Communitech Press releases and articles

Omnivex's "four keys to digital signage success" ranked no. 1 article in 2008 by Digital Signage Expo's "News and Views"

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:15:11 GMT

Readers take heed in "context is king" when implementing a digital signage program

Concord, Ontario, January 15, 2009 - Omnivex Corporation, the premier provider of enterprise software for digital signage networks, was recently recognized by the industry's leading show, Digital Signage Expo, for authoring 2008's most read article in DSE's popular e-newsletter News & Views.

The article, "4 Keys to Digital Signage Success," was written by Omnivex President Jeff Collard and appeared in the July 2008 Digital Signage Expo News & Views. It highlights four key principles necessary to develop a compelling digital signage deployment: viewer relevant content, live data, graphics on par with HDTV and a properly configured network.

Digital Signage Expo's list of the top 10 articles of 2008 is based on unique click-throughs from its reader base, which is made up of industry professionals, expo attendees including end users and exhibitors.

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Lamar gearing up for Olympics

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:11:49 GMT

By the time the 2010 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Vancouver launch next February, Lamar Transit Advertising Ltd. expects to have 46” LCD screens on every platform station of Vancouver’s existing 31 station Skytrain line and the city’s new nine station Canada Line subway line due to open later this year.

Further, following a recent pilot project with digital signs on the side of one city bus, Lamar is hoping for approval to similarly equip between 10 and 25 buses by the start of the Olympic Games – part of a plan to eventually have digital signage on 100 buses of the Vancouver Transit System.

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Delphi Display Systems, Inc. installs digital signage

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:33:05 GMT

Delphi Display Systems, a provider of rugged digital signage solutions, has announced the company has deployed a digital dasher board for the Los Angeles Kings 2008 - 09 season at STAPLES Center, replacing a section of traditional steel and plastic dasher board that surrounds the playing surface.

"Delphi is very pleased to provide a robust digital dasher board solution for the Los Angeles Kings organization that leverages Delphi's proven capability of integrating latest-generation digital video technology into harsh environments that require high reliability," said Ken Neeld, president and CEO of Delphi Display Systems, Inc. "This solution provides next generation video technology that can withstand not only the rigors of professional hockey, but will also provide a reliable venue for delivering fresh marketing content and advertising tailored to the LA Kings target audience, and to do so in a way that is becoming an expectation for fans today."

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When a regular IT backbone won't do

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:22:11 GMT

What: Wireless signage
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles

Equipped with old-fashioned roller-ads, the dasher boards lining the home ice rink for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings were perfect candidates for a digital signage upgrade last year. Simply put, digital signage would allow the team to service more advertisers in a more interesting and engaging way.

Late last year, the team agreed to a pilot program that replaced a few of their roller ads with digital signage.

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Successful digital signage contingent on aligning powerful technology with sound business strategy

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:53:06 GMT

The age of dynamic digital signage is upon us. You won’t travel very far without seeing an advertisement in a grocery store, a menu in a restaurant or a way-finding display in a hotel – all running on large-screen monitors. There’s a lot of excitement about digital signage and its potential. iSuppli, a major market intelligence firm, predicts global sales of digital signage will reach $14.6 billion annually by 2011. Companies see the possibilities for increased revenues, reduced costs, and healthier customer and employee relationships. But the actual displays are only a small part of the equation. A digital signage system won’t transform your business without a sound strategy and the right technology behind it. Here are four principles to consider before deploying a digital signage platform.

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Digital signage: Creating context in content

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:51:36 GMT

Executive Summary

Conventional wisdom suggests that great content is the most effective vehicle to deliver a given message. Content can be entertaining, clever and attention holding without necessarily imparting any useful information to the recipient. If the goal of your digital signage is solely to distract your audience to reduce perceived wait times, then content alone can do the job. But if the point of your message is to inform, educate, build awareness, create relationships or facilitate a decision, then the message must resonate with individual viewers. Real value can only be achieved when your message is relevant to your audience. Context is the appropriate combination of timing, focus and effectiveness that makes content applicable to the viewer.

This is not to say that good quality content is not important; in fact it is vital. The medium is still a major part of the message and people equate quality content with a quality message or brand. If your message is not pertinent to the viewer at that specific time and place, the value is greatly diminished and the presentation may significantly damage your relationship with that viewer. Digital signage is an effective communication medium, but you need to be careful not to communicate the wrong
message to the viewer.

