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.
-- By David Trounstine --
So, my wife and I just picked up new phones this week. We decided on the Sprint EVO 4G, and to be honest I find it hard to call a phone. The next wave of personal computing is definitely in the palm of our hands, and the potential to engage customers where the work and play is almost limitless.
As the network providers build out 4G services across the country, content developers must begin to think of how we can gobble up all of that bandwidth. Dynamic advertising, 4G applications, video streams, and 2-way interactions are all great targets, but deep interactions and linkages to this new wave of hand-held mobile computers is going to be key.
Digital Signage is going to play a big role in driving traffic to the 4G network. While we will continue to provide compelling advertising that is contextually based and personally relevant, we also will begin driving interactions where it is too costly or inconvenient to put a human. We can be new touch points for a brand, virtual marketers who direct customers to new promotions and opportunities, or off-site customer service representatives who can be contacted in an instant.
In the near future people will be walking around with more computing power and bandwidth on their mobile phones than existed on a desktop 5 years ago. As my good friend put it "everyone gets a tricorder!". Thanks Evan, I can't wait until I can detect a deposit of dilithium crystal to power my warp drive.
So, my wife and I just picked up new phones this week. We decided on the Sprint EVO 4G, and to be honest I find it hard to call a phone. The next wave of personal computing is definitely in the palm of our hands, and the potential to engage customers where the work and play is almost limitless.
As the network providers build out 4G services across the country, content developers must begin to think of how we can gobble up all of that bandwidth. Dynamic advertising, 4G applications, video streams, and 2-way interactions are all great targets, but deep interactions and linkages to this new wave of hand-held mobile computers is going to be key.Digital Signage is going to play a big role in driving traffic to the 4G network. While we will continue to provide compelling advertising that is contextually based and personally relevant, we also will begin driving interactions where it is too costly or inconvenient to put a human. We can be new touch points for a brand, virtual marketers who direct customers to new promotions and opportunities, or off-site customer service representatives who can be contacted in an instant.
In the near future people will be walking around with more computing power and bandwidth on their mobile phones than existed on a desktop 5 years ago. As my good friend put it "everyone gets a tricorder!". Thanks Evan, I can't wait until I can detect a deposit of dilithium crystal to power my warp drive.
Not much to be honest, except that they will all be at this year's Digital Non-Conference in Cincinnati at the end of September.
The announcement just came out this morning that the Founder of Pandora, Tim Westergreen, will be speaking at the event, along with America Ferrera from Ugly Betty. To be honest, I'm not sure what Ugly Betty has to do with it all but I'm confident we'll find out.
I attended last year's event and came away super impressed. Breakout sessions where held throughout downtown Cincinnati and "forced" attendees despite the rain to get out and explore the city. I had the fortunate experience of getting to meet John Battelle, one of the co-founders of Wired, and sit with him at his table before his keynote presentation.
One of the breakouts I attended last year focused on digital signage, which was great to have but I was a bit disappointed in the direction it went. That's why I'm pleased this year to be one of the panelists. The session is being led by Tim Burke (Electronic Art) and I will be joined by Bill Collins (Decision Point Media) and Christopher Hall (Digital Signage Today).
Last year's discussion centered around digital signage as a dynamic advertising tool, which it most definitely is. But there is so much more that the technology can do and I hope the panel heads in that direction with the conversation and presentations. I'll make sure we bring up corporate communication networks.
During last year's panel, Bill made a comparison of digital signage networks to ice cream (hence the picture) that I completely disagreed with. So I plan on having some fun with that this year. Can anyone say PROPS?!
If you're interested in attending, you can register today. It's a great event and not very expensive at all.
___________________________
Photo by Neil Conway
The announcement just came out this morning that the Founder of Pandora, Tim Westergreen, will be speaking at the event, along with America Ferrera from Ugly Betty. To be honest, I'm not sure what Ugly Betty has to do with it all but I'm confident we'll find out.
