The players
Chevron, based in San Ramon, Calif., conducts business in more than 100 countries and is engaged in every aspect of the crude oil and natural gas industry, including marketing its gasoline products at about 10,000 Chevron- and Texaco- branded stations across the United States.

PumpMedia, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., installs specifically designed media equipment at fuel dispensers to display high quality multimedia. Their program delivers entertaining and informative content to refueling motorists. PumpMedia also manages the installation and implementation of its “Pump Top Video” systems, advertising sales and network management.

UCView Media Inc., based in Chatsworth, Calif., offers a comprehensive set of digital signage solutions, including online management tools and robust servers and players tailored to the needs of virtually any industry. The UCView network-management software administers digital content distribution from a Web-based centralized console; creates and updates separate schedules for each display to allow targeted ads at each terminal or location; and
delivers multiple, high-definition video and audio formats, Flash and PowerPoint presentations, RSS feeds and image slideshows. UCView also provides digital signage and interactivity by touch, as well as cell phone SMS.

The problem
Drivers appreciate the convenience of pay-at- the-pump technology, but deployment of the technology has done little for gas station operators in the way of giving the a competitive advantage or increasing sales of products other than gasoline. Research from 2007 found that about 70 percent of drivers pay at the pump, which means that up to 70 percent of potential customers have no need to enter the store. That loss of floor traffic significantly hampers station operators’ attempts to sell impulse goods and services.

The solution
Chevron Products Company selected PumpMedia in 2007 to burnish its brand image by providing a “video at the pump” program, aimed at entertaining motorists while they refuel and at driving traffic into the convenience store. PumpMedia’s LAN, operating as a network of individual pump-top displays, was rolled out to independent service station owners to influence consumer behavior by affecting both non-fuel and off-site sales. The technology allows gas station owners to connect each pump-top unit to the convenience store without running wires or installing a non-secure wireless networking system, reducing both installation and security costs. It targets specific, captive and demographically desirable audiences using daylight readable 19-inch LED back light LCDs.

Recently, PumpMedia upgraded the Chevron pump-top units with glass-front touchscreen technology. The upgrade also included installing UCView software that allows individuals to interact with each pump-top unit, delivering up-to-the minute digital signage content over wireless and TCP/IP networks — thereby bridging the gap between pump-top kiosks and interactive digital signage. The content features news and entertainment interspersed with advertiser messages.

The UCView network management distributes content from a Web based console. Also, gas station owners can section the screens as desired, providing advanced playlist scheduling, change of layouts and ad rotation and sequential or random play lists.

The UCView software infrastructure facilitates the industry’s first synchronization of media across all screens at a single station. The technology coordinates downloads and playlists so audio and video content is presented simultaneously, without echo, with concurrent execution to the millisecond.
The basic system in a participating Chevron station includes an off premise server and several on-premise UCView smart media players. The players are encased in pump-top displays from PumpMedia. Installation is nondisruptive, taking less than 30 minutes per fuel dispenser and not requiring the station to close during the process.

The results
The gas station industry’s first interactive, pump-top digital signage kiosk, now installed within Chevron’s nationwide network of c-store/ gas station sites, has generated an average 40-percent lift on c-store items advertised on the units for at least one station, according to station owner Pratap Gandhi of Orange, Calif. Described by Gandhi as a “PC on a pump, a cross between a kiosk and digital signage,” the units provide customers with Web-based information such as promotional specials and in-store coupon printing; news, weather and traffic updates; a restaurant finder; printable directions; current lottery jackpot data and more, with just a touch of the screen. Consumers also can interact with the Web sites of third parties who advertise on the network.
“Since installation, we’ve seen increased non-fuel and car wash sales, as well as an upsurge in frequency of visits,” Gandhi said. “More customers are moving to us from nearby competitors because we have these touchscreen, interactive portals.”

By Lorna Pappas,
Contributing writer Digital signage Today

The concept of narrowcasting is essential in finding successful through advertising.  Certain people are more interested in particular services and products than others.  The key to finding and advertising to those correct people is advertising in the right place at the right time.  This occurs in many instances, like in television commercials.  For example, late-night television will be completely free from commercials for children’s toys while morning and mid-afternoon television will be full of them, especially on certain channels advertisers believe people will be interested in their product.  That’s the key.  Understand what kinds of people frequent certain places at certain times, what they might be most interested in and advertise accordingly.

The current skyrocketing use of digital signage is an excellent way to employ the use of narrowcasting.  The new popularity in recent years has transformed the idea of digital signage from an advertising risk to a crucial method of communication for marketers hoping to increase their influence on potential buyers.  Important things to remember are the location for your advertisement and the time of day it is displayed.  When used in the context of internet marketing, a useful aspect is to incorporate where the web user is looking now into where you place your ads.  Advertising on social networks makes sense if you wish to advertise to a young, very current generation.  Marketing on a news website is proper if your audience is a more prominent class of people and you hope to reach them in that way.

