5 Common Technical Challenges when Implementing Digital Signage

Do you know that feeling when something you've been planning doesn't go as you thought? Whether it is a new project or one that you were working on for some time when faced with challenges we can feel disillusioned until we understand that sometimes, the plan needs some adjusting. This is something that especially tends to happen when things that weren't factored in the project's planning end up affecting it. 

The same goes for digital signage projects. Today we're going to talk about the 5 most common technical challenges that arise when implementing digital signage and how to overcome them. If you're curious about learning how to successfully introduce digital signage, check out our previous blog.  Here is what we'll cover in this blog:

• dealing with a legacy of older displays
• discovering that you need more features than initially thought
• an unstable internet connection
• display hierarchy and setting up access levels
• a closed network

Dealing with a legacy of older displays 

It can be quite difficult to understand when it is time to upgrade your displays, but there are some signs you can monitor. For instance, the first thing you'll notice with older displays is that the quality of the images will drop whether in luminosity or in the saturation of the colors shown. LED displays tend to lose their brightness over time. And sometimes the colors just start to look less intense than what they used to look like. Another thing you need to consider before thinking about replacing your signage display is how easy it is to repair it. This has a lot to do with how sustainable your digital signage displays are. For more information about the sustainability of digital signage, check out this page. Finally, you will also need to consider the typical lifespan of a signage display. Usually, LED/LCD displays have a shelf life of around 10 to 12 years or 50 thousand hours of usage before their quality begins to decrease. 

If you don't know when you need to replace your display, check out this blog for more information. At MagicInfo Services we advise checking how many hours has your device been switched on overall. Then check the version of the player. Here you should check for updates, but also if the player is still compatible with the MagicINFO version you opted for and its features. Your whole signage system is as strong as your weakest point. Thus, if your installation includes legacy displays with s3 players, you'll need to figure out a way to work with this for the whole system. Another thing you can do is to use different content for those displays. You can read more about display hierarchy in the section below.

Discovering you need more features than initially thought 

Next, we're going to talk about an issue that is not only technical but also about planning and thinking about your goals with digital signage. Let's say in the original plan, you expected to be able to achieve your digital signage goals by using the Lite version of your signage solution. There are many reasons why this is a good idea for a lot of customers, but usually, it has to do with the price. However, after a while, you might realize the Lite solution doesn't offer as many features as you'd like to have. In most cases, this is caused by not setting proper project goals. Because of this, you might find out you'd want to use HTML content, which is only possible with MagicINFO Premium. Or perhaps you have chosen an on-premise solution with a license, but during the implementation, you find that your server is not suitable for the signage installation or maybe you don't have someone from IT to manage and maintain the system. In these cases, your best solution is to contact the sales team and check if they can make you an offer that matches your budget. 

To prevent this from happening, you need to do your research in due time, when you're still in the planning phase. You can read about the differences between Lite and Premium, but also about the differences between MagicINFO cloud and local installation. 

It is also a good idea to see if the feature you think you need is really what you need. For example, let's say you'd like to switch to a cloud-based digital signage solution. Luckily, if you're considering MagicINFO as your signage solution, you can try it out for free for a month. There are many reasons why you should join our 30-day trial. Here are 4 tips to make the most out of your MagicINFO trial period. 

Unstable internet connection 

This one is no fun. Of all the technical challenges that come with digital signage, having an unstable internet connection is perhaps the most frustrating because it is not really something you can control. Depending on where your signage installation is located, it can be more difficult to display good-quality content if your content is available via the internet. Indeed, this is the case for live streams and social media feeds. Also, if your internet connection is unstable, this can lead to publishing issues. In this case, what we usually advise is to not use wireless internet, but to have a wired internet connection because this is usually more stable. Another approach is to use your display to access the provided URL link.

Display hierarchy and set up access levels

Moving on, a common technical challenge that arises when using digital signage is setting up a display hierarchy. You might want to consider this if you'd like to have different content shown on each of the displays. At first, this may seem quite difficult, but it really isn't the case. If you're using MagicINFO as your digital signage solution, you can watch our YouTube video for step-by-step instructions on how to structure device groups or read our blog and learn why you should structure your devices. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven't already done so. We regularly upload content showing you how different features and add-ons available with the MagicINFO line-up work.

It is very important to set up a display hierarchy, especially if you still have legacy displays in your installation. Otherwise, you might get strange errors or content won't show on the older devices. You can have content that is compatible with the player and MagicINFO version shown on the older displays, and other types of content shown on the newer ones. 

Next, let's talk about setting up access levels. This is a useful thing to do, especially if you have assigned different roles to those in your project team and you wish to have different rules for each of them. For more information and step-by-step instructions, watch this video and learn how to add users and roles. Considering whether to have different access levels is not something you should overlook because this can lead to potential security weaknesses. If everyone has full access, then anyone can publish and edit content. Ideally, this is something that the marketing team would do. The same goes for making technical changes, which is something that the IT department or IT-designated member should do. 

A closed network

Finally, another common digital signage challenge is having a closed network. Now, this might not seem like a challenge if your signage project is only located in one place. However, if you'd like to expand your signage project to other locations but the signage network you're using is closed, this could lead to certain problems. A company can choose to have a high level of security on its network. For example, you can change the communication port for MagicINFO. However, your screen needs to connect to MagicINFO over a hostname or IP address and using a specific port. These options should be open between MagicINFO and the screen to have a connection.

Check out this blog to learn more about the top 5 most common MagicINFO support questions or this one to learn what to do when you can't reach your digital signage display via MagicINFO. 

You have reached the end of today's blog. For more information on how to overcome technical issues, you can always contact our sales team and schedule a meeting with one of our MagicINFO experts. If you're already a MagicInfo Services customer, all you need to do is contact our support team.