The replacement of your digital signage system is a major project. Especially if you have a large fleet of screens (there are then hundreds). But with the right partner, this task is easier than you think. We offer you here some tips for a smooth and uninterrupted transition.
How to know if you need to replace your digital signage content management system (CMS)
Digital signage is a technology that is constantly innovating and evolving. Regularly ensure that all of your hardware and software are not obsolete, or you may miss out on the latest market trends. Also, are you asking yourself if your current solution meets your goals and the expectations of your customers? A modern and up-to-date digital signage solution should support interactive signage, for example. Above all, it must offer you great flexibility and granularity in the programming and contextualization of your content, for communication on screens that are always impacting.
Here are 3 first criteria that will help you assess the status of your current solution
Seniority : The standard life cycle for most digital signage hardware is three to five years, but media players can become obsolete more quickly. If your player is obsolete or no longer meets the new standards of your business, you will need to acquire a new one. Indeed, even if it still works, an aging player may not be able to handle the new requirements. The type of content you're developing today will be more memory-intensive than it was two years ago. Unless your player has received regular updates and patches from your provider, using it could be slow and frustrating.
Maintenance costs : AXA France has deployed screens in 30 establishments for internal communication, in order to keep its 13,000 employees informed of stock market prices and company news. As part of a modernization, the company decided to rent multimedia players from its new CMS provider (Cenareo) instead of buying them. With an aging fleet, the company decided to take advantage of the modernization of its fleet to switch to another business model with its solution provider. Previously the owner of the players, AXA France has chosen a subscription system All Inclusive with availability of the player. The equipment is made available to Axa and the supplier still owns it: in the event of a faulty player, Axa does not need to buy it back, but a new one is provided. It is a guarantee against unexpected additional costs. A subscription-based model eliminates the problem of broken or obsolete players and allows better control of the budget from one year to the next.
.avif)
Accessibility: Even if your media player is working perfectly, its features may no longer be enough for your team. For example, it may not offer significant fleet management capabilities or you may not be able to publish content. If the integrator you worked with for your installation has the digital signage CMS and you do not have access to the platform, you are dependent on it. You are then compartmentalized by a more time-consuming system.
If your CMS isn't easy to use, your team will spend too much time managing content. If your system doesn't allow you to add regional or local content, all of the workload falls on a centralized team, and your content is less appealing to local audiences.
➡️ A simple and intuitive digital signage solution will be more easily adopted by your users. To increase the impact of your communication on screens, managing screens by groups and by user rights allows you to offer your audience “Glocal” communication that is always relevant and up to date.
How can I simplify the installation of a new digital signage solution?
Replacing a digital signage system can be more stressful than installing a new one because of the risk of interruption. As Loïck Zoccola from Axa France explains:
“LReplacing a fleet of screens, with daily communication campaigns currently being broadcast, is much more complicated than an installation that would start from scratch. ”.
To reduce the risk of business interruption, Choose a partner who will help you ensure a smooth transition. Here are three things to discuss with suppliers before choosing a new partner to replace your fleet:
📶 Compatibility
Make sure your new CMS can handle all the types of content and formats that you normally use. For example, .mp4, .m4v, .flv, .swf, and.avi for video files. Verify that it can connect with any third-party solutions you use or want to use, for example your CRM.
When the group ETAM replaced its digital signage CMS, the screen format played a key role. Each of the group's stores is equipped with screens of various sizes. This involves communication campaigns and content designed to adapt to each screen format, i.e. 20 configurations in all. To ensure that no store was interrupted, the new system had to be able to achieve this result within the first hour of use.
.avif)
Also, find out about the possibility of using players integrated into the screens, i.e. System-On-Chip (SOC) technology. If your CMS provider partners with all major screen manufacturers, its players will be compatible. No need to use a separate player.
💻 Ease of use
User training is the key to successful integration, and the intuitiveness of the product accelerates and simplifies training. Especially when the project is complex. For example, when users work on numerous sites in different countries, or when many people are involved in content management.
This is the case of the ETAM group, which has stores in 55 countries. Isabelle Roue, ETAM Retail Marketing Manager, explains her priorities:
” The solution proposed by Cenareo meets both our needs for easy and fast deployment in many countries and to the needs of the field, that is to say to have an easy to use solution to broadcast content to all screens in the park.”
For AXA France, the initial premise was the same: the interface had to be usable in all regions without specific training.
⚙️ Support and responsiveness
The level of support you need during installation depends on what you are replacing. If you are simply replacing your multimedia players and your CMS, the installation is simple. Depending on the size of your IT or facilities team, you may be able to do this yourself.
Look for a provider that provides fast, ongoing support to ensure all issues are resolved quickly, and that offers automatic updates and fixes to your players to avoid interruptions. With proactive support and remote maintenance that alerts you to the slightest malfunction, you can be sure to reduce your maintenance time and costs and thus increase the productivity of your teams.
Businesses and companies with a large screen park trust Cenareo for their digital signage, because our system is easy to use, simple and agile. Whether you install 20 players or a thousand, the operation is a real breeze. The players are pre-configured and, once connected to the mains, they give you complete remote access to the screens after 10 minutes. Contact us to tell us about your project!
Cenareo offers an intuitive, scalable Saas solution that is perfectly adapted to the needs of communication professionals in all sectors of activity: Points of sale, Internal communication, Hotels and restaurants but also DOOH.
All the news about digital signage and video
