Michael Chang, president at Fantasia Coffee and Tea in Cupertino, Calif., started using the Cisco Digital Signage system last week at the chain's Milpitas, Calif., store to display still pictures of his company's products for customers waiting at the checkout counter.
"Today, it is pictures; later, we could put on video and maybe provide information about the health benefits of tea," Chang said. "We kind of entertain people while they are in line."
The digital video format allows Fantasia Coffee and Tea to more quickly change information presented to customers than was possible using printed signs, Chang said. The company uses a Wi-Fi router in the store to relay data to the digital sign, he said. Advertising and Beyond
Eventually, Chang said, the company hopes to send video data from a central location to digital video systems in each of its five stores. He also hopes to sell advertising space on the displays to help pay for the technology.
Thomas Wyatt, general manager of digital management at Cisco, said companies can also use the signs for employee training tasks.
The Digital Signage system includes Digital Media Manager, a Web-based software application, and Digital Media Player, a small hardware device that controls playback of video, graphics and text on video displays.
Digital Media Player is priced at US$1,495, while the cost for Manager is based on a customer's configuration, Wyatt said.
In September, Cisco brought out two products called Digital Media Encoders to help create media for distribution over the Digital Signage network.
Melissa Webster, an analyst at market research firm IDC, called the digital signage business a "highly fragmented market" with a "tremendous number" of providers. Almost all the vendors are small, but larger ones tend to focus on building advertising networks or deploying outdoor signs.
"I think we will see very rapid uptake once there are large, standards-oriented vendors [such as Cisco] in the market," Webster said.
She noted that such systems can boost the business of retailers, which can use them for a promotion across hundreds of stores nationwide "literally at the push of a button."