History
In 2009, after a lengthy and diligent review, by a Technology Leadership Counsel (TLC) working group, a recommendation to the full TLC was made with a subsequent approval to move forward. Syracuse University purchased a digital signage application suite "site" license from Four Winds Interactive Inc. in December 2009.
New as of March 2011, Orange Alert messaging was integrated into the digital sign network. All signs on this network will include a default subscription to the emergency messaging channel. In the event of an emergency message being sent via the Orange Alert (MIR3) system, sign players will switch to and broadcast the message full screen for the duration of the event.
In the summer of 2017 a new license model was presented by Four Winds and again after review the TLC moved to adopt the new Enterprise Solution with Integration Framework.
Architecture
This software solution is comprised of three main components:
- A centralized locally hosted SQL database that stores information on the Digital Signage Network (DSN), Sign Player locations by Organizational Unit, Content locations configuration and formatting, Templates (sign layouts), Schedules, and user and group permissions.
- The Content Manager Web application, is a browser based client application that interfaces with the database to create Sign Players, Content, Templates, configure, schedule and deploy these to the digital signs running the Content Player or Browser extension.
- The Content Player application, which runs on the remote PC (sign player) and polls the database for content and scheduling information to present on a digital display. Our current licensing allows for 200 active signs across our DSN.
- Actual content may come from a variety of sources, documents on a shared folder, multimedia streams, web content, rss feeds, and data repositories, to name a few. Meaning content providers/authors may never need access to the actual application in order to provide fresh content to various signs. It is recommended that those responsible for administrating the DSN for their unit to receive training/overview of the product and its deployment before assigning responsibilities to various staff members.
Emergency Messaging Integration