I attended last year's event and came away super impressed. Breakout sessions where held throughout downtown Cincinnati and "forced" attendees despite the rain to get out and explore the city. I had the fortunate experience of getting to meet John Battelle, one of the co-founders of Wired, and sit with him at his table before his keynote presentation.
One of the breakouts I attended last year focused on digital signage, which was great to have but I was a bit disappointed in the direction it went. That's why I'm pleased this year to be one of the panelists. The session is being led by Tim Burke (Electronic Art) and I will be joined by Bill Collins (Decision Point Media) and Christopher Hall (Digital Signage Today). Last year's discussion centered around digital signage as a dynamic advertising tool, which it most definitely is. But there is so much more that the technology can do and I hope the panel heads in that direction with the conversation and presentations. I'll make sure we bring up corporate communication networks.
During last year's panel, Bill made a comparison of digital signage networks to ice cream (hence the picture) that I completely disagreed with. So I plan on having some fun with that this year. Can anyone say PROPS?!
If you're interested in attending, you can register today. It's a great event and not very expensive at all.
___________________________
Photo by Neil Conway
A large part of my week is spent keeping up with the Jones's...websites. Everything is constantly shifting in the world of web marketing, the rules (and search engine algorithms) change by the day. Because of this, exhaustive efforts are made to curry favor with the Great White Whale of the internet: Google.
Google is frighteningly intelligent.
Have you ever noticed how Google appears to anticipate what you are REALLY looking for? You might enter the phrase "used auto parts Toyota" in the search box and Google returns twenty listings for used Toyota parts...in your neighborhood.
That level of accuracy merely skims the surface of what Google can do; there are a whole host of tools Google provides webmasters of which the casual web user is unaware.
AdSense is one such tool. AdSense, in a nutshell, matches relevant ads to a site's content. Google already does this exceedingly well, but recently has announced what they call "improved contextual targeting." You'll find yourself on a website, say, planning a ski trip to snowy Lake Tahoe, and what will appear next to the lodging options but a cozy ad for L.L. Bean. Coincidence? Obviously not, but what you may not realize is that that ad was served up to you from a pool of ads, dynamically.
We coach our digital signage operators to take a similar approach with respect to management of their networks. It's insufficient merely to create compelling visuals for digital displays. These days, contextual targeting is everything. Know your audience, understand their habits, anticipate their needs and deliver your messages at the right place, at the right time.
One advantage digital signage advertisers have over internet advertisers is that the targeted consumer is already out of the house! (In fact, the industry term is "Digital Out of Home", or DOOH) It's much easier to sell paint to a person in a hardware store than it is to a person lounging on their couch with a laptop.
Context.
Google is frighteningly intelligent.
Have you ever noticed how Google appears to anticipate what you are REALLY looking for? You might enter the phrase "used auto parts Toyota" in the search box and Google returns twenty listings for used Toyota parts...in your neighborhood.
That level of accuracy merely skims the surface of what Google can do; there are a whole host of tools Google provides webmasters of which the casual web user is unaware.
AdSense is one such tool. AdSense, in a nutshell, matches relevant ads to a site's content. Google already does this exceedingly well, but recently has announced what they call "improved contextual targeting." You'll find yourself on a website, say, planning a ski trip to snowy Lake Tahoe, and what will appear next to the lodging options but a cozy ad for L.L. Bean. Coincidence? Obviously not, but what you may not realize is that that ad was served up to you from a pool of ads, dynamically.
We coach our digital signage operators to take a similar approach with respect to management of their networks. It's insufficient merely to create compelling visuals for digital displays. These days, contextual targeting is everything. Know your audience, understand their habits, anticipate their needs and deliver your messages at the right place, at the right time.
One advantage digital signage advertisers have over internet advertisers is that the targeted consumer is already out of the house! (In fact, the industry term is "Digital Out of Home", or DOOH) It's much easier to sell paint to a person in a hardware store than it is to a person lounging on their couch with a laptop.
Context.
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