Animated Abacus

If you thought Las Vegas couldn’t jam more blinking lights into its city limits, the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) has news for you – Vegas can and did.

In arguably its biggest show ever, CES allowed consumers and companies alike to see what the future holds in the consumer technology marketplace. From Ultra-flat panel 3D TVs to Justin Beiber, CES delivered the goods.

MediaTile was prominently featured in both the Verizon Wireless and Alcatel Lucent booths in the form of The GameTime Media Table. After winning the 2012 DIGI Award for "Best New Content Management Software/Web-based”, absent was “The HumanKiosk” featuring Video Presence. But born from the same value propositions of being cellular connected and cloud controlled, The GameTime Media Table delivered the rich on screen content and unique experiences over 4G LTE that drew visitors to both booths consistently over three days. This is super-powered cellular digital signage. 

The GameTime Media Table showcases multiple interactive features including the ability to upload and display pictures instantly from your smart phone, play music, watch movie previews and the coup de grace: playing video games (single or multi player) where smart phones act the controllers. So if you are thinking to yourself, ‘MediaCast can deliver media like movie/music files, streaming videos, live intelligently routed video calls, interactive gaming and everything in between!’ your thinking would be spot on. Verizon’s network and Brass Monkey’s video games deliver the blows, but it’s the MediaCast muscle that ensures maximum impact (also in attendance at CES was UFC Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, hence the metaphor). Gaming on digital signage... and then some!

It was great to be part of CES and MediaTile is honored to partner with industry leaders like Verizon Wireless and Alcatel Lucent to launch solutions that will steer the industry and delight users for years to come…or at least until CES 2013.

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To borrow a term from one of our premier partners, commercially 4G means "lightning fast speed" but that is obviously geared more toward cell phone services. 4G in the world of digital signage means something exponentially different. To the digital signage customer, 4G means no longer sacrificing content or interactive features in an effort to reduce cost and complexities of screen installation. 

What 4G allows MediaTile's digital signage solution set to deliver is more dynamic content thanks to the increased bandwidth 4G provides. Specifically, MediaCast can now deliver live, 2-way video communication on screen or "Video Presence". When Video Presence is utilized, our 4G digital signage solution set becomes "The HumanKiosk" (at this point I like to image a mild mannered digital signage screen entering an old-time phone and changing into the HK. You know, like Superman).  The HumanKiosk provides all the benefits of traditional digital signage to attract, engage, and immerse users in relevant digital information but now adds experts, live on-demand.

Beyond delivering Video Presence, the benefit of 4G for digital signage is the ability to start answering the questions "what if?" and "why not?" Because 4G can deliver data only traditionally provided by a CAT5 line, many customers (with guidance from vendor experts like MediaTile's MediaServices Team) are discovering integration points to help increase both hard dollar and soft dollar return on their digital signage investment. 

4G is changing the digital signage marketplace and I look forward to seeing how 5G only raises the stakes. 

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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #31: Roles & permissions

Roles and permission sounds so formal, almost militaristic. I prefer the term "team." There is nothing better when many within an organization take an active role in a digital signage network because there is so much to gain. Whether it's the folks in sales or the HR group, a digital signage network can provide them all with a unique sounding board for their respective messages. 

MediaCast makes itself available via a secure web portal and can be reached on most internet connected devices. Don't be worried, MediaCast still requires a username and password to make sure your content is secure. MediaCast lets your create users, assign permissions, set up alerts even customize what your content management portal looks like. You can easily establish access rights for each active network participant at a very granular level. You can also create "Roles" for users with more common functions. "Clients" can be setup as well to manage particular content elements, schedules, and playlist. This will give you control over specific media-based assets to those on your internal network team or external users who may contribute more complex content (think agencies). 

Roles and permissions invites all those you want to participate in and keeps those you don't want on your network out. 

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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #29: ROI

What is ROI? Commonly it refers to "Return on Investment" and, even with digital signage, there are online calculators which can help you formulate how long it may take for your network to pay for itself. Generally the easiest model is the one applied to the retail vertical in that the increase in product sales where signs are located is subtracted from your hard dollar investment. The resulting number tells you if your investment in digital signage was worth it or not.

What is harder to measure is the less common ROI or "Return on Involvement." This type of ROI refers to the impact of your content on your audience and how easily they can recall that information and complete your "call to action." For the more sophisticated interactive content experience, it's not only about how easily the information can be recalled but also if the user's experience was a delightful one. The more unique and positive the experience, the more likely your audience is to recall your brand; therefore, regardless of where they maybe in the buying cycle (to continue with our retail example) when it comes time to finally make a purchase they will be more likely remember the great digital signage experience they had with your brand's network.

