Signs of the Times
Digital signage replaces old-fashioned posters
As published in Worship Facilities, Jul/Aug 2006
There once was a time when pencils and paper-based calendars were the tools of choice for scheduling, and a marker and poster board was the way churches announced events to their congregations. While some organizations continue to apply these methods, an increasing number are turning to a combination of software or hardware-based systems to keep track of the goings-on in their facilities, and to advertise these activities to their memberships through digital signage technology. "Churches and worship facilities are typically very busy facilities. They not only have the church activities; they are trying to keep the church going each day of the week with schools, community meetings and events like that," observes Kevin Raasch, vice president at Dean Evans & Associates Inc. in Greenwood Village, Colorado. "There are a lot of activities that take place at a church, and because of that, they often need scheduling software. They have outgrown the paper calendar method to keep track of all of this."
Software Packages
Dean Evans' EMS (Event Management System) handles the scheduling of facilities and events, and then transmits that information to any number of screens throughout an organization in real time. "Our system centralizes the schedule of all activities taking place at a church, and makes it accessible to everyone within the church as well as the church's membership," Raasch explains. "If you extend it to the web, all of the members can see what is going on and keep up with that." Leitch Technology, a division of Harris Corporation, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, focuses on the information display aspect of digital signage, and off ers scalable solutions depending on the organization's requirements and budget. "We have a full player system that allows you to do animation and intense translations between stills and video. We also offer something simpler, which allows you to run a video play list, for example. There is a wide range of software packages available at all price points depending on what you see fit for your displays," explains Don Hewitt, technical sales consultant for InfoCaster, a Leitch product that manages and feeds information content to digital signage display devices.
The advantage of digital signage technology is that it enables churches to deliver a more focused message. "Digital signage is for organizations that need to be able to deliver a given message to the right person, at the right time, at the right location in real time environments," explains Richard Trask, marketing director at Scala Inc., a software developer specializing in digital signage systems. "You can use poster board signage or television, but all of that is for the general audience. There is no focused message to a specific group of people that digital signage provides you with."
Scala also off ers a software suite that allows organizations to scale their systems based on needs and available budget. The suite is broken down into five components: InfoDesigner, a multimedia content authoring program; InfoChannel Network Manager, a network manager that schedules content delivery to any number of screens via the web; the optional InfoChannel Broadcast Server, which transmits content via satellite to any number of locations around the world; InfoChannel Player, which provides for content playback on the screens; and InfoChannel Reporter, an option that allows for the editing, updating and creation of site-specific content, if necessary.
Basic Hardware
At first glance, all of this may sound a bit complicated, but most of these systems are configured to operate much like the software we are already acquainted with. "Fortunately, digital signage is built on top of industry standard hardware," Trask says. "From a hardware perspective, the software that is driving the digital signage system [is derived from] plain Microsoft Windows environments. You are looking at a very inexpensive Windows-based computer for this application." These systems must be network-connected through TCP/ IP, which exists in any church that is already equipped with internet capabilities.
Once the content is created (and most systems support programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint), the network manager component of the system is responsible for sending the content out via the network. "You send your content to the network manager, and the network manager schedules your content and distributes it to the right screen at the right time," Trask explains. "For example, if you have 10 screens throughout your facility, and you want the screen in the lobby to display one thing at one time, and a screen in a different room to display something else, the network manager does this for you. All of this content can be prepared months in advance, because the network manager can be programmed to play the content when it needs to be displayed."
The player, which is located in the vicinity of the screen, receives the content that is downloaded from the network manager, allowing for playback. Systems like Scala's also continually monitor the players to alert operators of any malfunctions, which result in blank screens.
Ease of Use
Because these systems are based upon industry-standard protocols, learning how to use this technology is, according to its developers, relatively easy. "The InfoCaster interface consists of click, drag, drop, and then add content, whether you want to input it manually or choose it from files that already exist," Hewitt explains. Any web surfer – and in some cases, web shopper – will quickly adapt to the Internet-based software as well. "The web interface for EMS is designed to be like other web sites, in terms of ease of use," Raasch says. "If a facility decides to use the web to capture room requests, the requesting process is just like shopping online. You look at what is available, add a room to your cart, add other equipment that you might need, and then check out." Once the transaction has taken place, the system – including the displays – is updated in real time.
Raasch admits, however, that some features go deeper, requiring users to become acquainted with the system first. "The back end of EMS, which is designed for more of a power user – such as a scheduler who is responsible for the operations at the church – might require a little bit of training, but not much," he notes. "We designed it much like other Microsoft products, so that if you are already comfortable with computers and other computer applications, EMS is going to be very easy to pick up."
While pencils, agendas and poster boards may seem less expensive at first, the integration of scheduling with digital signage technology enables organizations to better communicate with their memberships in a number of different ways that were impossible a decade ago. "It seems very natural to take this schedule of events that was first thought of as a means of managing a church's operations and extend it to the point where it is being used for other purposes," Raasch observes. "Once we know that an event is taking place, digital signage can pick up on that information without that information being re-entered into another system. By posting that information on the web, there is an easily accessible and searchable calendar of events. In the past, churches would print out a calendar and mail it to all of their members. Now, this single source of scheduling information can be used for a number of communications purposes."
Q U I C K - L I N K S
Dean Evans & Associates Inc.
EMS event management software
(800) 440-3994 or (303) 771-0110
www.dea.com
Leitch Technology Corp.
Digital signage systems
(800) 231-9673 or (519) 570-9111
www.leitch.com
Scala Inc.
Software suite for digital signage
(610) 363-3350
www.scala.com
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