normally would,” King said.

A charging kiosk deployer has myriad options from which to choose. Deployers can either sell ads themselves to outside entities or to run their own branding messages and promotions on the kiosk displays. King says the choice depends on the specific goals of the business.

“Are they going to make more revenue from outside advertising or from their own advertising?” he said. “It’s case-by-case, and it ultimately comes down to a balance between customer service and revenue.”

Deployers also have the option of running the ads through a Hercules-operated network or updating the content manually via USB or Flash drive themselves. With Nuvo, deployers are provided access to a Web-based system that provides tools to manage the content independently. Deployers can access online training videos or particpate in a user blog for service and maintenance instructions.

Deployers also can associate fees with cell phone charges, or they simply can offer it as a free service. Ryan Doak, another of Nuvo’s managing partners, says more often than not, offering the charge for free is the best option for a deployer.

“Most people will find that when they deploy these, to charge a fee is probably not always the best idea,” he said. “You’re going to generate more revenue by selling advertising. We’ve found that a lot of companies will sell advertising, and now instead of making two bucks, they’re making 2,000.”

Interactive options

Both Hercules and Nuvo have also experimented with interactive applications.

“The bigger request lately has really been for touchscreen applications,” Doak said. “They use them at tradeshows, so the charging aspect would pull people into a tradeshow booth and then while they’re waiting for it, they can do an interactive application to learn more about somebody’s product or service.”

The kiosks also can incorporate text-messaging or Bluetooth capabilities. King and Hercules are working with one retail department store on an application that will detect Bluetooth-enabled devices in range and push out promotional offers from retailer to the devices’ owners.

Nuvo’s application also allows for text-message interactivity, and Doak says it can open up new avenues for deployers to engage with their customers.

“We can go back to the customer and say, ‘Hey, you’ve had 500 people text in this month,’ and not only do they know they have interest, but they have all the cell phone numbers of these people who they know are interested in their product or establishment, and they can directly communicate with them at that point.”

The convergence of digital signage and Twitter

Posted on Aug 17, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Editor Bill Yackey at DigitalSignageToday.com posts about the increased presence of digital signage on the social media site Twitter:

Like many industries, digital signage is seeing an increased presence on the social media site Twitter. Just by searching the term “digital signage” or the #digitalsignage hashtag, users are exposed to candid conversations about trends, news and products that previously only occurred in one-on-one phone calls and tradeshow floor chatter.

Twitter, and its 140-character messaging style, is also beginning to find its way on to digital signage screens, opening up a new way of engaging audiences and providing user-generated digital signage content.

Perhaps the most forward-thinking company in this area has been LocaModa, which has integrated Twitter into its digital signage social media tool Wiffiti. Previously, Wiffiti served as a platform where users could text messages to a short code and have them show up on screens in bars, restaurants, cafes, etc.

Now, LocaModa president Stephen Randall says the company is “tagging” Twitter terms, allowing Twitter to automatically send relevant messages to the screen which users can respond to. Take the term “weather,” for example:

“The most mundane topics like weather can be brought to life with Twitter,” Randall said. “Many digital signage screens feature a weather banner. If you tag Twitter with weather and display it on a Wiffiti screen, you can connect people all around the world. It could be raining I Massachusetts, and you could see messages from people in California talking about how sunny it is or from Japan talking about how it’s freezing. It can still tell you today’s weather, but tell you in a way that makes you feel connected.”

There are other approaches to integrating Twitter into digital signage content without launching an entire platform. Gavin Stark, VP of product development for Real Digital Media (RDM), said that since Twitter offers several RSS feeds per account, they could be integrated into content similar to the way news and weather feeds are:

1) Create a server somewhere that pre-processes the Twitter feed for certain formatting or exclusion rules

2) Take the RSS data straight in as a ticker.

3) Develop a flash page to read the RSS stream and jazz it up

4) Create a Web page (either as a Web archive or live from a server), use Javascript to read the RSS feed.

