Find the digital signage software solution that perfectly meets your requirements.
The marketing world concurs; that paper is in the past, all is now digital, and digital signage is everywhere. From the landmark Piccadilly Lights, revamped in 2017 with a state-of-the-art 4K LED screen and running cutting-edge digital signage software, to the iconic Times Square digital screens. Digital signage is all around us.
If you are a business owner or a marketing manager, finding a digital signage solution is a must. 70% of U.S. residents aged 12 or older have seen a digital video display in a public venue in the past month. That is a huge audience you need to make sure you are taking advantage of.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of some of the best digital signage software tools around, to help you make the most out of your digital displays. No matter what your requirements are there is a solution for your needs.
If you are looking for displays for your digital signage click here to see how LamasaTech can help you.
In a hurry, jump to:
1. Screenly OSE
Screenly OSE (Open Source Edition) provides a digital signage software package developed to run on a Raspberry Pi and backed by its user community.
With this digital signage solution, you get the ability to create and schedule playlists on a single interface. This allows you to put multiple pieces of content together and set the displays to cycle through a playlist, instead of having to schedule each piece of content.
Screenly also offers you the ability to display 1080p Full HD images, videos, and live web pages. Usefully, the software automatically detects your TV and monitor dimensions to render your signage in the highest resolution available.
You can use Screenly OSE for free, however, if you want key features such as the ability to manage multiple screens from a single account and cloud-based storage, you’ll need a subscription. A yearly subscription to the Business plan costs $17 a month per screen.
This digital signage software is ideal for a variety of purposes, from displaying business metrics on a dashboard to digital menu boards in a restaurant. For QSRs, an effective digital menu board is particularly important as 29.5% of customers find digital menus influential for the purchase of a product.
Although Screenly Inc. maintains this software, Screenly does not offer OSE support, so you’ll need to head to the forums for any issues.
2. DigitalSignage.com
Marketing themselves as the first company to offer advanced digital signage to everyone for free, DigitalSignage.com is a browser-based solution that allows you to easily create an amazing digital presentation on your PC. You can then share this to an unlimited number of remote screens. This is the major selling point of DigitaSignage.com, as most options require you to pay for their subscription service to unlock additional screen support. For example, you could have a monitor close to your point of sale and an advertising kiosk, such as the LamasaTech Guida kiosk shown below, as another screen closer to the entrance. Both would be able to display your digital signage content.
The Enterprise edition is DigitalSignage.com’s subscription offering which starts at $49 per month. With this, you gain access to more advanced features such as multi-user management and the advertising manager.
To access all of the features DigitalSignage.com offers you’ll need the Enterprise subscription. However, the free version offers you enough core features to be able to create and display your content.
As for support, DigitalSignage.com provides a wide coverage of help for their users including a live chat available on their website, along with webinars and tutorials.
3. Concerto
Concerto is a web-based signage system that is among the most popular. It is praised for its user-friendly and easy-to-use interface. Concerto offers support across multiple platforms, you just need access to a browser. You’ll need a database and server that can run Ruby on Rails (ROR) web applications too.
Features such as content scheduling and multi-screen support are available with this software. You can set what your displays are showing, allowing you to more directly engage with your community via graphical, video and text-based messages.
Concerto is a highly popular digital signage software and was awarded the Most Popular Software award by SoftwareSuggest.
Part of the reason for its popularity comes from the fact that this convenient tool is open-source, which means the service is free to use and deploy. To run your digital signage software with Concerto you just need to pay for the hardware, such as a freestanding advertising display.
To support their users the team has set up an email for any queries and moderates a forum where the community brings any issues or useful tips.
4. PeakSignage
PeakSignage gives you the ability to launch your messaging and monitor your screens from an online dashboard that can be accessed from anywhere in the world via any modern browser.
One of the stand-out features of PeakSignage is the drag-and-drop layout editor. You simply select which element or widget you want to add to your content, then drop it where you’d like it to appear. No set zones for these elements means you have complete flexibility when it comes to designing your digital signage.
PeakSignage also allows you to group your screens, meaning you can easily align the messages on your devices. For example, if you have a window display, like the one shown below, and a few freestanding kiosks in your reception, you could group all of these and have them display your welcome messages. This saves you valuable time, as you only have to create your content once and then push it to the group rather than having to create duplicates for each screen.
A bonus here is that you can use these grouped screens to clearly communicate with your employees as well as customers. Using PeakSignage, you can display useful information such as a calendar of meetings or current targets on your screens. This will improve your internal communications, which can result in a 25% increase in productivity from your staff.
