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automatically re-tune themselves to the same channel in a different district by
using sub-bands. These bands can be used in digital signage for ticking news or
give special offers.
Best option for Maldives: Since there are more than 1000 islands and Digital
Signage can be put in remote private resorts, hybrid network by combining
WIMAX, Wi-Fi and Satellite based IP networking is recommended
4.0 Hardware:
Thin/Fat Client
Server Specification
Mounting
SMS/MMS modem for survey and contest on mobile network
4.1 Client: In client-server networks, a thin client is a network computer
without a hard drive that works off a centrally located and managed
application server that processes the data. Compared with a “fat” client, this
handles considerably more processing and storage capabilities, a thin client
typically has little or no software and provides only the most basic boot and
data recovery operations. It also usually has only basic user-interface
functions (such as a PC workstation with keyboard and a basic display
device) at the user interaction point. A thin client computing architecture not
only enables organizations to save in management, IT, and hardware costs, it
also offers greater data security because important information is kept on the
central or back-office LAN side, usually in a secured room. What’s more,
running thin devices consumes a lot less network bandwidth than transferring
files on an application heavy terminal server does. Zero clients computing
takes thin client computing a step further. Like thin clients, zero clients
connect to applications running on a PC or server elsewhere on a network.
But, with zero client architecture, there’s no need for a dedicated PC at the
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user interaction point. The dedicated PC is the application server located in
the back room or data center. It communicates with peripheral devices over a
standard TCP/IP network connection. This architecture not only enables
organization to save additional equipment room—space that organization can
better use to connect organization latest peripherals—it also greatly lessens
maintenance and equipment management costs (because there are no thin
client workstations to keep running throughout organization’s application).
Figure 5: Server
4.1 Benefits of server based system Multi-concurrent administrators
Access leveled platform
Windows and web manager clients working on the system
simultaneously
Supports thousands of players
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4.2 Mounting
Quality
Ease of use
Reusability
These factors should be prime factors while choosing mounting for the signage.
In order to successfully implement a DS system every aspect of the system has
to work perfectly. Some systems have failed merely for the reason that the
hardware that mounts a screen to the ceiling or wall was not installed correctly or
something as simple as the mounting brackets were not part of the estimate for
the system.
5.0 Software Software for digital signage system
SMS/ MMS gateway software
Network Monitoring software
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ERP and CRM for Organization’s Administration and Customer
satisfaction
5.1 Digital signage: Client software: Two operating systems most widely used for digital signage
networks are Windows and Linux. The purpose of this article is to help
organization get an idea of the advantages and the total cost of ownership of
both in order to make an informed decision about choosing an OS for
organization’s digital signage network. Many startup network operators, trying to
minimize their upfront investment burden, choose Linux because they don’t have
to pay for the license. Some of them discover later that the resulting cost of
running Linux is not necessarily lower than that of using Windows.
When is Linux the right choice for organization network?
What are the real strengths and weaknesses of each OS?
In terms of functionality, the two operating systems are essentially equal. The
common perception, however, is that Linux is "free", or cheaper to operate than
Windows. Windows versus Linux has been one of the longest-standing debates
among IT specialists. The stability, security and efficiency of a system really
depend on which environment IT team is more proficient in: Linux or Windows.
One of the grave mistakes is to select a hardware platform and an operating
system separately. Another one is not to test the selected hardware/OS
combination for performance and endurance. Most device drivers have been
tuned and tested for standard desktop uses, not for usage in an appliance-style
configuration. It is therefore important to test many configurations before
standardizing on a playback PC.
Majority of digital signage software packages use Windows Media Player as their
playback engine. This has the benefit of leveraging any Windows Media-specific
hardware acceleration, and being able to play all the media types that are
supported by Window Media Player. There are downsides to Windows Media
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Player as well. The most obvious one is it only runs on Windows. One that is less
noticeable is that it does not come standard with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, which
means that organization must acquire licenses for these codec (media formats)
from an independent vendor, unless organization plan on only using WMV and
MPEG-1.
One of the biggest advantages of the Windows operating system is that it
supports all the newest hardware. Because of market pressures, hardware
manufacturers always develop device drivers for Windows. While some provide
them for Linux, not all of many different distributions of Linux are covered. Driver
support in Linux is not really a problem for PC components that are in
widespread usage, or that are a little older. The shortcoming here is wait to get
the required driver.
Another issue for hardware on Linux is that some hardware components are
developed exclusively for Windows. This trend seems to be spreading into the
video card market, as market leaders like Nvidia and ATI are developing
extensions specifically for Windows Media.
