They say content is the king. They are right… This applies to any software product that deals with visibility, marketing, broadcasting and so on, and it definitely applies for Digital Signage Software and Digital Signage CMS. Surely, everyone forgets that content comes after SW stability, supportability, scalability and other software lovers with scary words, but this is the subject for another discussion.

Most digital signage software providers are presenting Signage player software, which is installed on the player device and reflects the content that was usually created using the CMS (Content Management System) or the Studio as some call it.

Waiting room content digital signage

Obviously, there is a great deal of advantage for using SaaS (or cloud) based systems. The online option takes the installation/storage/backup and so on headache away, leaving it in the safe hands of the signage software develops and system managers. What else should one expect?

Well, it is tempting to except it ALL. Rarely in life do we get it all, so let’s try to prioritize:

  • Easy to use – the perfect slogan… But one must be sure the system he is purchasing is indeed fairly simple. Nowadays, it is enough to look for some YouTube videos and learn. If it doesn’t look doable to you – run away!
  • Flexible – Everything should be achievable for content creator, no need for pre-defined zones, no need to be limited only to pre-defined templates, work from any browser – no limitation, this is the flexibility the user should expect.
  • Performance and stability – No latency, high rate of sync, no significant down time and effective/responsive support.
  • Rich content – use of widgets, dynamic features, templates and social integration – Content is the king, remember? The CMS must allow not only building the content, but also to plug in easily to dynamic and live content feeds!
  • Extensive scheduling and user management – it might be that different content will be presented at different times, managed by different users.
  • Reporting and Proof-of-Play – DS is often used for advertising. You must make sure you can see which screens are operational, what content was presented, what failed. One needs to be able to provide reporting to his customers.
  • Connectivity to IoT. Digital signage and IoT are going to be very deeply coupled. Integrations with different trigger events, such as RFID, bar-code, camera and so on, will soon be the standard. Don’t choose a CMS system that was left behind in this important growing field.

That is all for this blog, it is certainly not all for those digital Signage CMS developers who keep seeking for new features. Keep yourself updated!

Good luck in building your signage network!

The Dude.