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Volume 2, Issue 12 — December 16, 2010
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AMX Releases TCO Calculator. Great, but…
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine ProAV giant AMX has announced and released a total cost of ownership (TCO) calculator for digital signage installations.
“The first such tool in the digital signage industry lets buyers compare digital signage solutions and evaluate costs, both fixed and recurring. The TCO calculator also serves as an education vehicle introducing new buyers to the factors involved in digital signage deployments. AMX will be demonstrating the TCO calculator at Almo’s E4 AV Tour December 15 in New York City.”
The online form is a nice little thingie that has a series of inputs that lets end-users figure out total costs over a period of time for a project. Factors that can be compared include buying versus monthly subscription service, software fees, maintenance, electricity costs, period of operation and size of deployment.
“A device like this can really benefit the marketplace as there are a number of options and variables that need to be analyzed and understood to make the best purchase in a digital signage deployment,” said Sean McNeill, AMX Vice President of Business Development. “As the digital signage industry is beginning to see explosive growth, organizations and businesses considering a deployment now have a source to educate themselves on the cost factors that come into play.”
The TCO calculator was created with input from industry experts such as InfoComm Academy Faculty Instructor and leading digital signage consultant Lyle Bunn. It introduces potential buyers to aspects of a deployment that they may not have contemplated. For example, companies must consider the alternatives of purchasing the hardware or a lease-like monthly subscription solution. Software cost and fees are assessed. And maintenance considerations are evaluated through noting the construction of the hardware, namely whether the solution is designed with solid state parts or moving parts. Moving parts, like a fan, may require repair or replacement during the deployment period.
The calculator is free to use and you can get at it by going to www.thinkinspiredsignage.com.
As a baseline tool this does a pretty good job of factoring the main technology costs of a deployment. But for this to be a really robust calculator to budget and fully rationalize a digital signage project, there are several more input fields needed.
Here’s what I’d add: - The display. Obviously a big component, but also a big variable on TCO.
- The labor costs of installation at the front-end are substantial and really hard to budget (unless a site survey is done, which kinda solidifies the estimate and removes chaos, but also adds more cost).
- There’s also field servicing/repair costs, particularly if fans and spinning hard drives get used. The cost of rolling a truck even once over the life of an install is usually several hundred follars that didn’t get budgeted.
- Then there’s the big one – content. Despite its oft-repeated coronation as being the king of any project, its real costs often gets missed in budgeting. It takes time and money to develop the original creative look and feel of programming on a project. Then that content has to be refreshed if there are any real hopes that people will build a routine of looking at the screens. Content that says the same for too long turns into visual wallpaper.
- Yes, content can be developed using templates and, eesh, PowerPoint. The question is whether low-balling content costs makes the project, as a whole, even worthwhile.
- Staffing requirements have a role in costing. Training. Connectivity. Legal. Insurance (potentially a big one if the project is going into a commercial building). And so on.
So, a solid job by AMX covering off its field of play – which is gear and software. This tool will indeed be helpful.
But anyone looking at a digital signage project, as a whole, needs to go into it with the understanding that a broad range of costs beyond the hardware and software can and will bubble up. Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top |
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LED Staircase, Interactive All Over, In New Montreal Store
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine Just about any old excuse will do to get me up to Montreal (great city), and now I have a new reason – the multimedia-rich, very cool new Videotron store on Montreal’s main shopping street.
Judging by the video (click here or on photo below to view), the place is amazing.
There is a giant, apparently working cellphone at the entry and a staircase inside with some 150 HD LED screens.
Videotron is the dominant cable/telecom company in Quebec, and opens its flagship (showcase) store on Wednesday, using technology and creative from a pile of Montreal firms, including ITES, which kindly hosts Sixteen:Nine and does great interactive work. ITES was very heavily involved on the software and technology integration, while another company, Solotech, did the equipment installations and integration.
Says the release:
Videotron is breaking new ground again with the opening of its flagship store on Canada’s premier shopping street. The unique, avant-garde 4,500+ square-foot emporium at 1192 Sainte-Catherine St. West in Montréal will offer customers a new concept in shopping. Cutting-edge communications equipment will showcase the Quebec telecom leader’s hi-tech vision of the future, drawing visitors into a new dimension: the world of Videotron.
“The opening of the new Videotron store is part of our effort to deliver the best possible customer experience, anticipate consumers’ technology and entertainment needs, and set ourselves apart from the competition,” said Robert Dépatie, President & CEO of Videotron. “As an industry leader, setting up shop at a prestigious address on Canada’s premier shopping street was a natural move for us.”
“Once again, Videotron is demonstrating that Quebec boasts formidable entrepreneurial and creative resources,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President & CEO of Quebecor. “The opening of Videotron’s flagship store is a high-profile example of the major innovative projects being carried out in Quebec. The entire Quebecor Media team is very proud of this achievement, the product of a joint effort with an array of Quebec firms.”