From a digital signage operations perspective, there are more things in common
between Linux and Windows than there are differences. Importance here is the
need to select the hardware in conjunction with the operating system and digital
signage software. While Windows has an upfront licensing cost, its costs are
fixed and predictable. Linux has the potential of a lower total cost of ownership,
but much investment must go into the expertise for selecting the hardware
platform, otherwise costs can spiral out of control. In the end, regardless of the
operating system selected, the most important determinant of the total cost of
ownership is the competence of the team behind selecting and configuring the
playback platform, as well as that of the support team. A lack of Linux-savvy IT
department, any cost saving on the license fee will backfire with the increased
cost of training or hiring qualified people.
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5.2 SMS/MMS marketing system: It allows corporate users to reach their potential customers in a convenient, fast,
and cheap way. It enables the companies to do SMS contest, SMS survey,
release new product information using bulk sending SMS/MMS and so on. In
digital signage industry it helps interaction with customer and feedback.
.
Figure 6: SMS Feedback System
5.3 ERP & CRM: Open source ERP and CRM is recommended will reduce capital expenditure
and in the meantime the organization will be process driven. (Example: Tiny
ERP, Sugar CRM)
5.4 Internet connection: T1/E1 (2 MBPS) line is recommended for graphic work to be downloaded from
remote sites. The average size of files is large.
6.0 Staff Training: Use of screencasts3, it is a tool used to demonstrate technical tasks, or to
illustrate technical concepts that are hard to explain in words. The video and
audio components can make a topic more engaging than written instructions
or static images, while also appealing to different learning styles.3 screencast is a movie that captures the display from a computer screen along with someone talking about what’s being shown
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Screencasts can be an excellent addition to organization's knowledge-
capture process. For instance, consider documenting procedures that users
frequently ask about, how a server is structured, or the knowledge of an
expert about a particular application. While these screencasts may only have
an internal audience, and thus may have somewhat lower production values,
this kind of “rich media documentation” can help preserve organizational
memory.
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Section II
Return on Investment
Costs in Digital Signage
New Costs to be taken into account in the establishment of a dynamic digital
signage network:
Initial purchase of screens and electronic infrastructure
Upkeep and devaluation of screens and infrastructure (completing
TCO)
Content creation (generally outsourced)
Content management (may be outsourced)
As with all emerging technologies, the Return on investment (ROI) is a key
guideline when considering an investment in digital signage. Measuring ROI
enables companies to balance the benefits of an investment against the costs
associated with that investment. In the case of digital signage this calculation will
depend largely on the main goal of the company’s marketing strategy, which may
range from encouraging impulse-buying at the checkout counters, to informing
customers about new product arrivals or sales promotions, to obtaining additional
revenues from advertising on the in-store networks.
To find out the ROI of the digital signage project we first need to understand the
business model followed by our discussed deployment. There are essentially two
digital signage business models, and both have to do with the approach taken
when dealing with the content value chain, shown in the figure 7.
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Figure 7: Value Chain
The content value chain essentially refers to the different steps covering from
content creation to content publication: some companies control the whole
process, whereas others prefer to outsource certain functions, focusing their
energies in the relationship with business agents and on business opportunities.
In both situations content management plays a major role by acting as transition
between the creative development of content and the technical aspects of
content publication. Content management and the way it is handled also define
to a large extent the ROI model behind the digital signage system.
Business model: customer implements a digital signage system with the intention
of exploiting the advertising space it represents. Digital signage displays,
especially in the case of large-scale deployments with heavy traffic such as
stadiums, shopping centers, stations or airports are very attractive for
advertisers. In such cases, revenues from advertising obtained through media
buying agencies are the main business driver.
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Figure 8: Network Business Model
The present case, which is a clear example of the Network digital signage
business model, concerns a large airport with an average yearly traffic of more
than 40 million passengers, over 100 airlines and a retail area exceeding 10000
square meters. The project of the airport management company concerns the
implementation of a digital signage system initially feeding 100 plasma screens in
the departure lounges, to increase to more than a thousand in less than a year.
Supposing that the screens are on 20 hours a day (from 6am to 2am the
following day) and that half of the airing time is devoted to news and other
programs of interest to travelers, the potential advertising space per screen
amounts to 10 hours a day. Divided into the standard 20 seconds per
advertisement, this yields a total of 90 advertising spaces per hour, or what is the
same, 1.800 advertising spaces a day per screen, seven days a week.
If the airport management company offers that time to 15 exclusive advertisers
ensuring each one of them that their adverts will be shown 6 times per screen
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per hour and decides to charge a flat fee to every advertiser per screen used, it is
estimated that the investment would be recovered in as little as 8 months.
Figure 9: Passenger traffic at Male International Airport
Figure 10: Flight Movement in Male International Airport