Set up the date and time in MagicINFO to save time, money, and energy

Every day John switches his display(s) on and off himself. John is new to digital signage, and he just bought his first display(s). John takes great care of the display(s) and wants to learn more about MagicINFO and what he can achieve with digital signage. One day something strange happens, and John needs to contact customer support. They try to find the displays but they don't seem to appear on the server. Then, John finds the hard truth: he should have set the date and time of the displays in the beginning to prevent this. 

Today, we're going to cover the date and time feature available with MagicINFO and how to set up the on and off timer on your devices. That way, you have all the information you need to not get into a similar situation as John got himself into.

If you're new to digital signage and are just learning how to incorporate it into your business, you should check out our ebook Getting started with digital signage.

What is the date and time feature, and how to install it on your devices?

The date and time feature comes with any type of MagicINFO license and is available in  MagicINFO Cloud. It allows you to have an automatic switch-off button so your display(s) can turn on and off on their own, sparing you from always doing this tedious task. In addition to this, you can also set up the winter/summer time, so that you don't have to worry about changing the time yourself. 

You can check out our knowledge base article on how to add on/off timers and how to change summer/winter timer settings, or you can check out the video below. 

Why you should have your date and time on 

In case the example we started today's blog with did not convince you to set up the date and time on your devices correctly, here are three more reasons why. 

Set your date and time right to… prevent errors 

First of all, you want to have your date and time correctly on the devices because otherwise, they won't appear on the MagicINFO server. Here, at MagicInfo Services, we encounter this issue quite often, especially with new display models. If you can prevent this by just doing something as simple as using the date and time feature in MagicINFO, why not spare yourself the extra trouble? After all, if your smartphone didn’t have the right time and date, you would find that inconvenient. Your displays aren't any different. Moreover, if you want to use a clock widget on the displays, you need to know how to set up the date and time on the devices anyways. 

Set your date and time right to… save time, energy, and money

Secondly, if you set up the date and time on your displays, you can make use of another cool feature available with MagicINFO: the automatic on/off switch. The time you set these switches depends entirely on your business. If you have displays in the office, you can, for example, set your displays to turn on at 8 am and off at 5 pm from Monday until Friday, and to have the devices off during the weekend. That can save you money in the long run because you know for sure when the displays are off. If you have to turn them on and off by yourself, then you could forget and waste energy unnecessarily. Also, think about the best times when you can get the most out of your digital signage content and displays. If you're in the retail business, you might want to set different times for the displays to switch on, perhaps one hour before your usual opening hours. 

Set your date and time right to… make the most of your digital signage content strategy

Finally, you might want to show specific content at specific hours of the day. In order to do so, you need to first have the time and date on the displays correctly set. Then, according to your business strategy, you can choose different times at which the content shown on the devices changes. For instance, if you own a restaurant, you might want to show your menu on the displays. You might also want to show different menus for lunch and dinner. Luckily, with MagicINFO, you can do that and so much more, but first, you need to have the basics in check.

Are you just getting started with digital signage? You can schedule a meeting with one of our consultants, so we can help you level up your digital signage game and achieve your business goals.