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Real-time in the real world

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:49:11 GMT

How event-driven software makes content relevant and actionable

Despite a global recession and tight credit markets, digital signage continues to grow, albeit to a more cautious tune. Purchasers have learned a great deal over the years about the medium and are much more demanding about real benefits from their deployments. Simply scheduling a playlist of content does not provide value to the network sponsor or operator. Systems today must have the ability to respond to local conditions providing relevant content to a specific audience.

Real time information about the viewer, the surrounding environment and external conditions provides context to digital signage. It is the key to providing the right message to the right person at the right time. Building your delivery system around real time data is not a new idea but until recently, most software vendors did not offer this capability. As customers demand greater accountability from their digital signage networks, we are going to hear more about it.

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Digital Signage Expo honours GO network

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:18:17 GMT

Canadian software provider Omnivex received an award at the recent 2009 Digital Signage Expo in recognition of digital signs on GO trains in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Toronto-based United Mobile Broadcast Corporation (UMBC) uses software from Omnivex, based in Concord, Ont., to manage content on the commuter trains' screens, which inform and entertain passengers. Each train car is fitted with eight 381-mm (15-in.) liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

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InfoComm Academy names Jeff Collard to its Adjunct Faculty

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:09:33 GMT

Audiovisual industry expert to provide students highest quality instruction

Fairfax, VA – March 24, 2009 - InfoComm International, the trade association serving the professional audiovisual and information communications industries, has announced that Jeff Collard of Omnivex Corporation has been awarded status as an Adjunct Faculty Instructor for InfoComm Academy.

The Faculty Program was created to recognize the contributions of its corps of dedicated instructors and to contribute to their professional development. In doing so, InfoComm provides students with the highest quality training from the industry’s leading technical experts. Faculty members are nominated by the InfoComm Professional Education and Training Committee (PETC), with final selections made by the association’s Board of Directors. There are three levels of the Faculty Program: Adjunct Faculty, Academy Faculty and Senior Academy Faculty. There is also an honorary title of Instructor Emeritus.

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National Portrait Gallery incorporates Omnivex digital signage solution into art exhibits

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:55:28 GMT

Omnivex software provides Smithsonian visitors a deeper look at artists' work

Concord, Ontario, March 16, 2009 - Omnivex Corporation, the premier provider of digital signage software, announced today that the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute has implemented Omnivex software as part of its art exhibits. This system overcomes the traditional challenge museums face of representing an artist's work with the few pieces in its possession. The result is a richer, more educational experience for the art enthusiast.

The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute focuses on the individuals who have shaped US history and influenced the culture, such as poets, presidents, visionaries, actors and activists. Visitors can view art exhibits and then access touch screen LCD panels powered by Omnivex to view additional works of art by a given artist. For example, the Herb Block exhibit displays 60 original cartoons, but many more of the Washington Post cartoonist's pieces are viewable on the digital signage adjacent to the exhibit.

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Digital Signage Expo announces 2009 Apex and Content Award winners

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:52:07 GMT

The extraordinary number of submissions reflects the continued growth of the digital signage & interactive technologies industry.

(I-Newswire) - Las Vegas – Digital Signage Expo the only International Conference Summit & Trade Show exclusively dedicated to digital signage, interactive technologies and out-of-home media networks, today announced the winners of its Apex & Content Awards for 2009. This year six Apex Award winners were named from a field of 71 entrants chosen by an independent industry experts panel in the categories of Environmental Design Integration, Retail, Finance/Banking, Public Spaces, Interactive Innovation and Hospitality, and included:

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Omnivex's Moxie brings context and relevance to 3D digital signage software

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:59:38 GMT

Omnivex Corp. announced at Digital Signage Expo 2009 that its Moxie software will be officially released to the market on March 1. According to the company, Moxie breaks the industry tradition of canned content by allowing intelligent content to automatically respond to current conditions or events. The advent of truly contextual messaging will spur new ways of thinking about the role of digital signage, the company said.

With more than 250 new features, Moxie includes an advanced graphics engine, data-bound visual properties and management of meta-data attributes. The software also has the ability to intelligently manage content based on both internal and external information.

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GO Transit's digital signage system wins top award

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:58:05 GMT

Omnivex Corporation, Toronto's digital signage software provider, has received the Environmental Design Integration Award on behalf of United Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (UMBC).

