As organisations grow, so do their screen networks, with some organisations needing to have control over tens of thousands of screens. Being able to manage a large screen network efficiently is critical to flawless operation. If screens are not kept up to date it can lead to confused or annoyed audiences, irrelevant screen content, or can even affect health and safety.
Many years ago, digital signage networks would need to be controlled via on-site USB sticks. Each time content would need to be updated, an employee would have to travel to the location of the screen, unplug the USB, update the content, and plug it back in. Repeating this process for hundreds or thousands of screens across multiple locations costs a lot in both time and money. Thankfully, those days are over!
The introduction of cloud-based digital signage software has been a huge breath of fresh air. Now users can control small and large screen networks from any location. If instant updates are needed, content can be applied and updated in seconds, or content can be triggered by external sources such as RFID tags, fire alarms, or buttons.
Here’s how to manage a large screen network easier…
Manage A Large Screen Network With Cloud-Based Software
By far, the easiest way to manage a screen network is through cloud-based digital signage software. This software allows you to create, upload, edit, schedule, deploy and manage content for your screens. This software provides a hub for users to manage all their screens from one location. Through features such as scheduling and screen grouping, users can easily control and update the content that goes on their screens.
Screen Grouping
Screen grouping does exactly what it says on the tin, it groups your screens. With this feature, users can group screens for specific regions, use cases, or content types. For example, if you have a number of screens in a café that will be playing the same content, you can group these screens under “Café”. When you update the playlist for this group, all the screens will be updated to this content within seconds. Without this feature, a user would have to manually update each screen, wasting time.
Want to learn more about screen grouping? We’ve written a step by step guide on how to group digital signage displays with TrouDigital.
Content Automation With Automatic Templates
The bulk of time spent with digital signage is usually on content design. Depending on what you want to display, creating content for your displays can take hours. When you have a smaller number of screens to manage, creating individual pieces of content isn’t an issue. However, when you have to create custom content for hundreds or thousands of screens, it can be a lengthy process.
Finding ways to automate your content creation can save you an invaluable amount of time. A good place to start is digital signage template software. This software allows users to create professional animated content in seconds. Templates such as live traffic, weather, and countdowns will update as new live data comes in. You never have to touch anything again. For example, you can apply a live traffic template to different screens in different locations. When the traffic updates for each location, the screens will update as well.
Manage A Large Screen Network With Content Scheduling
Scheduling content in advance is another great way to help manage a large screen network more efficiently. By scheduling content in advance, your organisation can plan and schedule content to play hours, days, weeks, months, or years in advance. This can help take the stress out of content deployment, where otherwise you may be creating and updating screens on the day.
With digital signage scheduling, your team is able to create all their content in one period and set it to play at specific times of the year. For example, instead of rushing to create all your Christmas content day to day, your team can set aside some time halfway through the year to plan and create all the content for the Christmas period. The created content can then be scheduled to play during December up to Christmas. The content can even be set to expire, meaning it removes itself from your screens automatically.
If you have any questions related to how to manage a large screen network, speak to an expert today. Call our friendly team on 02380 981110 or Email info@troudigital.com for a no-obligation consultation. Alternatively, click the button below.