Part of MediaTile's offering via our MediaServices group is to help you define the measure of success for your digital signage network. Whether it's traditional hard-dollar Return on Investment or soft-dollar Return of Involvement, our consultative approve ensures you will be able to define success and measure in the present and well into the future.

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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #28: Project management

When you are ready to kick-off your digital signage project, the management of said project can feel like a whole other job on to itself. MediaTile offers to manage your entire project from start to finish through our MediaServices team. We will work with your primary internal digital signage advocate starting with the kick-off meeting, then concept creation, establishing timelines, approvals, testing, roll out, and reporting. In the case you want to keep the project in house, here are a few suggestions to help your engagement go as smoothly as possible:

• Dedicate a project leader to oversee the processes and make sure it is moving.
• Come up with clearly defined goals for your digital signage network.
• Have a single provider contact so any questions or issues that may arise only require a single call.
• Come up with content designs and templates that maintain a consistent tone with your existing brand messaging (whether your audience is internal or external)
• Have a list of all the hardware and software components you'll need to deliver an individual installation point.
• Schedule your team's training and testing well in advance and encourage "playing" with the content management solution.
• Once your project goes live, make sure either the project leader or some other vital team member is checking on the network daily to ensure success and gather usage data.

If you have any questions about a new project or management of existing one, MediaTile has the experts to consult or inherit the engagement and increase the likelihood of another digital signage project in your future.


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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #27: Screen placement

42" digital signage screens, check.

Awesome, eye-catching content, check.

Training, check.

Now please make sure you put your screen where your audience can see it! I know..."the CAT 5 line only reaches so far" or "if I put it here, my WiFi network can't reach it and provide connectivity." Poppycock, MediaTile boasts the benefits of a cellular connection per media player and that means all you need is power. Your audience moves, the floor plan changes, you need to send a digital signage panel to an event - just provide power and your MediaCast supported screen will deliver the right digital message, to the right people, at the right time. 

Screen placement can also be effected by what type of content you put on your screens. If your content is more aligned with traditional digital signage - rotating Jpegs or repeating MPegs videos - then keeping your screen higher than eye-level is fine. However, if you have or may start to use touch screen interactive content, then you screen needs to come down on the wall so your audience can easily touch to navigate appropriately. 

Lastly, if you can't decide, then ask. Onsite visits are the norm in digital signage industry. Whomever your provider is they should be able to advise you on where to place your screens to maximize impact and ROI.

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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #26: Content best practices

Whether it's your first digital signage network or you're a seasoned vet, there are always three basic principles to follow when creating content for your digital signage network.

1. Simplicity - choose your words wisely and think of single words as the "headline" versus using full sentences. The last thing you want is to make your digital signage screen look like a wordy power point slide, so don't use too many text heavy messages in one segment of your screen.
2. Repetition - You know the audience you are targeting your communications to, so it's imperative you also know how long they will be at particular screen locations and thus how long your message should be on screen. Point of Sale content usually changes in intervals of 10-12 seconds as the audience is usually on the move. Conversely, Point of Wait content can be on screen longer as the audience's dwell time increases
3. Call to Action - Lastly, make sure your audience understands the point of why you are communicating with them and what they should do next. Be clear on the "next step" and have appropriate deadline messaging in place. Interactive content - such as touch screen and quick response codes - can make this process much easier as it empowers your audience to take control of the "call to action" (touch screen) or have a literal walk away with a QR code.

Remember that your content is meant to evolve over time because fresh content demands audience attention. MediaTile offers an experienced team to help answer your content questions or even help create your initial content to help you get started.


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“I want to show videos on my digital signage network”. Very commonly said and seemingly a simple request. But like peeling away zombie skin, there are many subtle levels.

In many cases, the request to put a video on screen refers to streaming a television channel. It can be done but it is really necessary? Obviously streaming video from an unknown source limits your control over what appears on your network and more often than not, you probably have more than enough videos in your YouTube account. With MediaCast, simply upload your mpeg video, put those mpegs in the desired order you wish to have them play (or “create a playlist”), drag and drop your playlist on to the preview, and approve. Don’t look now, but you’re broadcasting your own network.

Ok, not enough? Still want to stream videos? MediaCast can deliver this as well (assuming it’s a source that allows you to do that).  With MediaTile’s premium media player, you can even get as sophisticated as delivering videos on demand using a touch screen.

And the top the mountain...live video calls on screen. MediaCast can also feature MediaTile’s Video Presence technology. Video Presence enables your screen viewer to generate an intelligently routed video call that connects to a remote video operator who is determined by what the screen viewer is looking at.  