Stark said that for the BarCamp 2008 convention, he wrote a Web page that pulled Twitter hashtags on an RDM player and showed it on a 42-inch screen with a sidebar showing sponsors and RDM company info.

How is your digital signage company using Twitter?

@signagelive: To keep a regular dialogue with users and followers and fill the gaps in info between blog posts. Also adding to signagelive software for alerts etc. (Remote Media)

@ghigliotty: We are using it extensively for our digital merchandising division; driving traffic to the YouTube channel among others. (Artisan Complete)

@stephenrandall: LocaModa tags Twitter on Wiffiti screens for DOOH and events. Also active Twitterers. (LocaModa)

@Keywest_Tech: Keywest Technology is using Twitter to connect to the DS community and for public relations. (Keywest Technology)

@NEOCAST: Try to use Twitter to create a point of view for our company. Try not to “overpimp” the brand. (Real Digital Media)

@devinimamura: We use twitter to send us messages on what our software is doing or any errors that occur. (.AdvancedMethod)

Company Showcase: DMS (Digital Multi-Media Services)

Posted on Aug 14, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:06 am

Gary Downey, CEO of DMS, has written a post about his company on Retail Customer Experience.com that bears repeating here:

DMS is on the cutting edge of the digital signage industry. We have the ability and the knowledge to deliver all the components necessary to achieve a complete custom digital signage solution for your business. We provide tailor-made products specifically designed in line with your budget, needs and target market. We take pride in our ability to customize our systems to fit your needs, from the custom branded displays designed and manufactured for State Farm to specifically designed software, or the building of a custom kiosk stand, DMS has the resources and the expertise to meet our client’s needs.

With more and more companies understanding the value of employing digital signage, demand for this technology is growing at an unprecedented rate. This demand has also generated a significant increase in new companies servicing this growing industry. Companies looking to utilize a digital signage network have many options to choose from. So, how do you choose from this growing list of companies vying for your business?

As the CEO of DMS, I look for quality, service and price when I do business with a company; DMS is built on these three principals: quality, service and price.

QUALITY: DMS prides itself with the offering of quality hardware and software. Our media players, LCD displays, software and content creation capabilities have been rated among the best in the industry. We have performed extensive research on these major components that make up a digital signage network. These items need to be robust and reliable as they are all integral to the overall performance of the system. Of course, along with the components of a digital signage network there are also many other questions that will confront a customer while choosing digital media: Which chipset? Which video output? Which LCD? Which manufacturer? All these questions should be carefully considered when choosing to do business with a digital signage provider; DMS will take the time to be certain that our products provide you with the quality and reliability you expect.

SERVICE: This is a technology driven industry, and sometimes things do go wrong, there is no company that relies on the internet that can boast 100% uptime. However, our networks are running at 98.7% uptime, and the 1.3% balance downtime is usually due to local internet connectivity, which is beyond our control. With DMS, one simple fact you can be assured of is 100% customer service satisfaction. Customer Service is a key ingredient to the success of any business, and DMS is no different; we provide our customers with the highest level of Customer Service 24/7.

PRICE: You know the saying: “You get what you pay for”, and with DMS, you certainly will get so much more with our products and services. You will find our pricing to be exceptional, and combined with our solid line of products, extensive knowledge in this industry and our Customer-driven service; you will get all you expect and more. Our media players are designed and priced for reliability and performance, and our LCD’s and software are the best the industry has to offer.

I am sure you will be impressed not just with our products and our services, but with our company, our team of professionals, truly love what they do. As CEO of DMS, I ask you to give us a call for a “No-Risk/No-Obligation” consultation. I’m confidant you will be impressed. (973-396-2271)

Gary Downey

Digital Signage-oriented Tradeshows Make Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50

Posted on Aug 12, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

According to editor Bill Yackey of Digital Signage Today.com, . . . digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50.

JD Events and Exponation both announced today that their digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50, which recognizes the 50 fastest-growing trade and consumer shows in North America based on total net square footage and percentage growth between 2006 and 2008.

