One of our goals within Rise Vision is to make it real simple and risk free to work with us and to this end we have been trying to make how we charge for our services easy to understand, with no long term commitments and you only pay for what you use.

A couple of months ago we simplified our pricing and eliminated the monthly Network Operator subscription fee and the request/tracking of demonstration accounts. But we still billed one month in advance for all subscriptions. To make things simpler to understand and to only bill for what is used we are going to change this as of February 2010. We will no longer bill in advance and we will instead bill at the end of every month for all displays used that month and if a display was added part way through the month we are prorating the charge.

To put this into place we won’t be sending out our usual invoices at the end of February for March, instead you will receive them at the end of March for March. All invoices will be emailed to those Users that you have designated as Billing Administrators under your Rise Display Network account and another new feature that we have added is that from the emailed invoice you can login and review your account and change your credit card on file if you would like to.

In addition to the above we have put all of your subscription details into what we hope you find to be a flexible format for all of your analysis, reconciliation and billing purposes. This is very much an experiment so please don’t hesitate to let us know your thoughts. As of March we will import your monthly subscription details into a Google spreadsheet just for you, so that you have all of the information you need to manage your accounts. Each monthly subscription spreadsheet will be shared with the email addresses of the Billing Administrators that you have setup in Rise Display Network and if they are not already registered with Google just follow these Google Account instructions to sign up. It’s free, and once done, you have full access to the subscription details spreadsheet.

We hope you find these changes to be of benefit and as always please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have further questions or suggestions.

Software-as-a-Service Rise Network Operator News

A lot of people have been asking about why we have gone so quiet in Rise Vision and why we can’t talk about what we’re building next and we knew the quantity of these inquiries would only increase with DSE next week, so we thought it was time to share a bit about where we’re going.

We have been watching digital signage, technology, business and consumer trends and we realized a few things:

• Displays will no longer be passive one-way dialogue devices, within the next year or two it will be rare that you can’t touch and interact with a display, they will become two-way dialogue portals, communicating in all directions, all at once.
• Everyone will have a physical and digital life; a digital presence on one or more social networks that compliments their physical place in the world and the message needs to reach them in both places.
• The personal display, or what we are currently calling mobile devices, will dominate and the large public format display will become a beacon seeking to draw our personal devices in to whatever message they want us to participate in.
• The software and hardware to drive all of this is a commodity, those of us who make a living in digital signage will need to adopt products that provide a platform from which to create unique value for our clients, otherwise we are just order takers, creating nothing innovative, left with only one tactic to win business – fight on price.
• The days of locked in, long term, heavy cancellation fee contracts are gone, no one in their right mind will accept this anymore. Our platform has to be flexible and allow our partners to come and go as needed, ramp up or contract on a moments notice.
• Our partners need the freedom to extend what we do with no restrictions so that they can move as fast and as nimbly as they possibly can – our partners need open source solutions with extensive API’s that provide them with the ability to create what they want, when they want.
• Our partners need a forum to bring their innovative wares to market, the means of creating and selling their intellectual property on a mass basis rather than one-off customizations.
• Simple is the order of the day. If there is demand for crazy complexity by 20% of your market that causes the remaining 80% to spend all of their time trying to remember how to use your application then don’t do it. Make simple, easy to use and eloquent products. These are the web apps that will dominate tomorrow.
• All innovation is happening on the web. Okay, maybe not all, but what is left is such a small fraction it isn‘t worth considering. Our platform has to leverage open web formats, formats that no one can claim ownership of or demand royalties from, we need to leverage and re-purpose what is readily available in HTML today and HTML5 tomorrow.
• The sky is the limit for digital signage. Our market is growing by leaps and bounds and our partners need the tools to scale their businesses in an unlimited way, with no restrictions or capacity worries.

Given these inevitable trends we don’t think this is about digital signage any longer, we feel the market is even bigger than we all thought and we refer to this opportunity as a digital display convergence.

To meet this convergence we realized we needed a radical new approach, and we knew we justweren‘t big enough to make this all happen on our own, we needed a really big lever so we borrowed the biggest one we could find – Google – and we set about creating:

• A web platform for display management on top of the Google global network – there isn‘t anything bigger, more robust, reliable, or scalable.
• An open sourced browser app that runs on almost any operating system, device, and network, and it has open API’s for everything.
• Display content based upon HTML and HTML5 – we want you to re-purpose and cross-publish web assets everywhere – and add any content you please with the Google Gadget API.

I know the above is vague and to be honest it is meant to be. We’re not ready just yet to reveal all but within the next few months we will begin beta testing on a very limited basis and if all goes well we will have a full release by early summer. To all of our partners many thanks for you patience, we’re hoping you’ll find the wait well worth it.

