What Is a Digital Signage CMS
Digital signage software, which is also known as a content management system (CMS), is the software used for digital signage. The software manages, creates, schedules, delivers, and saves content for digital signage. It allows media to be uploaded and edited too.
A digital signage CMS is the central platform that is very crucial for digital signage. We can call it the brain for digital signage. A CMS is also commonly used to control digital display devices such as videowall, digital standee and interactive kiosk. A good thing about CMS is, it also supports multiple users. This means, more than one admin can be assigned to manage the software.
Moreover, a digital signage CMS is also a software that provides security protection. It protects the content and the device from any hacking, and it preserves the data.
There are several functions of the content management system that help digital signage to run smoothly. We are going to explore them now, stay engaged till the end of this article to find out!
The Functions - How It Works
First, a digital signage software can be used by a web browser, or it can be installed on a computer. Often, it is used as a cloud-based web application. All you have to do is log in to the account using the username, password, and verification code. Then, you will see the dashboard and you may proceed to use the software.
After logging in, you can start to upload your images or videos. This software supports a wide range of file formats, including images, videos, graphics, and animation. It even supports text, date & time display, and weather information.
The media will be uploaded to the media folder. You can upload different series of media to different folders. It is up to your liking on how you want it to be. After uploading your media, you can still sort out your files if you want to reorganize them later on. Other than that, you can also rename your file if you wish. Previewing and checking the uploading progress can be done as well.
File management & file uploading.
Digital signage CMS provides pre-designed templates and layouts. However, you can also design your own template and layout. It will be ready with only a few clicks. You can have it in portrait mode or landscape mode since both are available.
Once you are done with designing and creating your template, you can create your playlist with the designed template and images uploaded previously. Yes, playlist. It sounds very familiar, right? Usually, we create a playlist to compile our favourite songs together so it would be easy to listen to them. Here, it is almost the same. You put together your materials in a playlist and then choose the duration. For example, how long do you want each material in the playlist to be displayed? If you want it to be 10 seconds, then you can set it accordingly.
You can also choose the transition style in CMS. It can fade in, fade out, and many more. The playlist can also be renamed anytime as mentioned earlier.
Template design & customization.
Scheduling
One of the best things about digital signage software is the scheduling system. This is because you can set your own schedule of when to display the content. You can set the content to be displayed on certain hours or certain days. It will automate content delivery. For instance, you can set it to display a certain video every Friday from 10.00 A.M to 3.00 P.M. Easy, isn’t it?
The same goes for when you are publishing your content. You can set it to be published immediately or you can set a schedule for that. You may want to publish a particular content on holiday. There will not be any hassle of working on holiday as you have set the schedule. It will automatically be published. There is one word to describe this feature, convenient.
Not just that, you can also set an expiration date. Let say you want certain content to be displayed till 30th June only, then you can set it in the software.
Besides, if you have different contents to be displayed on different screens, it is totally possible with CMS. Again, you just have to set it accordingly. It is all provided in the software, all you have to do is to click on it.
Device Management
Digital signage CMS allows you to manage your devices. Devices here refer to all digital signages and media players within the signage system. They are all manageable. You can see an overview of all devices in CMS. CMS will give you several options to manage the devices. You can select to edit, view schedule, or edit the password of any device. Furthermore, you can rename the selected device, and you can pre-set the on-time or off-time.
You can also see the status of the device, whether it is enabled or disabled. These are just a few manageable features mentioned. There are more than this in CMS. You may reboot your devices if you wish to.
Besides that, CMS also keeps the records and history. For example, the duration and the operating history. So it can be looked at any time.
Monitoring
You can also monitor everything with a digital signage CMS. You can choose whether you want to monitor the current schedule, device information, program scheduling and player control.
Let’s go into the details a little bit. You can monitor which player is currently playing. Next, the software lets you control your devices from afar. You can take it like a remote control. You do not have to go anywhere near the digital signage itself. It will be done with the software at your fingertips. For instance, you can pause or sleep your player if you wish to. The software allows you to do that.
Furthermore, you can check the playback status without having to go to the digital signage physically.
Of course, being far from the devices will make you curious about them. You might be wondering if your devices are working well or not or if there is any error going on with the devices. Rest assured, monitoring enables you to check the health status of the devices. If there is any issue with the devices, you can detect it right away and you may contact a technician to fix it. Checking the network status, the temperature, and the usage of memory are also available. You can monitor them all remotely. Sounds very convenient, right? These features help to save a lot of things. Energy, time, gas, and many more are saved.
Conclusion
Digital signage is a smart innovation for many business owners. It has helped business owners with their marketing and their exposure. However, digital signage is not just about its physical device. The software that controls the digital signage is the brain. Making sure you truly understand the software is very important. Content Management System is very convenient, but it is fine to still have some confusion regarding it. A guide or a manual is available online or you can contact us for any question.