So how can you accomplish all this?  How can you think of everything you need to employ to get the most return from your advertising investment?  Narrowcasting services are available to help retailers recognize customer potential and maximize their financial return on the use of digital signage.  These services provide help in all aspects of advertising, from the creative production of a great looking ad, to research of your audience, to installation of the physical LCD screen, if you choose to use this medium, to revamping your ad in order to continue focusing productively on your audience.  Narrowcasting professionals can also assist you in altering messages on your digital signage due to changes in season, trends or promotions.
The extreme cost-effectiveness of digital signage makes utilizing a narrowcasting service an important part of making the most of your investment.  The money you save using this innovative technology and then employing the use of a narrowcasting service will increase your return, guaranteed!

Place-Based Media - Interactive Digital Signage

Place-based media, or interactive digital signage, has overcome the pace of internet growth. The idea is to get people involved where they work, play and socialize.  It is driven by lower infrastructure rates as well as its ability to convey and optimize lush interactive media. Screens for such a purpose come in a variety of formats, powered by built-in computers. The content can be easily altered to respond well to anyone within its reach at different events with different kinds of audiences.  People are intrigued by interactive signage and find it more entertaining than other forms of media.

Place-based media is effective because it encourages immediate action from its users. A methodical approach must be taken to ensure that the location of interactive digital signage is appropriate for what kind of audience you are trying to reach.  In order to drive consumer action, you must aware of the needs and interests of you target audience. Marketers understand the benefits of engaging consumers with a specific brand by promoting consumer action as opposed to only projecting a message and hoping the potential buyer is paying attention..

One of the newest forms of advertising, place-based media is becoming extraordinarily popular in retail locations.  The cost, it is becoming clear, is well worth the impact of this marketing method.  The futuristic feeling you get from walking into a retailer with plasma screens integrated into the walls or floor with stimulating images shown on them is one to remember.  And that is the point.  If you remember a certain location based on its advertising, then marketers have reached their goal.  You may find yourself becoming envious if you are a business owner struggling to realize how you can incorporate place-based media in your store.

If you are a business owner and want a piece of this financial treasure, hop on the train!  Services are available to help you get started in developing your place-based media.  Even if you no idea currently where you would like to go with your advertising, services can help you get a creative idea started.  After the research and other preliminary components are complete, they can assist you in making your vision a reality.  Once everything is set up and running, they can provide continual assistance with updating your images and advertisements based on the season, shopper trends and various promotional deals your business may be having that you want to be made known.

UCView Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Integration.

It’s no secret that managing digital signage networks and applications are complex tasks. Multiple Technologies are in use today, often by the same organization. This article presents an overview of one technology: the UCView SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). UCView SNMP offers a method to monitor and manage digital signage player. This Document offers a simplified view of UCView SNMP fundamentals and explains how the Fundamental components work together. Prior to UCView SNMP, users can only control the functionality of their players and ads through the online content management system. Using UCView SNMP allow you to control some functionality of the player like activating interactive ads place text on the screen, close and open the screen etc. Implementation Now that we’ve looked at definitions, it’s easier to see how UCView SNMP operates in a network. In its simplest form, UCView SNMP agent is loaded on a player with the Appropriate command components. command components include. The player is configured to communicate with one or more NMS using specific UCView SNMP community strings. The NMS IP address is also configured to enable the players to send Notifications. The Player contains the UCView SNMP commands. The NMS is configured with the same community strings as the player it manages. The players is also configured with the appropriate combination of the UCView SNMP Commands, username, and password that’s required to manage the player for which it is responsible. The NMS is also configured, either manually or through automatic discovery, with the IP addresses of the players it is to manage. Note that SNMP communication requires network player to open UDP Ports 161 and 162 for polling and Traps/commands

Configuring UCView SNMP Access The UCView SNMP helper, require SNMP or Telnet access to devices in order to perform their function. This section describes how to configure inserts into the device access databases. Any Precision IP components that require SNMP or Telnet access use the settings from these databases. In this section, the UCView SNMP helpers are used as representative examples of these processes.

UCView SNMP helpers that require SNMP access use two SNMP user access and password configuration files to gain access to player on the network: Synopsis

snmpcommand [-V] [-O] [-C] [-R] [-T] [-A] [-i ad_id] [-I Textmesg] [-P PARSEROPTS] [-m mibs] [-M mibdirs] [-d] [-D TOKEN[,TOKEN,...]]  

