All companies and organizations have to succeed in the following three objectives in order to thrive. They must get customers through the door, engage employees and build a sense of community. Each goal is hard enough to meet on its own, let alone reach a level of success in all three. Among the many tools companies can use to achieve these goals, digital signage offers a tech solution that’s versatile enough to help companies improve in all three areas. Digital signage solutions harness the power of visual communication and display multimedia content on standard TV screens. Images and videos effectively get the message across and facilitate everything from upselling and cross-selling to boosting employee productivity.
Yodeck, a cloud-based digital signage solution, brings the benefits of this technology to all users, from small neighborhood shops to global conglomerates. By providing an online platform that focuses on ease of use, affordability and professional on-screen results, Yodeck aims to make digital signage easy and effective across all industries, and for all businesses, big or small.
SourceForge recently checked in with Vangelis Mihalopoulos, Founder and CEO of Flipnode, the company that created Yodeck. We discussed why digital signage is a valuable asset in any business arsenal. He also provided insight into how a seamless user experience is the most important factor in successful digital signage deployment.
Q: First and foremost, can you please share with us a brief overview of your company? When was Yodeck established and what are your goals? Who are the brains behind the company?
A: A trio of us, all developers and life-long coders, built Yodeck back in 2015. We wanted to create a digital signage solution that everyone, from your local pizza place to an industry leader, could benefit from and use, hassle-free.
Although this tech might not seem as exciting as the latest shiny bright object, we saw great potential. After all, signage started out as paper posters before moving on to neon signs and dot matrix signage. Online signage software represents the next step in the tech’s evolution. And you can currently find many such platforms on the market. However, none provided the ease of use, excellence and affordability most users require in order to integrate digital signage into their business strategy. Our mission is to deliver exactly that kind of digital signage solution. To everyone. That meant also removing as many stumbling blocks as possible, tech-wise. To do so, we based our online platform on the Raspberry Pi, which offers security, robustness and amazing capabilities.
Q. What industries do you serve and who are your current customers?
A. We have clients from every industry imaginable. They include retail stores and fast food chains, as well as global leaders in hospitality, telecoms and transportation. We went from a single customer in 2016 to powering over 30,000 screens in over 135 countries. I think the secret to this kind of remarkable growth lies in the user experience. We designed Yodeck with the user in mind and made it extremely intuitive and easy to use. And we did that while ensuring clients get professional, polished results on-screen.
Q. What exactly is cloud based digital signage and how does it work? What makes it important for modern enterprises?
A.To put it simply, cloud-based software “lives” online. Users don’t have to install software to use Yodeck. Instead, you sign in to Yodeck through your web browser. From there you can create and schedule content and manage all your signage screens.
Undoubtedly, running cloud-based digital signage brings a huge host of benefits to companies and organizations. Firstly, and most importantly, users create, edit and display their digital signage remotely. That means you don’t have to be physically present to update content on each screen. It’s all done centrally through our Yodeck Portal, which you access on the internet, with your laptop, smartphone or tablet. For example, you could be in New York and with a few clicks, you could instantly change what’s playing on your screens in Hong Kong. That saves organizations time, money and personnel hours.
Secondly, businesses don’t need to store their own content, like images and videos, locally on their own equipment. Everything gets saved on the cloud. That significantly cuts back IT costs, both in terms of hardware and expertise. No need to install software, or anything.
Q. What are some of the most important use cases for cloud-based digital signage? And how is Yodeck addressing these?
A.Use cases run the gamut from digital menu boards in cafes and restaurants to wayfinding in hospitals and internal comms in manufacturing plants. Obviously, retail stores and restaurants rely on digital signage to attract customers and up their sales. Images, videos, playlists and impressive screen layouts grab viewers’ attention. That means you get people focusing on your message instead of their social media feed. And that’s a huge hurdle to overcome. The outcome is a boost in upselling and cross-selling menu items or products.
However, offices also see the benefit of using their screens to communicate with their employees. Displaying data dashboards keeps all teams coordinated and working towards the same KPIs. Also, when one team succeeds, the secret behind that milestone gets communicated and shared across departments. Similarly, all teams can analyze why certain strategies failed. In addition, you can also use digital signage to enhance team-building. Many HR departments use screens to welcome new employees or promote company activities. And management has a direct way to reach out to their blue-collar workforce.
Yodeck focuses on making digital signage an easy, effective process for users. We offer features like free data dashboard integrations, free stock images and videos, free layout templates and drag & drop media uploads. That makes content creation seamless for all users, even those who don’t have the time or expertise to design content.
