Key Questions to Ask When Ordering Digital Sign Supplier

The global digital signage market size is expected to hit USD 27.8 billion by (Markets And Markets, ). More and more businesses are choosing to communicate with their customers and employees by using digital signages.

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While digital signage is not a complicated product, shopping for it can be a stressful process if you do not understand how digital signage can suit your needs. When you meet with your signage supplier, there are some questions that you should always ask.

In this article, we will discuss the top 7 questions to ask before buying a digital signage.

1. What are the available screen sizes?
2. What is the screen resolution?
3. Does it come with a content management system?
4. What are the content formats that it can display?
5. How to publish content?
6. What are the other available features?
7. Do you offer training and after-sales support?

Screen size is an important consideration when you are buying a digital signage. It is the physical measurement of the screen’s diagonal. There is never a perfect size. Each business has its own requirements. The best screen size is the one that fits the business’s requirements most.

Not every business needs a giant screen. Some businesses only need smaller screens at their payment counters to display promotional messages, while other businesses might need larger screens to expand their audience reach.

Another reason why screen size is important is that it can affect the installation if the size is too large. Before speaking to your signage supplier, you should always measure or at least estimate the available installation area size. Try to have a firm grasp of what is the maximum screen size that is allowed. Then, inquire about the available size options and the installation price of each size.

As the screen size gets larger, the weight and the product dimension will increase too. Larger and heavier digital signage might need additional steel support or brackets.

Images on all digital screens are made of millions of tiny dots. These dots are called “pixels”. Screen resolution measures the amount of horizontal and vertical pixels on a screen. Some of the most common screen resolutions of digital signage are HD 720p ( x 720), Full HD ( x ), and 4K Ultra HD ( x ).

Technically, a larger screen resolution delivers images with finer and sharper details because it has more pixels. However, a 4K Ultra HD digital signage is not necessarily the best option for some situations.

First, if your images and videos displayed are not having the same resolution as the screen resolution of your digital signage, the image quality on the screen will deteriorate. Not every business has adequate resources to prepare content in 4K resolution. If it is the case, never invest in a 4K digital signage since you are not going to fully utilize its performance.

Second, if your audience is not going to view the content while standing or sitting very close to the screen, you might not need a digital signage with high resolution. A higher resolution has a shorter viewing distance. While having a short viewing distance is great for almost all applications, the cost can get incredibly high.

Content management system (CMS) is an application or software that is designed to help digital signage owners or users in uploading and managing their digital content. There are a few methods that a signage owner can use to display content on the screen – via a USB thumb drive, HDMI connection, or cloud content management system.

Both USB and HDMI connections are the most common features of a digital signage. They are also normally referred to as the “Plug-and-Play” method. Just plug the thumb drive or connect your laptop to the digital signage with an HDMI cable. The signage will then display the content automatically.

On the other hand, content management system provides a more advanced and flexible approach in managing the content. The user does not need to be present at the physical location to update content. He or she can use the CMS application and update content by using a laptop or a smartphone remotely.

You do not want to buy a digital signage that cannot display your content properly. Make sure to check the file supported formats as it can also help you to evaluate whether you can prepare content in those formats in the future.  

Most importantly, if a digital signage cannot even support common images and video formats such as JPEG, PNG, and MP4, do not bother at all.

Whether it is using USB, HDMI, or content management system, different digital signage models or brands have different publishing procedures. Make sure to ask the supplier about all possible ways to publish content.

Whenever you publish content, there are also some settings or attributes that you also need to know. Some common attributes include image duration, playback mode (to loop or not), publish date, and publish time.

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Depending on the model, a digital signage can be equipped with features such as automatic brightness adjustment, volume control, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, and screensaver.   

Buying a digital signage is not much different than buying a smartphone. You will need to do some research and try to understand the available features of the product. Understanding the product features can help you to plan and utilize the digital signage to its full potential in the future.

While most digital signage products come with manuals or user guides, we need to admit that nobody is going to read the guides. Hence, training availability can be a huge consideration factor when it comes to purchasing digital signage.

It is always a great bonus if the supplier can provide training or basic tutorials in handling and managing the digital signage. This can also help the business to save time and costs as it does not need to explore and play with the signage on its own.