MediaTile’s solution set boasts all the benefits of digital signage, as well as the ability to add the human element, live on screen.

In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #18: Training

No Halloween monster parallel required here – training on how to use your digital signage screens can be flat out scary. Never mind what the majority of providers require from an installation standpoint– on site servers, hard line connectivity – their content management solutions can be like learning a new programming language. Should you want to use a jpeg already created, you will probably have to contact your IT representative and have them re-create this asset using your provider’s complex content management system.

MediaTile’s cellular connected, SaaS-based content management system – “MediaCast” – eliminates many of the costs and complexities of initial installation. Additionally, MediaCast allows you to simply upload common media assets (mpegs, jpegs, etc), easily create a playlist, and schedule this content to play in a matter of minutes. There is no need to learn a new “programming language” and no need to bother your IT counterparts with pushing content to your digital signage network. MediaCast is so intuitive that training only takes a few hours and can be done remotely, versus spending a few days at an offsite location, which is required by other digital signage providers.

Don’t believe me? Contact MediaTile today and we’ll be happy to demonstrate MediaCast to you directly, live on the web at your convenience.

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In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.

Reason #17: Touch screens

It would be difficult to shake the hand of the invisible man. He could be standing right in front of you, telling you where his hand is and you know he is telling the truth because, in this scenario, you trust him. Similarly, measuring the use and effectiveness of traditional, visual digital signage content can be difficult.

You know you have a captive audience that sees your message but the questions remains, what are they actually paying attention to? Using touch-enabled screens, however, would allow you put a “glove on the invisible man’s hand” and track what content your viewers are looking at the most. MediaTile offers touch-enabled screens that can collect data related to user experience.

Once a user is attracted to the screen, a simple call to action to touch the screen will then send them on an experiential path where they can command what information they view and when. MediaCast’s reporting features can show you what topics your users are requesting (“touching”) the most, or maybe more importantly, what topics they are not requesting.

Based upon this information you can adjust what is displayed on your screens while providing information on demand to your viewers. Touch screen digital signage makes tracking the success of your content much easier and provides your users a unique experience that they are more likely to recall, while also demonstrating your respect for the value of their time.

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Reason #13 and 14: Content Management and expansion

Keeping your digital signage content unique and fresh can seem like a daunting task. Many digital signage content management solutions almost require you to learn a new language to update what’s on your screens.

Don’t our friends in IT have enough on their plates?! They don’t need to handle all your content change requests too. MediaCast allows administrators to upload existing media assets and quickly schedule them to play down to the screen or even the zone.There are some basic guidelines that will help steer content management and expansion:

-       Purpose: Know what you want your message to be and what the objective of your digital signage network is. Examples may be to enhance the consumer experience while entertaining or maybe to educate the viewers on human resource announcements. It is important to have a clear understanding of what your digital signage network is aimed to do to ensure your created content can achieve those goals.

-       Know your viewers: For content to be effective, it needs to be created for a specific targeted demographic. The audience and location of the screens will dictate what content you display.

-       Interaction: Once your targeted demographic of viewers notice your digital signage screens, they need to be engaged and interact with the content. A content strategy identifies design tone, messaging, playlists, and length which intern drives use. Viewers that are attracted, engaged and immersed in content will be more likely to recall the information.

-       Call to action:  Now that your content has attracted, engaged and immersed your viewers that last step is a call to action. An effective digital message will not leave a viewer with any doubt as to what comes next. Content should communicate how they should respond or act next.

These basic guidelines will be a good springboard to help you initially create your content and direct you in its on going evolution.  The MediaCast content management system has the flexibility to allow you use existing content, create new on screen assets, and modify what type of media resource your can use from any remote location. Content can be new, recycled, or have new features/functions added at your convenience. It’s up to you to piece together your digital signage “Frankenstein” and when it’s done right, none of the towns people will be tempted to light it on fire or plunge a pitchfork in to it.

In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.  

Reasons #8 & #9: Cost AND Complexity of Installation

When you start thinking about digital signage - more specifically, putting your own digital signage network out in the world - what are the first few elements you think of?

How big will the screens be? What content will be shown? How will you manage all the screens?

As your engagement process moves forward and experts help steer your vision, one topic is rarely discussed proactively – how much will it cost to install your digital signage screens? The answer to the cost of installation question is often times the equivalent of costs related to purchasing hardware, software, and content development combined.  Whaaa?

