With the ongoing development of digital signage both from a software and hardware perspective, it has become increasingly difficult for consumers to determine which company and it’s solution would be best for their business. From our standpoint we openly recognize that “we are a lot of things to a lot of people, however, we are not everything to everyone.” 
Put another way, our platform doesn’t meet the needs of every business. The reasons as to why vary; budget, capabilities, more than what they are looking for, etc. We get calls every day with people who simply saw digital signage somewhere (i.e. McDonald’s as part of their nationwide roll-out) and think it looks cool… which it does. There sometimes seems to be a disconnect between what they are looking at and what it takes to develop that content, manage that content, and schedule that content. This is what tends to overwhelm customers. In most cases, it is more than just a nifty design plopped on a screen that plays on a continuous loop. There is a lot going on “under the hood” which drives the system.
So where to begin? How do people know if they’re getting something that will work for them? We’ve compiled a list of questions that should help them navigate the ever-deepening seas of digital suitors. This list certainly isn’t the be all and end all but it will serve as more than a good start.
Company background
- What vertical do you consider to be your area of greatest expertise?
- How many releases have you had of your software?
- Is your primary focus in the food service industry? How long?
- Were you a hardware first company or software first?
- Who developed your software? When?
Design and Maintenance
- What do you do for content development?
- Extent? Number of transitions per screen?
- Do I own the design files after they have been developed?
- How much do you charge for menu, price and promotional updates/changes?
- Turnaround?
- What is your design consultation protocol? Approval process?
- Can my content be templated so I can change it?
- Can I upload my own pictures and videos into your system?
- What happens when I want to redesign all of my screens?
- Cost associated?
- What happens when I want to change more than just items and pricing?
- Can you walk me through how to do that?
- What do I do if the text or pictures that I want to bring in exceed or fail to fit within the given fields?
- If time elapses and I have forgotten how to make changes, is there a cost to re-train me?
- Do I have to pay for new releases of the software?
Support
- What do you provide in terms of ongoing support?
- What do you provide in terms of basic training of the software? Cost associated?
- What do you do for installation support? Cost associated?
- Do you configure my media player? Cost associated?
- How do you handle remote support? Cost associated?
- What is your daily support hours and response time?
Administrative:
- What are the scheduling capabilities for my content?
- Can different workgroups be set up or administrator roles be assigned?
- Can your software accommodate video, applied transitions, and various file formats?
- Which file formats?
- How many separate sets of content can one Player Computer support? Can sets of content be split into subsequent screens?
- Can sub-sections/frames of the LCDs be independently scheduled?
- How much storage is there on the media player?
- Can I control multiple locations?
- Can the software pull in RSS feed?
Access:
- How do I access my design files?
- What operating system(s) is the software compatible with?
- Is the system hardwired or wireless? If wireless, what happens when the Internet cuts out?
As stated earlier there are many other questions that can be asked specifically about the hardware and software. For instance, are both touchscreen capable? What does it take to go from what I am doing inside and apply it to outdoors? Don’t be afraid to ask what you might think to be a silly question, there are none!
If you have any other questions for us, fire away ~ 888-235-2579