On the other hand, after-sales support is very important in improving customer satisfaction. Digital signage is a commercial product. When there is an issue with the hardware or software, not everyone has the ability to troubleshoot and fix it.

Here are 10 things you need to know when choosing an e-signature provider. Read on to discover all the questions you should ask before making a decision

Are you in the process of choosing an electronic signature provider? If you are wondering what you need to know before you choose an electronic signature provider, here are 10 questions you should ask before making a final decision. Your e-signature solution should help you automate manual tasks and propel your business forwards. Every buyer should ask the key things:

Does your electronic signature company follow best-practice security standards?

You could be tempted to simply scan and upload the image of a hand-signed document and call it a day, but if you do - you might be missing out on important layers of security and authentication that protect your agreements and contracts. With some electronic providers, your contracts come with audit trails and proof of transactions that can make it easier to show they were legally executed should they ever be challenged in a court of law. Check if your provider meets global security standards and uses strong data encryption technology.

What type of electronic signatures does your provider offer?

Not all electronic signatures are the same. Some agreements require a higher level of security and authentication than others. While many documents are legally binding with an SES (simple electronic signature), others require QES (Qualified Electronic Signatures) or an AES (Advanced Electronic Signature). Discover more about SES, QES and AES types of signatures. A QES offers the highest level of trust through a face-to-face ID verification process by a Qualified Trust Service Provider.

Will your electronic signature be safe?

Electronic signatures can be more secure than wet signatures. An electronic record serves as an audit trail and proof of the transaction. The audit trail includes the history of actions taken with the document, including when it was opened, viewed and signed. If one of the signers disputes their signature, or if there's any question about the transaction. Detailed certificates of completion can include specific details about each signer on the document, including the consumer disclosure indicating that the signer agreed to use e-signature, the signature image, key event timestamps, the signer's IP address and other identifying information. Documents are digitally sealed using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), an industry-standard technology. This seal indicates the electronic signature is valid and that the document hasn't been tampered with or altered since the date of signing. Discover more about keeping your electronic signature safe?

Will the electronic signature platform integrate with the systems you already use?

Employees are more likely to adopt electronic signatures if they integrate with the systems they already use. It's an advantage if they can take action directly from applications like Microsoft, Google, Apple and Salesforce. Check what systems your electronic signature provider integrates with.

E-signature technology can use multiple options for verifying a signer's identity before they can access the document and sign, including addresses, access codes and ID verification. For situations where additional levels of signature validity are necessary, some providers offer two additional levels of e-signature. The QES and AES digital signatures as mentioned earlier. Your provider should also provide a chain of custody and audit trail.

What other customers does the electronic signature platform have, and are there any in your industry?

It's always a good idea to check if the electronic signature platform you plan to use has other customers of your size or in your industry. You can see if they already have experience creating similar workflows to those you wish to automate.

What benefits have existing customers received by using the electronic signature platform?

Seek out what other customers are saying about using the electronic signature platform you are considering. Most providers should share customer testimonials and case studies. They should be able to share the benefits their customers have experienced. Try and find out if customers often start in one area of their business and then continue to roll out to other areas after successful testing.

What support and training can the provider offer your team and users?

If you are looking to integrate an electronic signature solution across several users, teams or departments, it's crucial that proper training is provided to increase adoption. It's good to ask if your electronic signature provider offers online tutorials and videos and if it has support teams and instructor-led training for complex workflows.

How many documents are signed using the electronic signature platform provider?

Asking this question will allow you to establish how often this provider is used for electronic signatures, a simple way of establishing trust.

Which areas of business does your electronic service provider support?

Do you work in legal, finance, HR, marketing or sales? Find out which area of business your electronic service provider supports and if they have experience creating workflows related to your business function before selecting them.

There are several things to look out for when you are choosing an electronic signature provider; companies using blockchain technology provide additional confidence regarding audit trails and also be sure to look out for those providers that comply with industry-recognised standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO . Want to find out more about electronic signatures? Here's almost everything you need to know about electronic signatures. For those interested in the legal framework for e-signatures, the eIDAS Regulation provides important guidelines for EU-wide electronic transactions.

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