Innovative design, leading-edge technology
Every detail of the new store has been painstakingly designed to bring the Videotron brand to life and create a compelling hi-tech environment for consumers, from the giant multimedia screen reflecting the urban bustle of Sainte-Catherine St. to the yellow cube entrance.
The use of unconventional materials that reference Videotron’s corporate brand image, such as yellow glass, black lacquer, chrome, glass boxes and brick, lend the interior a vibrant contemporary look. After they step into the Videotron universe, loyal customers and visitors from around the world alike can use the giant smartphone to take a picture or video of themselves and send it to a friend.
Only staircase of its kind in North America
The next thing visitors notice is the striking multimedia staircase leading to the second floor, the only one of its kind in North America. The only similar structures in the world are in Rome and Hong Kong. Equipped with 150 high-definition LED screens, the staircase promises to be one of the store’s main attractions. On the second floor, visitors can immerse themselves in the illico TV high-definition experience in two sound-proof glass booths equipped with 85” screens.
Unique customer experience
Videotron’s new concept store offers customers all of the Company’s services under one roof and a taste of the Videotron experience at its best. At the mobile phone bar, equipped with six touch screens and interactive software, visitors can pick their user profile with one touch (student, professional, head of the family, social butterfly, techno, globetrotter) and find the best handset and plan for their needs. They can then save their search and email it.
Consumers can also try out Full 3D television at Videotron’s new downtown Montréal store. The torrent of stunning images and spectacular sound will provide proof positive that the television technology of the future is here today.
In the Multiproduct Zone, visitors can find out about Videotron’s products, services and bundles for today’s connected households: residential and mobile telephone service, Internet access and illico Digital TV.
A team of specially trained advisors will be on hand in all departments to answer customers’ questions. Consumers can go to the cash or to one of three individual alcoves to make a transaction. The client advisors are also equipped with tablet PCs to help customers make their purchases.
A number of leading Quebec firms were involved in this major project, including Sid Lee, Sid Lee Architecture, Régis Côté et associés architectes, Moment Factory, Solotech and gsmprjct. Videotron also thanks the following partners that helped create its new temple of entertainment: Albert Jean Construction, ITES, Nurun and TVA Accès.
Reports the Montreal Gazette:
Dépatie explained the store is a new concept that allows customers to try out all the technology before they buy. That concept is seen even in the store’s entrance. A giant “smartphone” allows people to send text messages and take photographs and videos of themselves, which they can send to their friends in emails.
Inside the store, touch screens mounted on countertops allow people to scan the phones Vidéotron offers, and to see their technical specifications. The screens also display rate plans for cellphones, and when customers are done browsing, they can call a customer service agent who will help them pay for what they have chosen.
“We found out in our research that customers really want to interact with the technology, and then they just want to pay and leave, so this will allow them to do that,” Dépatie said. “This is mostly for the younger generation, but if you’re a bit older, you can still get customer service.”
Dépatie said the store “allows customers to play.” As such, all the mobile phones will be turned on to allow potential customers to see them working. Most cellphone stores have dummy models on display.
Wow. I get asked all the time what retail installs have I seen that really show off the possibilities of digital. It’s a short list, and this gets on there now. Unfortunately, this sort of showcase install does not tend to full carry on to other sites, though the design will, as well as the giant phone.
Montreal is a hotbed of great work in this sector, on both the creative and software side.
Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top |
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DOOH as a Franchising Scheme
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine The DSE site published a news piece Friday about a Florida company, Eyeris TV, offering up a franchised scheme for hyper-local digital out of home ad networks.
Never heard of the guys, but they got me thinking about the whole notion of setting up networks as franchises. Would it work and who actually makes money?
The pitch, from the Orlando, FL-based company:
As an Eyeris TV™ franchisee, you will create and operate your own In-Store TV Advertising Network inside a number of high traffic venues of your choice within your exclusive territory. Our cutting-edge proprietary softwares along with our managed services will allow you to broadcast the most captive, informative and entertaining video advertisements to thousands of viewers every day at very attractive costs to your advertisers.
Eyeris TV™ is today’s undisputable hottest franchise concept allowing our franchisees to enjoy all of the advantages that our business model has to offer including: - Home-based business
- Exclusive territory
- Various revenue streams
- Affordable investment packages
- Low overhead
- Fast start up
- Quick breakeven
- Regular business hours
- Business to business sales
- Repeat customers
- Re-occurring revenues
- No real estate investment
- And low working capital requirements
Eyeris TV™ Franchise investments have been designed with affordability in mind, starting from as little as $75,000 to $230,000 including franchise fees of $30,000 and a fast start-up time ranging between 30 and 60 days.
