Dynamax

Sorry MK-2 I meant State Schools

Can I ask what sort of content are you displaying on the screens? Are the screens in 'dwell' time areas school canteens, school halls, school foyers (where children normally begin to cue for lunch or morning break) PE halls, common rooms. All this is the kind of support we provide helping you to get the most out of your service.

@CESIL @CESIL What would you like to see regarding digital signage then? I think the sheer level at which children process and filter information these days leaves room only for the next step in information services, which is digital signage. Furthermore if there is money in the budget surely the school would like to see it spent on a product that can help them achieve this rather than losing out on that £200 (for example) the next academic year. As you know schools are like companies any money they do not spend is taken from their budget the following year.

Thanks for all the comments, going to the boss with them this afternoon. OK so I appreciate what you are all saying the general census is “why would I pay for a product when it is free” & “the pupils do not pay attention to it anyway”. So If I list below a few benefits regarding our kit and tell me if you think it is heading in the right direction or simply a waste of time and resources (keep it constructive guys). 1. Nothing to download no pre files to then install supported files or updates/bug fixes (works like Facebook you log in and fire away). 2. Can log in from any computer on the campus don’t all need regular downloads. 3. We do have various plugins (however our product is defined by what we leave out) it has been created to be used by the most simplest of users (the average 55+ year old English teacher). The do not need to pass the information to you to then use. We want them to log in and use it themselves. 4. We supply pre-existing content which can be used directly, it is designed aimed at and created for the children to take note. What we are trying to do is make the content appealing. Teachers can supply their own content or upload some of ours (mix and match). 5. Content will be updated on a regular basis to keep it fresh and accurate. 6. We supply the whole support for the software training through to any technical support. 7. Reacts to triggers Alarms, Epos, Emergency notification systems integrated into the player 8. Scheduling, choose who the content is focused towards, what type of content you wish to use and when the content is shown (time frames + for how long). There are some other mods that I have left out such as Data Reporting, System Health, Monitoring, Metadata as well as others. Thoughts guys, like I said be constructive but be honest? Cheers Tom

But Steve you have just missed the whole point of marketing.......If my product had only reached 2 viewers you and your friend then it would be worthless but 20 million people even if the smallest fraction paid attention it is still a success?? I suppose what I am saying is because you are not willing to pay for the song does not mean none of the other 20 million are. Marketing is not interested in the individual because the individual does not represent the collective. Alas we digress…… Regarding the products I can only stress that you will have to try them for yourselves I cannot persuade you using buzz words. As previously mentioned it all depends on how seriously your school takes Software as a service (Saas) if it doesn’t then it’s not for you. Our systems are similar (I mean windows media player can run a pretty nice slide show but it’s the difference in the detail we look at). Still thanks for your input Steve this is exactly what I wanted to get out of this exercise some genuine feedback from genuine people.

We reaches 30 million viewers every year I think when it comes to digital signage in the UK only Amscreen can truly have us trumped regarding ‘experience’. Correct Steve maybe I did bend the truth but not all of them are solved. I would still reiterate that as with anything software is never free although it costs noting in the money sense what price are you paying for content quality and usability. I have just downloaded Xibo…….for free may I add!! ;-) and although I am coming from a very biased stand point.

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. However ds.net does still offer plenty of options and other services

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. 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??

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.

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

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

Ever thought about using a cloud based software that you can add your videos to and then display them on the school screens?