The winning system integrates Omnivex software on GO Transit's commuter trains in the Greater Toronto Area to power a unique network of wireless mobile broadcasting to inform and entertain passengers. UMBC selected Omnivex software to manage the system for its flexibility when working with new communications technologies, cost-saving ability while maintaining a network, and the ease of collecting proof of play data.

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Prioritizing signage software management

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:56:44 GMT

A year ago at Digital Signage Expo I met Jeff Collard, president of Omnivex, for the first time. The company was touting its new Moxie digital signage management software, which was designed to make signage content more "intelligent," for lack of a better word. It was chock-full of impressive features and spent the last 12 months in the hands of Omnivex customers who tested the software and made suggestions on how to improve it.

On Monday, Omnivex ships the final version on Moxie, based in part on all the suggestions the company received during testing. To hear Collard talk about it, the feedback it got surprised the company at times and made for good insight into what end users are struggling with in their digital signage applications.

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Throwing signage on the bus

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:55:16 GMT

From Chicago to Norway, buses are adding wireless, GPS-enabled digital signage for displaying location-based ads and information.

Faced with budget shortfalls, Chicago has quit plowing side streets to save money. But the snow and cold were made a bit more tolerable for some of the city's public transit passengers, thanks to Kraft Foods, which provided heat at some bus shelters as part of an ad campaign for Stove Top Stuffing.

Kraft says it's the first time that heat has been used in bus shelter advertising (when the ad campaign ends, so does the heat, alas). Expect more out-of-the-box thinking from advertisers–and from cities willing to allow advertising on just about any municipal property in an effort to boost revenues.

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Bell Canada - Adding context to content

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:50:35 GMT

What> Interactivity
Where> Bell Canada Retail Stores

When visitors to the more than 125 Bell Canada retail outlets across Ontario pick up a wireless telephone to inspect for possible purchase, a magnetic link on a sensor is broken and a signal is sent through the USB port of a nearby Windows-based PC. Omnivex digital signage software system loaded onto that machine registers the event and which product the consumer picked up.

The digital signage system, in turn, interfaces directly over Bell Canada's network with the company's point-of-service database to instantly download pricing, specs, calling plans, and other relevant information for that specific product. A message then appears almost instantly on a 15-inch, Elo touch screen LCD monitor that sits adjacent to the customer, inviting him or her to learn more about the specific phone model he or she is looking at.

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Efficiency with digital signage

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:48:39 GMT

In any large hospital, a great deal of coordination is required to move patients through the operating facility efficiently and seamlessly, from the preoperative through to the recovery areas. At times it can be difficult to efficiently communicate to all necessary parties the treatment rooms available, patients who are ready for surgery and procedures that have been completed ahead of schedule. Tracking each patient and coordinating resources requires staff to have immediate access to patient case data, at any time At Sh. Joseph Hospital, nurses in the surgical facility had access to the data on their desktop workstations but relevant information was not quickly and easily visible for other staff in the area. The goal was to provide doctors, nurses and orderlies with better visual access to the operative status of each patient in its operating facility - without having to find a terminal and log in.

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Digital Signage Expo announces Apex Content Awards

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:54:49 GMT

Digital Signage Expo announced the winners of its 2009 Apex and Content Awards at a dedicated awards reception held the evening of the show’s opening day at the Las Vegas Convention Center on February 25.

"We received an extraordinary number of entries for both the Apex and Content Awards for 2009," said Chris Gibbs, president of Exponation LLC, which produces the Digital Signage Expo. "This is more than a reflection on the continued growth of the digital signage, interactive technology and out-of-home network industry. It also is clear that the work being done is raising the bar significantly in terms of quality and excellence."

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DSE: New Omnivex product enables context-sensitive messaging

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:53:44 GMT

CONCORD, Ontario — Omnivex Corp., provider of enterprise software for digital signage networks, has announced that its Moxie software will be officially released to the market on March 1. Moxie breaks the industry tradition of canned content by allowing intelligent content to automatically respond to current conditions or events.

Omnivex president Jeff Collard will elaborate on related best practices at the Digital Signage Expo workshop, "Event-Driven Content: Making Content Relevant and Actionable," at 4:30 pm Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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Adding Context to Content

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:32:15 GMT