Monthly Archives: February 2016

Digital Signage Tips for Restaurant Menu Boards

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Digital signage has become really popular with the food service industry.  Some folks will point to new advertising regulations but there is more to it than dietary information.  You can simply do much more with digital signage content.

  • Videos and animations help make products “pop” right off the menu.
  • Menu items can be changed at a moment’s notice so you can instantly react to competitive pressures and stocking levels.
  • You can create excitement around instant promotions.
  • Connect with customers using social media.
  • Use themed menus for holidays and other special events.

However, there are a few rules you should always follow.

  • Clever use of fonts and colors can help up-sell items but using too many fonts or graphics can have the reverse effect.
  • Good photography will boost sales but bad pictures will hurt them.  Invest in good photography.
  • Go for a clean design and use legible, properly sized fonts.
  • Always check your content for spelling and pricing mistakes.
  • Unless you are deploying industrial media player hardware, avoid hot / greasy / humid locations.
  • Don’t try to cram too much information on your screens.

Call or email to learn more about digital signage content for your restaurant.

Digital signage training for any business

Industrial Digital Signage Content Example

Industrial Digital Signage Content Example

Digital signage is used by a wide range of businesses and your software training should meet your specific needs.  For example, restaurant owners use digital signage differently than banks or automobile dealerships.

Consider these facts when deciding how to spend your training dollars.

  • Training videos only cover the most common software uses.
  • You can’t ask any questions when viewing recorded content.
  • Live, one-on-one training ensures questions are answered directly.
  • Live training can be tailored to cover the topics that are important to your organisation.

Live eLearning sessions are delivered on the web using screen sharing tools and attendees can join individually or share a meeting room equipped for video conferencing.

Are you looking to implement the Navori QL digital signage software platform for your organisation?

Click here to receive my detailed Navori QL eLearning program notes and rate information.

Still using Flypaper for your content?

Flypaper was a neat software program that let you build rich multimedia content with zero programming.  You would save your projects as an interactive Flash app or a video clip which made it a great tool for digital signage and wayfinding.  Flypaper even supported external data through Google docs integration.  Sadly the product was discontinued on May 2015 by it’s current owner, Trivantis Corporation, leaving Flypaper users out to fend for themselves.

flypaper_xAt least, the software kept running even though many of it’s advanced features stopped working almost immediately.  You could still launch Flypaper but it wouldn’t connect to Google docs anymore. However, the built-in weather feeds still worked as did many other features which meant you could still edit old projects and even create new ones.

You would get the odd error prompt while launching the app, but it still worked…  as long as you didn’t try to reinstall the software.  You see, when Trivantis closed down Flypaper, they also shut down their license activation servers which means you can no longer activate a new copy of the software.  It doesn’t matter if you own a valid licence.  You can’t transfer the software to a new PC or reinstall it if you have a serious hard drive crash.

Trivantis is still in business but it’s focused on eLearning now.  Too bad they couldn’t keep the Flypaper licensing servers running.  It’s one thing to stop offering customer support but not letting registered users reinstall the software is pretty sad.

So here’s a warning to every Flypaper user still out there.  Your software may still run today, but it may not work for long so it’s time to move on.

Time to find a different solution!

 

Navori Labs introduces new Android media player

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Navori Labs is introducing a new, more powerful Android media player for 2016.  The QL StiX 3500 will be available with 16GB of data storage, upgradeable to 32GB.  The “stick” form factor means this device will be easy to hide behind any screen and installation is a cinch.  Just plug the unit in any available HDMI and USB port.

The device supports WiFi and cabled connections for easier integration in corporate environments.

This is not your typical consumer grade Android media player. The QL StiX 3500 offers 4K support and a 16 core GPU so you can expect performance that will surpass many PC based players.  When you also consider this device supports TeamViewer, there is even less reason to use a PC for your screen deployments.

It’s important to note the Navori QL software platform supports PCs and Android devices natively making it very easy to manage mixed OS environments through a unified user interface.

The QL StiX 3500 will be shown at the upcoming ISE Amsterdam and DSE Las Vegas shows.