JD Events operates KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show, and Exponation operates Digital Signage Expo. Both companies will be honored on Nov. 15 at an awards ceremony in Houston, Texas.

“To be recognized by a publication that is so well-regarded by our peers and professionals in this industry is truly an honor,’ said Joel Davis, CEO of JD Events, the organization behind KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show. “We are thrilled to be included as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows and now with our fourth award honoring the shows, we are excited to join an extremely elite group of less than 20 events that have received this award four or more times.”

“We are honored to have again been selected as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows,” said Angelo Varrone, CEO of Exponation, LLC, which produces Digital Signage Expo. “We won this award in 2007, which was the first year we were eligible. We are thrilled that our show has joined this select group of winning events for the second time in three years.”

Digital Signage Expo, which includes the Interactive Technology Expo, the Out-of-Home Network Show, The Digital Content Show, and The Mobile Marketing Show, will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas to run February 23-25, 2010. KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show is scheduled for November 10-11, 2009, in New York City.

Digital Signage Plays Key Role in Educational Institutions

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Amy Tierney, TMCnet Web Editor, has written an excellent post about the role digital signage is playing in the areas of schools and other educational institutions:

As more students embrace a technology-filled lifestyle filled cell phones, smartphones and other wireless devices, the days of reaching that audience with flyers and bulletin board posting are waning.

As a result, digital signage on campus is emerging as the hot new tool to deliver messages to students. Digital signs let schools display information in a way designed to grab people’s attention. The technology operates on a network of plasma or LCD TVs and users on the back end manage content using specialized software from the provider.

Digital signage is typically used to display upcoming events, news headlines, sporting events or scores, class schedules, and student and faculty achievements. The solution is also useful for publicizing menu board information and dynamic wayfinding.

And location is everything. Most digital signs are placed in locations where students typically congregate, such as student centers, libraries, cafeterias and administrative buildings.

For example, company officials from Omnivex, a Toronto, Ontario-based provider of software development for digital signage networks and electronic displays, said its software is used to display information in buildings and public areas at colleges including the Harvard School of Public Health, Texas A&M University and the University of Michigan, among other universities.

And the use of the technology appears to be growing.

“We are seeing an increase in digital signage deployments at educational institutions because it is a visual communications medium suited to the young audience on campuses,” Jeff Collard Omnivex president said in a statement. “Real-time content is more memorable and impactful than static or pre-recorded messages, particularly for students who have grown-up in the world of Internet, smart phones and video games.”

Yet a growing number of providers are offering services that feature an emergency alert system within the solution.

Officials with Black Box Network Services, a Lawrence, Pa.-based provider of voice communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, for instance, said the company’s iCOMPEL digital signage solution offers an emergency override notification feature. The tool is part of the company’s all-in-one tool iCOMPEL offering, a set of browser-based, networked digital signage media players and appliances.

“With a click of button, a screen can have a message displayed immediately to allow people to get information in a timely manner,” George A. Borden, digital signage national sales manager, forBlack Box ( News – Alert) Network Services, told TMCnet in an interview.
“For campuses, it’s a great way to get messages out there in the event of an emergency. You can capture the attention of people quickly.”

For example, users can upload a wayfinding map highlighting directions to the nearest exit in the event of a fire. Or if severe weather strikes, Black Box’s iCOMPEL service can filter in an RSS feed with weather alerts, Borden said.

One of the unique features of iCOMPEL is that users can change content on the spot. Users can access the system’s backend administration panel to make changes through wireless devices, such as theApple ( News – Alert) iPhone or other smartphone devices.

And already, Black Box is reporting an increase in adoption of its iCOMPEL solution.

“We have been seeing an uptick at colleges,” Borden said of company sales. “It’s definitely more than it was three months ago.”

Recently, New Mexico State University adopted Black Box’s iCOMPEL system to replace its previous digital signage network. The school wanted to upgrade existing monitors with LCD screens and implement a solution with the override notification feature, Borden said. The new network is slated to be in place this fall, he said.

Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy’s articles, please visit her columnist page.