Another big part of the pitch is that the company is using “facial recognition” technology (wrong term guys, that’s the one that braids the eyebrows of privacy advocates) to measure audiences.
“Eyeris TV provides the most lucrative high return investment for franchisees, and is the right business for the right time,” says J.R. Alaoui, the company’s CEO and founder.
The website for the company is big on sizzle but more than a little short on substance, particularly on how franchisees would actually get this big promised ROI. The digital out of home highway is riddled with the carcasses and charred wrecks of companies trying to build up a hyper-local ad business in the restaurants, coffee shops and fitness centers Eyeris says are core target venues.
It’s not that it can’t work, but ad sales is a seriously tough business and the territorial aspect of this arrangement pretty much precludes franchisees from getting big through chain-level deals that would provide a big enough audience to intrigue media planners and brands.
Eyeris would, however, make $30,000 from every sold franchise, and makes a reference to managed services (aka recurring fees). The company’s play would also be to build up a national network on someone else’s CAPEX (the franchisees) and hopefully get the national footprint that would theoretically lead to real ad money.
I wouldn’t flat tell someone not to do this, because I don’t know enough about these guys and the offer. But as in any deal like this, a LOT of time needs to be first invested in working the numbers and doing the groundwork to ensure there really is a “lucrative high return.”
I also wonder why someone would need a franchised concept for a DOOH network. That $30,000 could be used pretty effectively to build a concept and brand that the entrepreneur would fully own. Finding software and companies to manage the content would take one post on a LinkedIn forum.
This is not the first time a company has developed and marketed a franchise concept for DOOH networks. A service called Onext Media has been at it in Canada since 2006. I can’t say how they are doing, but note only the website’s news section is stuck on 2008 and I don’t exactly see the network sprouting like weeds. It wanted $80K per franchise.
Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top |
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How to Be Better at Messaging and Marketing for Digital Signage
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine I did a piece for Richard and the team over at Digital Signage Expo that should be good food for thought as vendors start their planning – if they’ve not already – for the upcoming trade show season.
In a nutshell, actually give the messaging some deep thought. Too many vendors seem to just go through the motions.
Useful information for anyone charged with marketing in this sector (and usually spinning a few other dishes at the same time around the office).
Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top NRF and Digital Screenmedia Association Announce Digital & Outdoor Signage Pavilion The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Digital Screenmedia Association (DSA) have announced a special pavilion for the NRF 100th Annual Convention & Expo, January 9-12, 2011 in New York. The Digital & Outdoor Signage Pavilion, which will be featured on the Expo floor, will showcase the latest in digital signage aimed specifically at the retail market.
If you’re interested, you can register for a free Expo pass at: http://www.nrf.com/annual11
Back to Top Digital Signage Federation (DSF) Adopts Digital Signage Experts Group Certifications Professional membership association the Digital Signage Federation (DSF) announced today the adoption of the Digital Signage Experts Group (DSEG) industry certifications for inclusion in the DSF's efforts to establish industry standards, promote professionalism, and provide continuity of education for the digital signage industry.
The DSCE, DSDE, and the DSNE are going to be represented on the educational program at the Digital Signage Expo: http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net Back to Top Capital Networks Launches New Version of Audience Capital Networks launched a major new version of Audience (4.0) last month that includes a new GUI and more video and animation support than 3.0, plus native 1080p broadcast quality support that they say matches the quality of HD people see in their homes.
Audience 4.0 also features new scheduling developments that enable smart, enterprise level scheduling, so that users can target specific playbacks by demographic locations. A large restaurant, for example, might want to promote certain dishes in certain cities or towns – or even an individual restaurant – where they are most popular. In addition, it’s got built-in support for Windows 7, a broadcast quality MNG animations builder, Flash support and 3D effects.
For complete product information, go here: http://www.capitalnetworks.com/products.html Back to Top DSE Show Registration Opens Back to Top Axoro Buys (or Bails Out?) Express Digital Signage From .advanceMethod Axoro Corp. has finalized the acquisition of express digital signage systems (yes, intentionally not capitalized) from Seattle based .advancedMethod, a division of Eiki Digital Systems.
Nearly no details about the acquisition were released, but it appears that the deal means that Axoro will support all existing express clients as well as rebrand the express digital signage system under the Axoro name and attempt to revive it. rAVe was impressed with express back in 2008 when we first saw it, but it seemed to not catch on as a boxed DS solution the way .advanceMethod hoped. We still see a lot of potential in the pre-packed DS approach and wish Axoro the best of luck in 2011 with it.