SOP for traditional signage installation consists of the following:

1. A third party installation vendor conducts a site visit to determine how connectivity will be established, where and what it will take to mount the screens ($$)
2. Your screens are shipped to the third party installation vendor ($)
3. The third party installation vendor in-field tech reps take your screens to predetermined locations, and at an hourly cost, integrate with or install any required onsite servers, provide connectivity, mount the screens,  and test to ensure content is reaching the screens ($$$$)

 MediaTile’s cellular connected, cloud controlled digital signage solution set eliminates many of costs and complexities associated with traditional digital signage network installations. MediaTile partners with the world leaders in cellular provided services and each of our screens has a dedicated point of connection to these cellular networks. This means our clients don’t have to worry about pulling wires to a certain screen location, integrating with existing secure networks and dealing with firewalls, or setting up a new robust Wi-Fi network as the connectivity to MediaTile’s platform is "outsourced" to the cellular networks.

MediaCast, MediaTile’s content management system, boasts all the benefits of a SSL encrypted cloud-based, SaaS web portal. Content can be created and securely scheduled to play from an Internet connected device and pushed out to one, many, or all of the digital screens on your entire network remotely. No onsite or near-location personnel required.

Costs related to installation are like the other escaped mental patients from the famous Halloween horror films. While everyone is focused on Michael Meyers, the other nuts are causing havoc but aren’t rounded up until later.  Sure, they aren’t wearing hockey masks but eliminating them from the situation would certainly reduce a lot of tension just the same.

In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them. 

Reason #5:  Scalability

Everyone wants a project to be successful, digital signage or otherwise, but spreading that success and finding the resources to manage it can be a scary proposition for even the most seasoned digital signage professional.

The cost and complexities associated with scaling a digital signage network can sometimes exceed the budget and manpower available. This is why leveraging a SaaS (Software as a Service) based content management solution is extremely important. Our SaaS-based digital signage software (“MediaCast”) allows for complete visibility of your entire network, as well as centralized control from any internet connected device. And with our solution, you can have as many users on the system as you want (no seats or licenses). 

With MediaCast, you can create and control groups of screens in a network, or control can be as granular as changing content on a specific area of a specific screen. You don’t have to rely on live bodies on site to manage content. It is SSL encrypted so you can relax as all of your communications are secure. 

Leveraging Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity is another component that leads to ease of scalability. MediaTile’s digital signage screens only require a standard power outlet to be deployed. Once powered up, MediaTile’s units connect over the wireless network, pull content from the cloud, and your digital signage network is up and running. And you don't have to start with your entire network in place. Ramp up your network based on business need or budget. 

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MediaTile will formally announce the commercial launch of its cloud-based MediaCast Video Presence system, and a new generation of HumanKiosk interactive digital signage displays from certified partners, later this week.

The traditional B2C model is being transformed to B2Me, or tailored individualized communications so users who interact with the HumanKiosk touchscreen interface are directing and selecting what they want to talk about, even to the point of choosing the language in which they want to interact — and all of that metadata is taken in and used to match them with the right brand advocate when they opt to speak to someone live. 

The HuamnKiosks can combine MediaTile's software with third-party hardware provider partners and third-party brand advocates and/or call-center personnel partners.

Watch the video and tell us how you see this new interactive digital signage can be used. 

It's a common held belief that Europe tends to adopt digital technologies more quickly than the US in multiple verticals (maybe due to a lack continental real estate). I found an interesting article about bank reform and customer service in the UK and what aspects banks need to focus on:

1. Speaking the customer's language
   
2. Integrated customer service
   
3. Listen to your customers
   
4. Invest in customer service
   
5. Think differently
   

I'll leave it up to you to read the details of these five points in the article, but it leaves me wondering what will these banks in the UK and across Europe do to meet these glaring needs and how quickly will the US parallel these efforts assuming digital signage platforms are, again, used as the problem-solvers? Let's see how these five points could play out.

With all due respect, it maybe the US that leads and Europe who follows, in part to MediaTile's Video Presence technology. Video Presence on the "HumanKiosk" would virtually put specialized banking experts in every branch and thanks to its ability to intelligently rout the video calls generated from the digital signage screens, customers could speak directly to these experts reducing confusion (speaking the customer's language) while choosing which banking experts to speak with (integrated customer service).

The Video Presence experience would allow banks to get unfiltered feedback from their customers (listen to your customers) without having to integrate social media platforms to do so...but they could if they wanted.

Five digital signage screens powered by MediaCast Video Presence could be support by only one remote banking expert, thus giving the bank brand five times the customer interaction at 1/5th the cost of traditional staffing (invest in customer service). Lastly, the HumanKiosk is the only solution set in the world able to provide this effective, delightful experience while simultaneously delivering all the benefits of traditional digital signage (think differently). 

