Printable View
Hi Guys my name is Tom I am work for a digital software company. We have recently created a new in cloud based software designed for schools and public sectors in which users can create running signage for all purposes. HD Videos, Graphics & Images Public Information (texts) RSS feeds as well as other things.
I am just after some general feedback as to whether you think this is the future for school services and or your school would ever welcome the idea.
Thanks Tom
We use XIBO it's open soure and free.
How is the content shown on displays - do we have to use your hardware (computer and/or display screen), your own OS, a Windows-based client of some sort, or is your system entirely web-based? Do you mean "cloud based" as in based on remote servers? If so, what happens to our displays if our Internet connection goes down? How secure is your cloud-based editing facility - is there any chance pupils could break in and deface content?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynamax
We have The Life Channel here, we can either run their own provided content or use our own (photostory, rss, videos etc). It runs off 2 servers provided via the contract and then dishes out to about 12 40inch flatscreens around the school via video over LAN. In my opionion its gimicky and students take no notice of it.
Any limitations to it Jon:
Security
Player limitations (videos hd & sd slideshows)
User friendly (by this i mean can the average teacher use it)
How much data can you store on the cloud, can you have multiple player all saved.
Does it require regular downloads
Is there anything you think is missing from it Jon?
Any response you could give me would be great thanks very much
I agree to the "gimmicky" phrase, that's my opinion too.
The only time they're useful is when we over-ride them with an important information item, but that could easily be circulated by paper on a traditional notice board.
How much are you paying for consultancy work?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynamax
Quote:
Originally Posted by dhicks
The content is displayed by a piece of software that's installed on a Windows computer which can be supplied by either yourself or one of our VARs. Obv if you already have all the hardware then it is just a simple case of getting to grips with the product. Content scheduling and distribution is handled by cloud based servers which send the required files to the player software. If there was an outage in the internet connection, new content would not be able to be sent out to the player computers but the content that was already scheduled and playing would continue to do so. Communication to the server is using HTTPS to secure it from eavesdropping. The server portal is secured by giving you a unique URL to access your portal and then authentication is required by using a username and password. Without having access to all those pieces of information pupils won't be able to compromise your system.
Sounds very simelar to the way Xibo works, except you're hosting the backend system where as Xibo is hosted locally but is still web based. A lot of schools are starting to use xibo as the system requirements are quite modest, and it will run powerpoint presentations which means teachers and other staff members can easily create content for it and I can upload it to the displays with the minimum of changes in 2 minutes flat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynamax
No offence to the OP, but did your company do any market research before they started developing a system that appears to be no better than an already widely adopted, open source solution?
Or to put it another way: what does your system do that is going to make people part with their money rather than use free software?
That all sounds sensible enough - is there a web-based viewer for our content on your servers, so we could make our in-school display viewable on our school website as well, e.g. by placing an iframe in the page and pointing it at your servers?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynamax
Although on the face of it you are correct Xibo and we do offer similar services the fact that they can play similar ‘flash files’ hd movies and rss feeds ect that is where we part ways. As with anything you get what you pay for and I suppose it all depends on how serious your school or company take digital signage. We sell a supported application which means that unlike Xibo which has 1500 complications on its web page at the minute (this is no disrespect to Xibo I am only mentioning this for arguments sake to separate our products). We have a full IT support team who provide training to all staff and technical support throughout your contract. Our product is also on the cloud which means no downloads or administration monitoring needs to take place to ensure no server fails. You do not need to regularly update ds.net and as it is software the bugs that occur in the system are dealt with without the client knowing.Quote:
Originally Posted by LosOjos
Digital signage is also our heritage as this is all we do we like to think we are the best at it. I guess the way I can best summarise it is everything costs just not always money……..
Are system is designed to be user friendly robust and professional in quality.
Great question LojOs does this go some way to answering it??
Unfortunately the software won't be able to do this. The server sends a playlist file and all the content required to the player and the software on the player then displays this on the screen. The server is a scheduling and file distribution mechanism and not a streaming server as would be required in this application.Quote:
Originally Posted by dhicks
However ds.net does still offer plenty of options and other services
@Dynamax: Thank you for your response, I wasn't aware of your company's history in the business, I thought you were a newcomer :)
You're kind of bending the truth there a bit.... They have 1500 "solved" threads. Not really complications/errors. Don't see why having 1500 answered/solved threads is bad, If anything it shows support is good, and things get solved easily?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynamax
And as mentioned above, Really your system is a more expensive version of Xibo. You may have "dedicated" support as such, but xibo has much more experience and users etc. "Ignoring" the "cloud" word, Is there any difference to what you offer and Xibo?
Just my two cents,
Steve