To learn more about Axoro, go here: http://www.axoro.com/express/ Back to Top Barco's OVL Videowall Features "Cool" LED Engine Barco offers its new OVL video wall range, which the company claims is “the most efficient LED video wall available today,” in 4:3 ratio, with screen sizes up to 80 inches. The new OVL series has an advanced heat management system based on liquid cooling technology to bring the LED temperature down to the optimal level. This results in what they claim is significantly longer lifetime of the projection system, amounting to 80,000 hours of continuous operation in eco-mode or, as Barco says, "a 35 percent improvement over competing video walls.”
Want specs? Go here: http://www.barco.com/en/controlrooms/product/2325 Back to Top Glasses-Free 3DTV… from Apple? Although Apple has been granted a patent for a glasses-free 3DTV solution, it didn't exactly jump on the 3D bandwagon. It was originally filed in 2006…
The Apple solution does not require 3D glasses and will also keep up the 3D illusion for multiple viewers, even if they move around the room. The patent looks fairly complicated — it suggests a combined projector/screen/camera system. It would keep track of the viewer's position and movements to beam two separate images (one for each of the viewer's eyes) on the textured pixels of a special screen. The viewer's brain would then reconstruct the image autostereographically without glasses. Apple's patent says the result would be a "realistic holographic" visual experience, and also suggests Kinect-style 3D input applications.
Here’s Fast Company’s story on the patent: http://www.fastcompany.com/1706347/apple-wins-patent-for-sci-fi-like-glasses-free-3d-tv?partner=rss Back to Top Peerless Releases First Articulating Mount for Samsung 9000 Series Peerless announced the market’s first articulating mount for the Samsung Class 9000 Series 3D LED HDTV, eliminating the need to mount the display like a picture frame that can be seen only if viewers are standing directly in front of it. The new Peerless SUAC9000 Ultra Slim Articulating Wall Mount allows the screen to tilt, extend and swivel as much as 90° to accommodate any room setup.
As you probably already know, a standard articulating mount cannot be used with the Samsung Class 9000 Series LED HDTV because of the unit’s unique design – all of the Samsung electronics are located in a connection panel concealed beneath the stand. To install the display on a wall, the panel must be removed from the base and attached to the back of the screen. Standard mounts cannot fit over the panel housing, and the mounting kit provided by Samsung allows the display to be hung only in a fixed position. This limits visibility when the room shape or configuration forces less-than-ideal TV placement. It also prevents viewing from adjacent rooms.
The new articulating Peerless mount — designed exclusively for the 9000 Series — is the first to solve the problem. A special adapter plate enables the mount to be attached over the connection panel, while the articulating arm allows the display to be positioned at any angle for full visibility wherever viewers are sitting.
Interested in learning more? Go here: http://www.peerlessmounts.com/dyn/Products/BrowseProduct.aspx/tn/668 Back to Top Case Study of the Month: Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins fans are the first in professional sports to literally get their hands on a unique, interactive-multimedia digital signage display, featuring Christie MicroTiles, now running on the club level of Sun Life Stadium.
The Dolphins Interactive Wall is a customized version of The BuzzWall, developed by Christie and Montreal-based Arsenal Media and combines an irregular cluster of 41 Christie MicroTiles modular display tiles, live and packaged video feeds, touch sensors, text messaging applications and large format print graphics installed as a wide, seven-foot high video display wall that fans can watch and use.
Tuned to the team’s integrated sponsorship, media and in-stadium marketing plans, the multimedia display features four content zones that inform and entertain fans. Content includes interactive highlights from the team’s history, live game feeds, video replays and highlights, texting-based instant polls, photo galleries, and information about the team’s stadium services and community programs. Corporate sponsorships are designed directly into much of the Dolphins Interactive Wall’s content, making those brands part of the fan experience. Between on-demand Top Dolphins Moments, for example, viewers have fun wiping away virtual sea bubbles embedded with sponsor logos while dolphins swim in a virtual tank created by the Christie MicroTiles’ virtually seamless display blocks. Click to see a video of the Interactive Wall in action: http://vimeo.com/17432282
The first of its kind in pro sports, the Dolphins Interactive Wall debuted Nov. 14 at the Dolphins-Tennessee Titans game. Back to Top So, that's rAVe DS [Digital Signage] for this month! Remember, we are here to HELP the AV market penetrate the DS market. Only 12 percent of the DS market is integrated by AV companies. The other 88 percent is IT-based. Now, there are AV publications and even an association that would like to draw those IT people in to AV (it would increase readers, right? – and more readers means they can charge more for ads). That is NOT what we are doing. rAVe DS is specifically designed to pull AV into the DS market and teach AV companies how to take business away from the currently dominated by IT market.
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read a 100% opinionated ePublication that's designed to help AV integrators. We not only report the news and new product stories of the digital signage industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that's why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don't like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter — instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe ED [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January 2009.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com
Back to Top Copyright 2010 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln. – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |
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