Content

Authoring & Creation
Authoring can be defined as the process of creating and defining your messages based on the needs of your target audience and what your business objectives may be. In essence, authoring is a perfect opportunity to brand your company name and advertise your products and services, which can help influence buying decisions and increase sales opportunities.

Most digital signage software platforms on the market today enable you to create new content, enhance your existing material and layout the timing and sequencing of your message. These features empower you with complete control of what messages are shown at specific times in front of your audience.

When preparing to author your own custom content, there are many factors that should be considered before you begin:

• Think about your audience – are they business-to-business (B2B), consumer, or both?
• Are you primarily working in a business environment? Retail? Hospitality? Government? Entertainment?
• What sort of content will have the most impact and grab attention?
• Who will manage the system and keep the content fresh?

Spinitar is unique in that we have in-house digital signage experts who are specialists in all aspects of digital signage integration. We can work with you to create content and establish a digital signage platform that generates results. Plus, Spinitar is software-agnostic, so we’ll identify the digital signage software package that best suits your needs.

Content Development
Developing content, including creating your message, writing text and formatting graphics, is a key component for any digital signage application. Spinitar’s digital signage teams can help you do that. Our teams are resident experts in developing and formatting dynamic, multimedia-rich content and can help you import your custom material into a digital signage application. Many popular playback formats, including Flash, MPEG and AVI are supported through the authoring tools.

Software

Before choosing your digital signage software package, consider the application you will be producing, including how detailed, robust and complex you want it to be.  Many digital signage software manufacturers, including Scala, Omnivex and Tech Electronics/AxisTV, offer packages to create, manage and distribute digital signage content. 

Spinitar can help you choose a package that suits your needs.

Scheduling
Another key benefit of digital signage as an effective form of visual communication is the ability to schedule your message.  Scheduling is identifying what audience demographic is in a certain place at a certain time and then changing your message to most effectively hit that group during that time period. 

Ask yourself:  how can I trigger a new message to be delivered as my inventory or needs change.  If you’re working in a retail business environment, do you have more customers and visitors frequenting your place of business during the morning hours?  What are the demographics of your target audience, and does that change during the year?  Scheduling will enable you to push your custom content to your audience when it is most likely that they will respond to your message.   

Spinitar can help you schedule all of your messages.

Distribution
Distribution is the process of uploading your finished custom content to a server where it is distributed over your network to a variety of digital signage displays.  Before you schedule your content to be distributed, you should take a look at your internal IT infrastructure and network considerations, including your network topology, network flow and bandwidth issues.  Properly distributing your content will involve coordinating with your internal IT department during the process so that network/flow considerations can be taken into account. 

Technology

Choosing the right hardware for your digital signage application from beginning to end can be tricky.  The complete hardware solution can include anything from basic inputs to system switching, signal distribution, amplification, scaling, converting and ultimately delivering it all to a variety of display types.  Displays can range from front-projection, rear-projection, video walls, flat screens, curved screens and many more. 

Having a network to distribute your digital signage content is a must.  At the very least, a digital signage network should have:

1. A digital signage player
2. A content server to distribute your custom content
3. A display (i.e., plasma, LCD, etc.)
4. A digital signage software application

Overall, it is critical to consider your audience, your operating environment, your internal IT/network requirements and your budget when choosing the best hardware for your digital signage network.   Spinitar’s digital signage teams are experts in setting up all the hardware requirements and can help you throughout the entire process.

Professional Services

Needs Analysis
Prior to starting your digital signage project, it is best to work with a digital signage partner that can help identify your needs.  Spinitar’s digital signage teams are expert “total-solution” resources in establishing and deploying digital signage applications.  As part of our expertise, we can analyze your specific environment and make recommendations, whether it’s getting you started on creating custom content, or helping your internal IT team configure your network to accommodate a digital signage system.

Training
What really makes Spinitar unique among other digital signage integrators is our technical expertise.  We can conduct training sessions for you and your teams on each of the steps required to starting your digital signage project.  We can show you how to author, schedule and distribute custom content, as well as train the support members of your staff on managing the overall system.

Integration & installation
As a nationally recognized systems integrator, Spinitar’s digital signage teams have integrated digital signage networks for national organizations and possess the qualifications necessary to integrate, install and configure a digital signage network.  Our teams are also experts in integrating the latest digital signage software, authoring tools and content creation applications.

IT Support
When assessing your support needs, identify how your internal IT support structure is set up and the extent of their capabilities.  Do you and/or they have the time and experience to manage the digital signage system?  As part of our expertise, Spinitar can offer you a full support package that entails remote system monitoring and day-to-day support of your system.  Spinitar can also analyze your internal infrastructure and work directly with your IT team to offer a layer of support that complements your structure.

Support Management /Monitoring
Health monitoring of your system, content management, ongoing system upgrades and fixes are all necessary to keep your system running smoothly.  Whether it’s refreshing your content or adding more displays on your network, Spinitar is in a position to help.  Spinitar offers a variety of ongoing service and maintenance programs and custom-tailored support programs.