[-H Horizontal_pixels] [-V Vertical_pixels] [-b boxsize] [-u username] [-p password] [-H Horizontal_pixels] [-V Vertical_pixels] [-b boxsize] [-u username] [-p password]

Description
The following are the common arguments for UCView SNMP commands. Applications may provide
additional parameters (commandparams) that are specified after the player and authentication

controls specified here.

Conclusion
Through the use of UCView SNMP players, information technology digital signage
has grown dramatically and has drastically reduced the requirement for administrators to
manually monitor individual player’s components. The ability to have systems informs an
NMS, control playlist and operation of digital signage players. While not perfect,
SNMP provides many of the tools necessary to control player within local network, to display
alert activate ads and announce messages on the screen and more.

The recent explosion of the use of digital advertising is a sign of our times. In the past the most prudent way to reach potential clients was to post advertisements on billboards, in newspaper ads and other similar advertising. During this age of technology, digital is the way to go! The benefits of using digital signage versus traditional displays are extensive. From simply the enhanced visual appearance to the versatility of material that can be displayed, your financial return on an investment in digital signage will be greatly increased from an investment in something traditional.

attractive aesthetics of a digital sign is very appealing to the eye. Digital signage gives you the option of using bright colors, first of all. Traditional signs fade and lose their appeal relatively quickly. To keep them in top shape, maintenance is a must. However, with something digital, this is not the case! In addition, it is known that the human eye is drawn much more dramatically to a moving object or picture than a stationary one. The movement you can create catches attention. Imagine you are standing in an airport and above you are two signs. One is a plastered advertisement for some product or service, the other is a visually-stimulating, moving commercial. Which one will you be drawn to read as you walk by? Clearly the moving, more interesting one will catch and hold your attention much more effectively.

The flexibility of display is a fantastic benefit of utilizing digital signage. To begin, creating a digital sign is less expensive than traditional signs and changing promotions can be instant with no hassle. The rotation of advertisements that can roll on the screen offers non-retailers the chance to sell advertising space and make more money that way. Also, the flexibility of a moving image gives you the opportunity to provide potential customers with more information, increasing the chances of making a sale.

Any LCD or plasma screen you may be using for your digital signage can be used indoors or out. If used in an outdoor environment, you need to use an all-weather enclosure to protect your investment. Using digital signage outside will add to the cost of advertising, but you will reach more people that way and the return could certainly be worth it. Providing your clients with up-to-date information in a stimulating way will create excellent return on your wise investment. Look into digital signage for your advertising needs today!

Chatsworth, CA - UCView Media Inc., a leading digital signage provider, has released a new signage solution specifically tailored to the needs of restaurants. Utilizing the latest digital signage and screen-interaction technology, the Digital Signage Menu Board provides a one-stop communication solution for improving both customers’ dining experience and developing targeted in-store advertising. The system includes a UCView DIGIBoard Digital signage media server, UCView wireless media players and displays strategically placed throughout a restaurant for maximum impact and content ­­­exposure.

“UCView’s Digital Signage Menu Board offers many unique features,” says Guy Avital, president and CEO of UCView Media.  “You can instantly change items, prices and specials on fast-food menu boards without the cost of printing new menu board sheets or change alpha-numeric character tiles.”  In these establishments, menu boards are the main tool in educating and enticing customers to purchase product.  Digital menu boards allow fast food restaurants to communicate this critical information more effectively and attractively than any other medium.

The advantages of digital signage in full service and fine dining restaurants are even greater.  States Mr. Avital: “You can change the look of any one or all of your displays at any time, easily creating distinctive looks for theme nights, holidays and special occasions. Weekly, daily and even hourly specials can be scheduled in advance or on the fly, changing whenever a sudden opportunity reveals itself.” 

Link a group of displays together to create a “video wall” that can display static or animated restaurant logos, video and Flash graphics.  Featuring such a display matrix in a prominent area will create a cutting edge yet upscale motif that can be continued throughout every part of the restaurant.

Interactive touch-screen digital signage displays installed at each table will allow customers to send food orders to the kitchen, drink orders to the bar, or call the maitre d’ directly from the table. The lighted screens are easy to read in darker environments and menus can be changed immediately, eliminating the need to print dozens—or thousands—of menus.  “Sold out items can be removed and new dishes can be added with only a few mouse clicks,” Avital continues.  “You can even divide the screen into multiple sections and vary the content to include advertisements for food and drink specials and add elegant graphics to create just the right mood for your clientele.  Best of all, any combination of content can be sent to any sign in the restaurant whenever it best suits the establishment’s purpose.  The owner or manager is limited only by his/her imagination.”

Avital believes that the initial investment in a Digital Signage Menu Board system is offset not only by increased presence and satisfaction of patrons, but also the lower operating cost over an extended period of time. We are confident that within this period, the advantages and long-term savings over static, print media will allow any establishment to stay ahead of the competition in both image and revenue.”

