Blogpost was published on August 20, 2021
Every company across the world needs some kind of signage to communicate information to their customers. Whether that’s a menu in a restaurant, a sale in a retail store, or meeting times in a corporate office, there is always signage involved in any business. Smart digital signage software adds more convenience and flexibility to help you manage your business more effectively.
Previously, signage would be designed, sent off to a printer (especially for large volumes or sizes), and then hung. This process with printed signage has to be repeated every time there is an update which in most industries, happens often.
Nowadays, digital signage has become popular for its ability to allow you to skip this process. With digital signage, you simply change what you need to and get it back up on the screen.
Smart digital signage has taken the digital signage world one step further to be more efficient for businesses of any size. Let’s take a look at the difference between digital signage and smart digital signage and how smart digital signage can help your business.
There are two general categories of digital signage - smart digital signage and standard digital signs.
Standard digital signs allow you to update and then re-upload that content to a screen, saving you from having to print anything. That already sounds like a better option than traditional print signage, but what makes smart digital signage smart?
Smart digital signage allows you additional benefits that make running your business as smooth as possible. One of the big differences is being able to update and manage your signs from anywhere, anytime through the use of wifi connectivity. We’ll take a deeper look at what smart digital signage can do for your company in a bit, but first, here’s how smart digital signage works.
The big question everyone wants to know is - How does smart digital signage, or digital signage in general, work? There are four main components to smart digital signage- Wifi, digital signage software, a screen, and a player. Each of these components works together to give smart signage its capability.
The primary difference between standard digital signage and smart digital signage is a wifi connection. Wifi allows devices to be connected across vast spaces by using radio frequencies. This means that two devices connected to Wifi can communicate with each other from two separate places in the world. In digital signage, this allows you to update content from one place while it shows up on your screen in another.
Digital signage software is the online host of your content. Some digital signage software, like Play Digital Signage, has a content editor built-in so that you can design your content in the software as well, eliminating the need for multiple software.
Your screens are where your content is displayed for your customers to see. Oftentimes, they can be of any size and can be as simple as a TV or more advanced like a large LED video wall.
The player is what connects the software to the screen. Sometimes the player can be built into the screen like in the case of a tablet being used as a digital signage screen.
So smart digital signage is great for business, but who actually uses it? Well, almost every industry you can think of uses smart signage or at least could.
Many businesses are transitioning to smart digital signage from either traditional print signage or standard digital signage.
Smart signage is already quite popular for billboards, restaurants, and advertising, however, we are seeing increasing rates in corporate, healthcare, real estate, transportation, and retail. This is because every industry is starting to see how beneficial smart digital signage can be.
Here are some of the things that set smart digital signage apart from other options.
Nowadays, in the fast-paced world, we are always looking to be in two places at once. With remote content management, we can be. You can be at home in California while you change the content on your digital screen in New York. Information is always changing no matter what industry you are in which makes remote content management very convenient. Being able to update as needed and from anywhere is vital to efficient workflows. Not to mention that it updates instantly so there is no waiting period when you’re ready to show off your new content.
Though wifi is a critical part of smart signage, with some smart digital signage software, like Play Digital Signage, you can work offline. So even if you don’t have wifi wherever you are, you can still use that time to create your content. Then you would be able to save it and upload it the next time you have wifi. This solves gaps in productivity because you can still be productive even offline.
Many of us work from home, travel, or have multiple business locations. The logistics of running a business can get even more complicated when everything is not all in one place. However, smart digital signage takes away the challenging logistics of signage and advertisement. Since you can easily change anything big or small on any of your signs from anywhere, it quite literally doesn’t matter where you are. You can still have complete control over your message without strain.
Remote content management, working offline, and ease of management from anywhere are the main benefits to smart signage; however, it provides so much more than just that.
Though some standard digital signs have a few of these other benefits, smart signage improves them.
The scheduling feature of smart digital signage can increase productivity by saving time. If you know you have to change your signage at certain times, but you have conflicts that would allow you to do that when you need to, the scheduling feature will come in handy.
Simply design the content and schedule it to publish when you are ready for it. This allows you to do work in batches and not have to do the work at the actual time it needs to go out. Since smart signage is connected to wifi, your content will automatically update on your screens at the given time you have scheduled.
A specific use case example of this is restaurants that serve multiple menus and need to change their digital menu board or a retail store that knows they will have sales at different times of the year. But of course, you can use it in any way that makes things easier for you in your business.
Check out our blog post about how to change content with the snap of a finger!
Know that your sign is up and running from everywhere with run-time information, analytics, and tech diagnostics. Again, since you can access it from anywhere anytime, your IT department or even you personally can check to make sure everything is up and running no matter the location.
As we have mentioned before, updates are quick with smart digital signage. This also means that you can have live updating feeds using plugins. Plugins are software integrations on digital signage that allow for customization. One of the most popular plugin options is social media platforms. With smart signage, these social media feeds can update in real-time showing your new posts, comments, and interactions. The live updating is also useful for weather and stock market plugins.
Since you can access it from anywhere, you could have signs all over the globe, no matter where you live. Use them for advertising for yourself or as advertising space. Connect all your screens to locations around the world. Use smart signage to increase your expansion opportunities.
Play Digital Signage is a leader in smart digital signage and is the best choice for implementing smart digital signage in your company because we have taken the steps to provide exactly what your business needs no matter what you provide.
We are one of the only digital signage software on the market with a built-in content editor. Build, schedule, and display content with one software. Additionally, your entire team can work together in the software and see exactly what everyone else is doing providing collaboration to make things go smoothly.
With Play Digital Signage, we offer you trial screens with no restrictions. We want you to see what our software can do for you. You’ll get full access to our software and our support with no credit card information required. Each screen is only $18 per month as well so no matter your budget, we have you covered.
We know that with anything “smart” or digital, there can be some hiccups along the way. That’s why we provide multiple lines of support including live demos, an extensive online help section, helpful YouTube videos, and 24/7 LIVE support with humans, not robots.
Finally, our customization options widely set us apart from any other company. Choose from any screen size, multiple players, and a long list of features like plugins, custom fonts, colors, and so much more. If you can dream it, we can help make it happen. See something you need that we don’t offer? Contact our team. We are always listening to update our software to include the things you want to see.
Getting started with Play Digital Signage and starting your smart digital signage journey is as easy as 1-2-3.
View videos about getting started with Play Digital Signage and see examples of Digital Signage Media Players & SmartTV’s.
See what smart digital signage can do for your company and manage your signs from anywhere, at any time.
Start with our latest and most-read blog posts.
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If you haven’t found what you were looking for here, we still have lots to show you! Check out sample digital signage solutions by industry to see how digital signage fits into your business, case studies from those who have come before you to see how they have taken advantage of digital signage, or reach out to us using the live chat below with any questions you might have!