Another useful feature is the Emergency Override. This lets you create an alert, which could include fire exit locations and meeting points, that will be displayed on your screens in the event of an emergency. You can activate the emergency mode from the PeakSignage dashboard and your screens will immediately update to display your alert message. This lets you provide the safety information your customers and staff will need quickly and clearly, helping to improve your on-site safety.
To learn more about PeakSigange visit this page, or to discuss your digital signage needs contact LamasaTech today.
5. Yodeck
Like many of the other options listed in this article, Yodeck is a cloud-based digital signage platform. Although Yodeck offers a “free” version, that only includes a single screen and you are required to purchase a Yodeck Player. This means to take full advantage of what Yodeck offers you’ll need to sign up for one of their subscription plans. These are very reasonably priced, which is what makes Yodeck a popular choice. The plans you can choose from are:
- Standard plan – add media files and live streams to your content, create playlists and access free stock images & videos
- Pro plan – Everything from the standard plan plus playback reports and sub-playlists
- Enterprise plan – Everything from both previous plans plus audit logs and media player encryption and lockdown
In terms of the user interface, Yodeck has a straightforward dashboard making it easy to navigate quickly. Your media files can be pushed to a screen directly from the upload page, so your content can be displayed right away with no downtime. Free templates are also included to help you get started with creating your digital signage.
For the lower price point, Yodeck provides a quick and easy-to-use digital signage solution, however, you will find that the more advanced features that help you organise your content, such as PeakSignage’s alerts, are not here.
6. ScreenCloud
ScreenCloud markets itself as a “barrier-free” digital signage solution. This is definitely the case when it comes to connecting the app to your screens, as any media player or even “smart TV” can be used as your screen.
ScreenCloud is designed to be used on any hardware letting you focus on your digital signage content and not finding a compatible device. If your hardware is a “smart device” and is capable of downloading apps, you can download the ScreenCloud app directly onto that device. If it isn’t able to do this, you would need a media player. For commercial use, it is suggested that you use the media player option as this will provide you with a more advanced operating system designed for commercial digital signage.
Sharing dashboards between users securely is also a big part of ScreenCloud’s “barrier-free” aim. Your credentials and details are stored in the cloud and not on any local devices. With this security, you can confidently share your dashboards with other users allowing you each to reflect on real-time data and make changes accordingly. This will help you to increase the speed of your decision-making process.
If you find yourself stuck or unsure how to get started, ScreenCloud provides a range of useful video tutorials to help you. Also, you’ll find further resources and guides on their website if you’re having trouble. These can save you time, especially when you first start, as you can learn exactly how to create and manage your content without having to learn through the time-consuming trial-and-error method.
7. OptiSigns
OptiSigns functions in a similar way to ScreenCloud, as it is an app that can be installed on an Amazon Fire stick to show your digital signage on any TV screen. It can also show content on a video wall if you have a video wall processor, like the one shown below. To learn more about video wall controllers click here.
Once you have connected your screen and added it to your account, you can use the web portal to start assigning content. As with many of the other solutions in this article, you can manage your screens and assign content remotely.
Creating content is done by uploading your images or videos and placing them on the canvas, where they can be positioned and resized. To add more life to your digital signage, OptiSign offers a set of widgets such as date, time and weather, that will alter depending on the location of your screen. The stand-out widget though is the Apps widget. OptiSign has a range of apps that you can link to your content and display, these include:
- Social media feeds – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
- News feeds – The New York Times, CNN, CBC, The Guardian
- Calendars – Google, Outlook, Calendar mix
- Files – Google Sheets, Google Docs, Excel Online, PowerPoint Online
If you are unsure how to lay out your first design, like with the other solutions mentioned above, OptiSign provides ready-to-use templates to help you create your content. There are more than 500 to choose from, so using the search function provided to narrow down what you are looking for can help save you some time.
OptiSigns subscriptions start at $10 per screen per month. This gives you the basic features you’ll need to create your digital signage. Custom fonts, a feature that helps give your digital signage a more unique look, are unlocked in the Pro plan for $12.50 per screen per month. While you’ll need the Pro Plus plan to access more security features, as well as alerts if your screens are down.
Never underestimate the importance of signs. They are a crucial part of your overall marketing plan and can communicate vital information to customers that can drive sales and improve levels of customer satisfaction. Digital signs are here to stay and could be vitally important to your company.
At LamasaTech we provide solutions that seamlessly combine digital signage software and hardware to meet your exact requirements. To find out more, get in touch with a member of our expert team for a free consultation.
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