For as long as the hospitality industry has been in existence, communication has been an issue thatneedssolving. Now the solution is here! Digital signage is the answer to conveying real-time messages to a vast audience in dispersed locations all at once. It has the ability to entertain, direct and inform viewers. Never has a single tool been able to complete so much! Past technology only allowed for televisions to display whatever was being broadcast by a television provider. With digital signage software, the current screens already installed in hospitality locations can be transformed into multiple-split screens to serve a more effective purpose in informing and entertaining viewers as well as maximizing advertising for increased sales revenue.

The hospitality industry has a profound focus in customer service. Utilizing digital signage in such businesses has many great benefits for your customers. First, it keeps clients up-to-date with current news, weather and other important information as they wait in the lobby. Interactive screens can help guide guests to featured locations of the business while also providing an activity guide. Menus, services, specials and most importantly emergencies can be communicated with digital signage in a time-sensitive manner unmatched by any other technology. On-Demand programming can also provide enjoyable entertainment at tables, in rooms, or in waiting areas. In order to best communicate with everyone you are serving, digital signage in hospitality applications can be designed to make announcements in multiple languages, whether only displayed or spoken out loud.

Not only does the hospitality industry benefit from the customer service that digital signage provides, it can also be used internally to maximize human resource endeavors. This technology can provide training on the spot for new staff members and also inform existing staff of changes instantly without requiring an inconvenient, time-consuming meeting. This helps keep turnover costs down when new employees are hired and require training by having a per-published training video ready to run for your new workers. CEOs can also use digital signage to encourage their staff with real-time messages during staff meetings.

To help your hospitality business increase its customer service and staff interaction and training, join the millions of others who have realized the potential of digital signage. Services are available today to assist you in getting everything set up and running. Do not procrastinate making this important business change any longer!

One f the fastest current growing advertising methods is digital advertising signage. During this time in history, technology is becoming more and more prevalent in everything we see, including marketing. Commercials are a form of digital advertising, but this is different from the newest trend that we are referencing here. We’re talking about digital technology replacing printed material all together because it is swiftly proving to be a much more effective method of marketing. This would include replacing billboards, fliers and posters with LCD or plasma screens designed to advertise with a flare.

When comparing the price that is required to produce a billboard on the side of the road versus creating a video or slide show presenting a product and displayed on a screen in an airport or restaurant, you must consider the number of viewers. Circulation and viewership are not the same things. You will easily get more views for your dollar with digital advertising signage because it intrinsically draws more attention than traditional marketing. It is well known that bright colors, flashing lights and movement draw the eye far more dramatically than simple print on a poster or billboard.

Another aspect of digital advertising signage is that if you need to make a change, you simply make changes at a central location run by a computer that controls every screen you have, whether it is in one store or all around a town. You can program different displays to be shown on different monitors in order to target your specific audience more effectively. Changes that must be made based on seasons, trends and shopper’s habits can be made instantaneously on every digital sign you have. This is a significantly cheaper, faster and easier method than replacing billboards or signs by hand.

The growth of digital advertising signage has allowed for dropping prices recently. Truly, at the earliest stages of this technology, prices were hefty, but with advancements and improvements, prices have never been better! This innovative technology is irreplaceable when it comes to getting your name or product known. For those of you who suffer from symptoms of lack of time, expertise, or experience, services are available to help get you going with a marketing that serves your purposes the best. Now is the time to get your business caught up with the current advertising industry and consider purchasing advertising space in the digital signage realm.

UCView News
Chatsworth, CA (March 31 2009) UCView Media, a provider of digital signage solution, announced the release of EZBoard Editor 1.1 to our UCView Digital Signage Portal.

EZBoard Editor 1.1

EZBoard Editor allows you to create flash content online using only your browser, and integrate into a database for easy modification of live data updates. The module is perfect for Menu boards, data driven content flash ads. We created this Editor due to the growing demand from our customers to allow easy modification of data driven content, without the need of designer to render a new content said Guy Avital Ucview Media CEO

Some of the EZBoard Features

·      Create dynamic menu boards and ads without coding.

·      Integrate images, flash and Text to create data driven ads

·      Expedite ads delivery and improve productivity.

·      Empower your users to update, change ads and manage basic modification

·      Easily bring Flash ads into your player and determine what elements users can edit

·      Control user’s access to modify template or ads data.

·      Integrate Database forms to modify content.

The EZBoard is a fast way to modify data, picture and text on a multi media ad. Without any training or complex screens, EZboard allow you to manipulate text images and flash and create attractive ad.

For more information about UCView Media solutions, please contact the company directly by calling
1-877-828-4399 www.ucview.com