Digital signage

[HodgeHi]

Hello,

The Head was approached by a company called life channel. I think they approached him and not the other way around as far as i am aware although i may be wrong. Does anyone out there have this already and if so do you rate it would you rather have gone with a pure digital signage company. Apparently life channel stream content to you that is related to schools i.e. drugs awareness, knife crime etc.

If you do have it and rate it what are the benefits. If you don't like the system, why is this?

Also anyone out there with a digital signage installation, how is it paid for? Do you buy the system out-right a build your own content or do you pay an annual fee. Life Channel has a 3 year contract attached to it IIRC and it is £5000 per year. I thought that was quite expensive but apparently they do provide the screens. At the moment i am unsure if we keep the hardware after the 3 years.

Personally i'm not quite sure about the life channel system and so was wondering if anyone has it who can share their experiences.

It would be interesting for another digital signage deal for comparison though.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.

[OutToLunch]

They've come up a few times - we don't have them here so I'll just point you back to the other thread which might turn up others in the 'similar' list. Worth noticing is the comment about it not actually being a signage solution...

Life Channel - what do you think

[Dom_]

We have it, fairly rubbish though as we don't even have the sound enabled on our screens...

Not sure what the stuff they put on is like as nobody ever watches it, but it's annoying the way the scheduling works, and you can't disable their videos :-@

Given the choice I'd probably play with something open source.

[HodgeHi]

I continued this thread on the link provided by OutToLunch. Thanks guys.

[jamesfed]

Naturaly consider the alternatives first, someone mentioned open source - we have used something called Xibo Digital Signage which works on any Windows PC and that already provides a flexible system.
Other alternatives include Sclar and OneLAN (who we use for our Canteen TVs).

[Viewpoint]

Hello,

The Head was approached by a company called life channel. I think they approached him and not the other way around as far as i am aware although i may be wrong. Does anyone out there have this already and if so do you rate it would you rather have gone with a pure digital signage company. Apparently life channel stream content to you that is related to schools i.e. drugs awareness, knife crime etc.

If you do have it and rate it what are the benefits. If you don't like the system, why is this?

Also anyone out there with a digital signage installation, how is it paid for? Do you buy the system out-right a build your own content or do you pay an annual fee. Life Channel has a 3 year contract attached to it IIRC and it is £5000 per year. I thought that was quite expensive but apparently they do provide the screens. At the moment i am unsure if we keep the hardware after the 3 years.

Personally i'm not quite sure about the life channel system and so was wondering if anyone has it who can share their experiences.

It would be interesting for another digital signage deal for comparison though.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.

My experience with dealing with schools is that it's better to spend your time and resources on localised 'content', making it more relevant to the school itself. Think about how you want to use it and how to make best use of the a chosen systems features. Make sure you put practises in place to update info every month at least and use 'tickertape' 'on the wire' editing features which the administrator of the system or 'tasked person' can do instantly via logging in via any ordinary browser on a network computer. All in all Digital Signage Systems help create a very professional view of a school by a viewer and says something about how a schools wishes to be connect with pupils, teachers, parents and visitors. The Onelan Systems we have installed seem to fit the bill in all areas, and are market leaders in the Education Sector.

[Mandy]

Give me a call regarding Navaho system - a lot cheaper, easier to use (£895), and more capabilities than other digital signage. Also alot of Edugeek members have it installed and give stunning feedback!! Also NO subscription charges.

Give me a call on 01753 881810 to discuss the options + for pricing.

[Arthur]

The Samsung MagicInfo Pro LCDs are pretty cool. The digital signage software is actually built into the LCDs themselves. I was very impressed from the demo we had.

http://www.rm.com/shops/rmshop/Produ...cref=PD1525563
http://www.true-colours.net/products...cNET/index.htm

[andrewm]

I've been playing with Xibo and it seems pretty cool (xibo.co.uk)

open source. Does everything we need.

Andrew.

[everton4europe]

I have life channel at one of my schools. the biggest waste of money the head has spent. we have 3 tv's and in the 7 months they have been in have been switched on the grand total of once! And that was when the life channel was testing them!

[Techead]

I'm sure you can find free trials for signage on the web
PADS is one which you can download for 30 days

[gpjt]

We have recently installed (according to the company!!) the first 3G Digitial signage system in a school for the UK.
The product is called Mediatile and i'm sure that you have seen them at BETT etc.
We are having some teathing problems, but it was expected being as its a new system. The main plus of it is that it can be programmed from anywhere with internet access.

If you have any questions please ask!

[p858snake]

The main plus of it is that it can be programmed from anywhere with internet access.

And how often would you need to alter the signage within the school from outside the premises?
I could understand wanting/using it if the signage was in public places like shopping centres, But I see no point when you within a school that has a managed network where you can easily access it from within the site and possibly externally from VPNs/Termanial Server set ups.

[gpjt]

And how often would you need to alter the signage within the school from outside the premises?
I could understand wanting/using it if the signage was in public places like shopping centres, But I see no point when you within a school that has a managed network where you can easily access it from within the site and possibly externally from VPNs/Termanial Server set ups.

Good point!!! We also have a lot of community use at evening time and also have ideas, to get extra units that can go into partner primary schools in the local area.

[dhicks]

We also have a lot of community use at evening time

Assuming that a "3G digital signage solution" basically means a digital signage setup that can contact the Internet via 3G, what functionality does your new system have that a PC connected to a screen and with a 3G dongle plugged in doesn't?

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David Hicks