Current consumer trends demonstrate that we are undergoing a revolution in the way people gather information and interact with one-another. It is clear that people are migrating from traditional print media towards digital formats that are delivered via mobile technologies and the internet. This digital migration means that businesses must communicate with consumers, guests and employees in a way that is visual, relevant, time-oriented and location-oriented. Digital signage is the chosen medium that companies are rapidly embracing to achieve this.
As the hospitality industry begins to realize the benefits of digital signage as a means to interact and engage with guests, promote hotel amenities, motivate staff and increase efficiencies, digital signage adoption is increasing within the industry. More hotels and conference venues are seeking to either upgrade their existing digital signage systems or implement more sophisticated solutions that accommodate their current and future needs and further enhance the guest experience. As digital signage evolves and becomes increasingly ‘clever’ it is important that IT managers within hotels are aware of all the elements that should be considered.
Immersive interactive exchange
The more guests engage with content is the more they connect with a hotel brand and therefore the more they spend. Interactive displays whether, touch-screens, interactive kiosks or mobile devices provide guests with a call-to-action that they can respond to at the same time. This allows hotels to generate sales from their digital signage and maximise ROI.
“Interactivity” is a rapidly emerging digital signage trend. Modern digital signage deployments are providing an experience that extends far beyond the traditional static presentation of content into one that supports an immersive interactive exchange between the viewer and the signage. But, what are the components of a successful interactive deployment?
Smart Thinking. Clever Signage.
Successful Interactive digital signage deployments are much more than hanging a display on a wall and piping content to it. A successful interactive solution embodies an entire eco-system that consists of software, hardware, content, services and connects via a network. IT Managers as well as the vendors and integrators they use, need to understand this eco-system and become familiar with the components involved and the companies that can deliver each component in a way that is synergistic and cohesive. These are as follows:
The Software
Content management software is the backbone of an interactive digital signage system. It not only manages the collection, presentation, scheduling and delivery of the digital content to the electronic displays, it is also responsible for defining and administering the level of user interactivity. The design and scheduling component of the content management software defines the rules by which content elements will interact with one another and the ways in which the viewer will interact with the content elements on the screen.
The software should be:
The Emergence of Mobility
Mobility is an emerging trend in interactive display solutions that is rapidly gaining popularity and should not be ignored. 59.3% of respondents that took part in a recent industry study said that interaction with mobile devices will impact digital signage the most over the next two years. In the same study 30.8% of the businesses that currently employ digital signage said they plan to add interactive displays to their current solutions in the next two years. It is therefore essential that any digital signage software platform that is considered must support the distribution of interactive content to a mobile device.
The Hardware
A key hardware component for any interactive digital signage system is the media player. Media players receive content from the content management software, store it and then prepare it for presentation to the electronic displays. When evaluating an interactive digital signage system it is important to consider media players that are not only powerful enough to drive and support a range of rich media across a multitude of environments but are also able to support a two-way interaction between the content and the viewer. Players should be fast, easy to deploy, networkable and equipped to support remote administration. They should be capable of playing dynamic content, storing content locally in order to reduce network traffic and equipped to only pull down content elements that have changed verses pulling the entire inventories of content following a change.
The Content
No interactive digital signage system is complete without content. Content is the petrol that drives the digital signage engine. A viable content management system must be able to interface with a wide range of content sources, including live data feeds, so that the viewers are presented with compelling, relevant and timely information. Examples of live data sources include meeting/event information, business performance metrics and general information items (e.g. news, sports, weather, etc). In addition to live data, an interactive digital signage solution should present content that also includes text, graphics, photos, videos and animations. It should be noted however that there is fundamentally no difference between content of a static implementation and the content of an interactive implementation. Interactivity simply defines the method and timing by which content is presented as a user engages with the signage. These rules are defined within the content design portion of the content management software.
The Network
A modern interactive digital signage solution is networked. This means that content is delivered on a real-time basis from the content management software to the media players via a data network. A networked interactive digital signage system allows content to be centrally managed, scheduled, delivered and monitored – all from a remote location. It should be noted though, that some digital signage systems run “behind” the customer’s network firewall and some run outside of the customer’s network firewall. The more secure digital signage systems run behind the customer’s firewall, but these systems must be designed to be network and bandwidth friendly. This means that the software should minimise the use of the network by employing sophisticated bandwidth and content delivery techniques.
The Services
A typical digital signage solution requires that an IT manager either has themselves or works with a vendor or integrator that has both a detailed understanding of the core technology and has access to the skills to deploy a solution. These skills include the competencies required to design a solution, install the solution, develop the content, integrate the data sources (e.g. ERP systems, Inventory Systems, POS systems, information feeds, etc.) and provide on-going technical/help desk support. A modern, interactive digital signage system increases the complexity of a typical digital signage deployment and adds a layer of difficulty to the support thereof. The design of an interactive solution is more difficult because one must consider the mechanics of the user interaction as opposed to limiting the design parameters to just the aesthetic of the solution. The deployment is more complicated in that content interactions increase the time and skills required to design and develop the content. Deployment is also more complicated as debugging display and user interface issues can be more arduous.
Final Thoughts
In summary, a modern, interactive digital signage solution requires a thorough knowledge of leading edge content management software as well as a deep understanding of state-of-the-art media-handling hardware. It also requires a broad portfolio of skills to effectively scope, deploy and support the solution. If hoteliers desire to capitalise on this new digital signage opportunity the answer is to use a digital signage vendor that has a proven record of experience in each of these areas. Some, but not all, digital signage providers and visual solutions companies are equipped to provide these support services and skills. If a hotel chooses to take advantage of interactive digital then it would be to their advantage to seek out an experienced visual communications company with which to team.
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