Q. According to Grandview Research, the digital signage market size on a global level reached USD 18.55 billion in 2018 and could reach USD 31.71 billion by 2025. How does cloud-based digital signage help companies and what benefits could they see if they choose to deploy Yodeck?
A.There’s a reason why the digital signage market grows at such an impressive rate. And that’s because businesses see how digital signage helps them succeed. Traditional signage doesn’t get the job done anymore. Restaurants, shops, offices and schools need to go beyond conventional communication, such as flyers and emails. These modes of communication can’t compete with social media and smartphones. You need to attract people’s attention in order to make the sale, get people involved or boost your brand awareness. Images and videos – the backbone of digital signage – gets businesses that level of viewer engagement.
Cloud-based digital signage offers impressive, attention-grabbing visual communication without the hassle of complicated tech. Yodeck goes beyond the fact that you don’t have to download software or store files locally. Specifically, our content creation tools are both user-friendly and yield professional results. That means all our users can create great-looking content quickly, without hiring a graphic designer. Furthermore, everything from screen management to content updating happens through our online Yodeck Portal. For companies that manage thousands of screens, the user experience is as easy and user-friendly as it is for someone running a single screen in a bakery. And content gets displayed just as quickly.
Q. As the Industry’s top choice for an easy and affordable digital signage solution, what kind of security features do you offer businesses who want to display sensitive information on their TV screens?
A.Security is a top priority for us. It always has been. We offer enterprise-level security features that make Yodeck one of the most secure digital signage solutions out there. Firstly, users can lock down their Yodeck Players remotely. That means access to your hardware gets blocked. This feature disables all possible entry points that attackers could hack to gain access to your screens. Also, our Player Storage Encryption feature safeguards against the physical theft of the Player. If someone takes it, they won’t have access to anything, such as files, passwords and usernames. In addition, we offer standard security features like Two-Factor Authentication and IP address restrictions. Our Workspaces feature adds an extra level of security. You can customize who has access to specific content and screens.
Yodeck itself as a SaaS enjoys stellar security. We used the most secure cloud providers (AWS) and we are ISO-27001 certified, which secures our customers against possible security issues.
Q. Tell us more about Yodeck. What are its key features and capabilities? How does it compare to other digital signage platforms available in the market?
A. We focus on providing a user-friendly experience at an extremely affordable price. Users can design great content for their screens even if they don’t have images or videos of their own. We offer a free stock image and video Gallery, all fully searchable. Also, if they have YouTube videos uploaded, all they need to do is copy and paste the link into Yodeck. In addition, our free, professionally-designed screen layout templates means our clients can create great layouts quickly and easily. And they’re fully customizable so they can include branding elements.
Of course, users can upload their own media files into Yodeck. Similarly, creating a Playlist consists of dragging and dropping files from inside our online platform. We also offer a variety of integrations that help users display everything from news tickers to the weather in seconds. And it is the same if you manage just one or a thousand screens.
Our clients don’t need tech expertise to run Yodeck. If you can use a computer or a smartphone, you can use Yodeck as soon as you sign up. It’s that intuitive. And we took it a step further, to make sure our clients can get their Players set up in seconds. If clients choose to purchase a Yodeck Player from us, we send it preconfigured with their WiFi credentials.
Ease of use and affordability are the keys to a successful digital signage solution. And that’s what made Yodeck so popular across industries.
Q. Can you provide us with more sample use cases for Yodeck?
A.Yodeck works great in sectors such as education and health care. Schools and universities use Yodeck to display content that either attracts prospective applicants or strengthens school spirit. They show videos and playlists about school games and events, as well as showcasing student achievements. Hospitals use Yodeck to display awareness campaigns or to help people find their way around the building. Most importantly, we offer an emergency alerts feature to help organizations keep people safe during fires, earthquakes or other situations.
Also, places of worship trust Yodeck for their digital signage. They use our content creation tools to promote events, fundraisers or community events.
Q. Looking into the future, what are some market trends or technologies you see on the rise in the digital signage space and how is Yodeck meeting these?
A. Digital signage will at one point evolve to a level where AI elements like facial recognition become commonplace. This means that content shown on digital signage screens gets customized based on age, gender and other demographics. That translates to content becoming increasingly more relevant and interesting to each viewer, which improves engagement. Of course we are thinking of how we will take advantage of AI in order to offer this kind of responsive and customized technology.
About Yodeck
Yodeck is the top digital signage solution for clients seeking affordable, user-friendly and professional digital signage. Built from the ground up on the Raspberry Pi, our cloud-based solution offers an unbeatable user experience. Stellar security, content creation and screen management features form the foundation of our technology. Trusted by industry leaders and small businesses alike, Yodeck powers screens across the globe.