If the HumanKiosk is the answer, our European friends in banking and finance will have to come across the pond to find it. Or contact Nick Powley, whichever is easiest. 

For any retail brand that struggles to maximize their sales reach due to a limited store footprint or for an organization that wishes their outstanding customer service team could be literally face-to-face with customers instead of being distanced by a telephone, the HumanKiosk™, powered by
MediaCast^® Video Presence, is a 4G enabled interactive digital signage solution that revolutionizes user engagement and brand-to-consumer relationships. 

The HumanKiosk delivers a live, 2-way video session between a consumer and a remote expert agent over a cellular-connected, cloud-controlled touch screen digital signage system that can also run pre-scheduled interactive digital promotions to attract users. Now you can add a human element and experts on demand where and when it matters most taking customer engagement to a higher level.

The technology solves problems that traditionally required placing trained personnel in store. For customers, it allows them to pose questions directly to the product expert and have their questions answered immediately and correctly. 

For brands and other authorities, their benefit is three fold:

1. It puts them in direct contact with the buyer, eliminating inaccuracies in information transfer, and helps build brand trust.
2. It keeps retail sales associates continually up to date on products and services.
3. It gives brands the flexibility, and lower cost benefits, of not having to staff every store location with a highly trained product expert.

The HumanKiosk boasts all the benefits of MediaTile’s award wining digital signage solutions which can be deployed anywhere and only require power, but Video Presence now can intelligently route customer’s video calls based on the information entered on the touchscreen end-point and ensure the video experts who answers video call is the most qualified based upon predetermined qualifications set by the retail brand.

With HumanKiosk, brands in retail experience the following business value and advantages:

•  A new level of customer engagement while delivering product and service expertise across more locations, faster
• 5x market reach at 1/5 the cost of traditional staffing
• Direct face-to-face conversations with highly qualified experts, based on on-screen selection criteria such as product selection or language choice
• On-demand experts can now act as human middleware to facilitate complex business transactions or support, eliminating expensive systems integration
• Integrate with text-based and QR-code marketing activities and programs to extend the brand to consumer relationship beyond the initial interaction
• Unique and delightful experience generating extensive customer recall making them more likely to buy and more brand loyal

The HumanKiosk delivers the only intelligently routed video call functionality on a digital signage platform in the world. It is this ground breaking technology that allows brands to meet and exceed what their customer’s expect – accurate information on demand and respect for the value of the their time.

You have clients interested in digital signage but they may not be sure how to apply this technology to maximize their return on their investment. Please invite them to our webinar on Thursday April 14 at 2pm Eastern and hear first hand from Lynn Riggins, a MediaTile customer and recent speaker at the Digital Signage Expo on the Best Practices in Corporate Communication, on how her organization - The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission - has successfully leveraged our digital signage solutions for employee communications and improved efficiencies.

This is a great opportunity to either introduce your clients to the digital signage technology platform, MediaTile, or just to further educate them on the benefits of cloud-controlled digital signage.  There are limited seats available for this webinar so it is meant to be for your clients only, please refrain from signing up yourself. MediaTile ensures that any and all information shared will remain strictly confidential.

This week the West region of Verizon Wireless held their 4G LTE kickoff event in Denver and while guest speaker Mark Schlereth was a big attraction (both literally and figuratively), the speed of Verizon's 4G LTE network was front and center. It's this same speed, coupled with increased bandwidth, which allowed MediaTile to develop and deliver our Human Kiosk featuring video presence.

Speed is the key ingredient insuring there is limited lag in the peer-to-peer video exchange taking place on the MediaTile unit. Speed also gets that video call answered by the right advocate operator, speaking the right language, anywhere is the world.

MediaTile's HumanKiosk isn't like a "Skype-type" of application where two parties agree to a virtual meeting; there is an actual video call placed and when one operator is not available, that call moves to the next qualified operator until one is reached. Obviously this has to be done quickly because no one will wait too long and because 4G LTE is so fast, video operators can be found, connected, and speaking to callers in no time. All with digital signage. 

The Denver event showcased a few different vertical examples - hospitality and utilities – but those who attended quickly understood how a solution like the HumanKiosk could be used for crisis communication, dynamic advertising, retail customer service, and more. 

The future is 'fast' approaching...don't forget to tip your waitress.

Diversified Media Group (DMG) is a network and systems engineering company, responsible for the management of day-to-day planning, engineering, installation, content development and routine maintenance across a wide span of business sectors.  DMG is also the sister company of Diversified Systems, one of the US’ largest A/V integrators, with multiple offices from New Jersey to Seattle).