Software-as-a-Service

If you are attending DSE in Las Vegas next week stop by the Almo Booth #1413 to say hello.

Feb 24-25 in Las Vegas, NV

In the booth we will be running different styles of content including: portrait, landscape, multi screen configurations (2×1 and 3×1), and interactive content.  The booth will utilize 20 displays and 8 media players to demonstrate a flexible and diverse digital signage network.

I will also be moderating the session Trends in Interactive Gestural and Touch Screen Applications and we have some great examples from GestureTek if you want to learn more about advancements in interactive.

Safe travels and we look forward to seeing you next week.

Software-as-a-Service

Rise technology partner, Seneca is pleased to introduce one of the slimmest high-definition media players on the market. Designed for digital signage, the I-330 HD Media Player opens up entirely new possibilities for high-definition video that goes anywhere.

Seneca has packed big video capabilities and performance into a small, energy-efficient design able to go virtually anywhere. Pairing an NVIDIA® ION™ graphics processor with the low-power Intel® Atom™ processor, the I-330 HD Media Player sets a new standard in small form factor designs.

The I-330 is smaller, more powerful, and far less expensive than other small form factor digital signage media players and has been tested with the Rise Display Network.  To order, please contact Seneca directly by visiting their website or contacting them at 877-450-7808.

Software-as-a-Service Digital Signage Tech Tips, Reselling Digital Signage

Are you looking for easy ways to get users to contribute content to your digital signage?  One suggestion is leveraging the power and simplicity of a Google Presentation.  From the convenience of a Google Presentations your users can easily create messages, insert pictures, etc.

If you would like to watch a 5 minute demo on how to set this up with Rise Display Network check out the following video demo.

Install example by BLR Sign Systems

Digital Signage Software, Software-as-a-Service, Support Digital Signage Software, Digital Signage Tech Tips

CSL Plasma has installed 5 locations with 40″ Samsung LCD screens using the Rise Display Network to provide promotional videos and healthcare related announcements to patients.

LCD installation in Boca Raton, FL

With locations in 4 different states utilizing a web service allows them to easily update the content from any computer with a web-browser and distribute messages globally to all sites or target messages to individual screens.

In addition to keeping their patients informed of the latest products and announcements the displays also help reduce perceived wait time by showing local weather forecasts and a scroller with the latest headline news.

Software-as-a-Service Digital Signage Installation

A few months ago I did a post for suggestions on Setting up a Showroom.  For those of you considering it here is an example of how Computer Business Services out of WI set one up.

Cathy from Computer Business Services worked closely with one of our Private Network Partners Sherlock Systems to secure the necessary display, cart, media player and software to properly show of digital signage.  The displays have multiple purposes.  First they are promoting what the business does to help show the public examples of digital signage in action.  Through the use of the Ergotron mobile cart the display is also mobile allowing them to take the unit to expos and shows.

In both environments the digital signage solution lets Computer Business Services show other small businesses that they are more than just a break/fix establishment.  They can also help create innovative solutions to enable their clients to become more efficient, promote services, or entertain their customers.

If you are interested in setting up a showroom in your facility or looking to create a mobile demo unit feel free to contact Sherlock Systems to learn more about their demo packages.

Software-as-a-Service Digital Signage Installation, Reselling Digital Signage, Rise Network Operator News

If you are attending DSE February 24th and 25th in Las Vegas and you want to learn more about interactivity and digital signage I would encourage you to sign up to attend Session 34 on Thursday the 25th at 3pm.

Feb 24-25 in Las Vegas, NV

I will be moderating the session where you can learn about some of the exciting trends and technology from GestureTek, learn about the deployment of multiple interactive technologies at the Official New York City Visitor Center, and see some of the groundbreaking things the MIT SENSEible City Lab is producing.

You can learn more about the seminar at the DSE website, or read the article Three Ways That Interactivity Will Change Digital Signage

Digital Signage Software, Software-as-a-Service Digital Signage Content, Digital Signage Software, Digital Signage Tech Tips

Communication is the key to success!

Kozi Digital Design understands this and focuses on creating digital signage solutions, focused on effective communication.  Kozi Digital Design is a full service provider specializing in custom design, system engineering, integration, construction with expertise in retail, health care, education, corporate environments.

To help them deliver dynamic content Kozi has partnered with Rise Vision to take advantage of the Private Network Program allowing them to effectively manage the network for all of their clients through their own “white labeled” solution.

To learn more about Kozi Digital Design contact them at info@kozidigitaldesign.com or check out their new website coming soon at http://www.kozidigitaldesign.com/

Software-as-a-Service Rise Network Operator News