HR Operations Manager Jacinta Williams opens her email on her way into work on Tuesday and sees one from her boss that takes her eye. Subject: Digital Signage. The message reads: “I was at a Chamber of Commerce talk last night and I’m convinced we need digital signage to help us. The speaker was saying companies that use digital signage to help with internal communication see significantly improved employee engagement with lower turnover and better satisfaction rates. Please set up a low-cost trial for me here in the office in the next day or two.

Jacinta has heard about digital signage but never worked with it. She googles: “how to set up digital signage” And straightaway finds a product that Amazon sells called “Nixplay Signage.” The product promises a digital signage solution that is ready to use right out of the box with remote content management and includes a free software trial. This is just what Jacinta is looking for—a simple, easy to use and affordable digital signage solution that does just what her boss wants.

SIMPLE DESIGN WITH A RICH FEATURE-SET

One of the leading Wi-Fi connected digital signage solutions today began simply—by studying user behavior and giving people what they wanted. Mark Palfreeman, the founder and CEO of Nixplay Signage was managing his other interest, Nixplay, the world’s biggest digital photo frame business. He noticed that bulk sales of his Wi-Fi Cloud Connected frames were growing fast. He asked users what they were doing with them and discovered his product filled a market gap for simple digital signage. “There were simply no worthwhile easy-to-use, value-for-money solutions on the market that you could buy, have delivered and set up in a day,” he said.

“We set to work to create Nixplay Signage.

My vision was a simple and easy setup without the need for capital-intensive training, remote content management, and seamless one-click delivery to multiple displays wirelessly,” says Palfreeman.

On the hardware side, Nixplay provides displays ranging from 15.6 to 32 inches, with even smaller sizes planned by mid-year. The display has the capability to manage content from one easy-to-use interface that is designed to suit a wide range of businesses from education, government, and healthcare to hotels and restaurants. “Form and function exist in perfect harmony with our ingeniously simple display design,” adds Palfreeman. The hardware is equally supported by the backend software which has a built-in signage display management system allowing organizations to maximize efficiency and make instant adjustments. It also provides firms with the option to create playlists using mixed media formats with drag-and-drop simplicity. The product is further connected to the cloud so that organizations can upload their content, secure it, and offer flexible access. Nixplay puts particular emphasis on security as the data transferred between the client’s account and displays is protected using SSL encryption standards. The firm’s infrastructure is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in data centers with automatic scaling and recovery to guarantee maximum uptime. Nixplay Signage also uses multiple monitoring services to ensure smooth operations throughout.

Their solution is available on the Amazon marketplace. “Clients can build a complete solution by choosing the all-in-one hardware and software that they need. What’s best is, our product is peer-reviewed on Amazon which wins the vote of confidence of our new clients,” states Palfreeman.

"Form and function exist in perfect harmony with our ingeniously simple display design"

CONCEPTUALIZING SMALL-FORMAT SIGNAGE

A digital signage solution from Nixplay Signage also enables businesses with an efficient way to enhance customer experience. The firm aims to further eliminate the stumbling blocks associated with the traditional methods of digital displays through its small-format signage solutions. “It is intrusive and a horrible experience for a consumer who, let’s say, is visiting a hotel to look at a massive 65-inch display to gather the information that they want,” mentions Palfreeman. Nixplay is working on introducing smaller displays—starting from 10 to 17 inch—under their small-format signage initiative with elegant finishing touches to the displays. “The devices come in wood and silver finish to make them more of an eye-candy for the customers,” adds Palfreeman. The firm plans to launch the product by the end of April 2018.

The small-format signage solution will come with motion-sensor technology which would allow the users to control it in the same way that they would one the digital picture frames the company is famous for. Palfreeman believes that the solution will find wide application in the hotel industry as it will significantly enhance their customer engagement experience. They can even partner with local businesses to advertise their events or target specific customers or audiences to display the in-house facilities. “Nixplay Signage software lets organizations take control of the network of display screens and upload content via playlists to specific locations,” says Palfreeman. “This means one message can be broadcast to guests sitting in the executive club, another to the attendees at the event in the same hotel, and something else to patrons at the lobby bar.” Additionally, the same capability can be used to provide guests, information about conferences and meeting schedules.

Nixplay’s small-format signage solution will also offer the added benefit of quickly and easily changing the display from a corporate office which ensures that the information displays are always up-to-date and accurate. “This not only saves the hoteliers’ time but also avoids the frustration that a guest may feel by learning that they were late to take advantage of an advertised special offer,” mentions Palfreeman.

THE ‘SIGNS’ OF GREATNESS

Having carved an exceptional niche in the digital signage space, Nixplay is also keeping pace with what Palfreeman describes as “the new norm” by launching Alexa integration in their solution. “The voice assistance feature is not a thing of future anymore, and everyone has to re-learn and re-equip their companies around comprehending this paradigm,” says Palfreeman. Nixplay aims to enrich the user experience with Alexa integration to provide new capabilities and services not imagined before.

Founded in 2007 with a vision to connect people with technology, the firm today has offices in the U.S., UK, China, and the Philippines. Nixplay’s passionate team strives to lead digital signage innovation, continually developing new technologies and disrupting the signage industry with an integrated solution. In their quest to support their clients even further, the firm is removing their capital expenditure problem altogether. “We provide a cost-efficient solution and have further removed hardware charges if a company signs in for a three-year contract of software service,” states Palfreeman. With a vertical-oriented product and a will to be the leaders in the digital signage space, only the sky is the limit for Nixplay Signage.