An oft-overlooked element of the Digital Place-based space is the software running behind the scenes. Those of us in the industry often speak generically, using terms like “computer-controlled,” to describe features of our networks; but the true power lies in the specific software that runs on those computers. There are many developers of digital signage software, known as Content Management Systems (CMS), and which one a network operator uses depends on the features required and the scale of the network.

There are common features amongst most CMS packages – video playback, file scheduling, and location management. But what begins to differentiate them are the niche features related to the dynamic capabilities, network management, programmatic buying, frame syncing, and regioning – just to name a few.

When a new network is born, choosing the right CMS is a big decision; since it will determine many of the features you’ll be able to offer your customers. However, a much loftier task than starting a new network, is switching an established one to a brand new CMS. In addition to the new features a software change will bring, one needs to ensure that there’s some degree of feature parity between the old and new systems, since it will likely need to serve the needs of your established business model.

We here at Adspace recently announced a transition to the BroadSign platform – a project that we started a year ago when we began to look at our network’s expanding needs. It became apparent that our current software approach to network management was unsustainable in the long term. BroadSign’s scheduling and management systems would allow us to manage a network of unlimited size with minimal effort.

One of the special features we offer advertisers and content partners is Dynamic Data – the ability to rapidly update creative using data feeds delivered over the internet. Previously, we used proprietary databases and templates to store and display this data, respectively. When the transition to BroadSign began, we needed to re-engineer our dynamic data templates using more standard tools. After exploring all the options offered to us by the new platform, including HTML5, we eventually settled on tried-and-true Flash-based templates as the format for re-creating our proprietary templates. To speed development, we worked with Solarsilk Interactive.

Our initial goal with creating Flash versions of our existing templates was to have a seamless transition that would go unnoticed by shoppers in the mall. Part of ensuring that seamlessness was devising a cacheing system for the data displayed by the templates. While the vast majority of our screens have excellent connectivity to the internet, with a network our size you always have to have a contingency if the internet connection is slow or inaccessible for a period of time. Using a feature of BroadSign, called Monitor Sync, each player on the network polls each of our Dynamic Data sources at regular intervals. If a change to the remote data is detected, Monitor Sync downloads the new data and saves it locally, which is from where the templates access it. This system means the templates never reach out to the internet on their own – which is good for performance, bandwidth, and security. If the network connection becomes unreliable, the templates can continue to access the data from the local cache with no interruption. The download and the display of data are kept separate. With data that is time sensitive, like weather or headlines, the templates are programmed to skip data that is older than a set amount of time. This ensures that in the rare instance a screen loses connectivity for longer than a few hours inaccurate data, like an old weather report, is not shown to the shoppers.

Switching a 3000+ screen network to a new CMS is not unlike a brain transplant, and the challenges it brings are exciting, especially when you consider the benefits to us and our advertisers in the very near future. The hurdles we’ve cleared for Dynamic Data are just the tip of the iceberg. Other short-term changes include upgrading all our material from 720p to 1080p, and automating even more elements of our scheduling. We can’t wait to share even more exciting advancements in the very near future!