Digital Signage - More than just display's

Over the past 2 weeks we have been learning a lot about Digital Signage and the different options out there. If you have worked with digital signage either as a designer or end user, you know that there are so many options you could go mad trying to research them all. Many companies out there approach digital signage in the same way. Some signage companies focus on the hardware and distribution, while others are strictly software based and don’t care what type of equipment you use. Either way, finding a company that stands out from the rest is very hard to do.

Since I work for a Technology Systems Integrator, we are always looking for the best products and services to implement for our clients. It is imperative for us to partner with the right companies because once we make the decision to go with a company, there is no turning back. We also don’t have any clients who want to “experiment” with products that aren’t tried and true.

While one Digital Signage company will never be able to be perfect for all designs, there are a few companies that have stood out from the rest. Those companies are Inspired Signage from AMX and AxisTV from Visix. Both companies have very unique ways of addressing the needs of Digital Signage customers. I’ve taken the time to write a little info about what I think is great about them. Please check them out and when you are ready to implement a signage solution of your own, call me because I work with them directly and can help you chose which is best for your situation.

AxisTV from Visix

Visix has been in the Digital Signage business for a long time. They primarily design, develop and support software applications that allow users to create, import and manage visual communications from anywhere using a browser-based interface, and to deliver those messages to nearly any endpoint. - Now that is the key point here. Delivering messages to nearly any endpoint. This means that instead of just sending messages to digital display in an airport or corporate lounge, they can also manage visual communications directly to computer desktops, PDA’s & Cell Phones, Screen Savers and just about anything else with a digital screen (click here for a cool diagram on how it works). Since visual communications can be sent to computers and as screen savers, this means you now have a very robust messaging system within your organization that can be used for HR communications, special announcements and even emergency alerts! This is cool stuff!

Inspired Signage from AMX

AMX has a basic digital signage solution that works great. It provides many of the common features found in most signage systems. They have two main benefits of over signage companies out there. The first advantage is being able to tie in to the AMX Resource Management Suite. By being able to tie in to RMS, end users can now view all of their technology assets such as digital displays, projectors, source equipment and more through a simple web interface. This helps to save tons of money because you can turn off all of your system end points remotely at any time and report on things like lamp usage.

The second main advantage of AMX Inspired Signage is the custom implementations team. If you want to get crazy with your Digital Signage Installation, this is where it all starts. Anything you can dream of doing with digital displays can be done through custom implementations. I won’t get in to the details, but I’m sure you can imagine some cool stuff on your own.


Digital Signage is an interesting market with tons of different ways to implement and use it. Because of this fact, there are people like me who live and breathe this stuff. I love working with individuals and companies to push the limits of what is possible. If you are thinking about using digital signage in your business, let me know! Whether it is just a single display running powerpoint or thousands of displays networked together across multiple countries. Whether I can help you directly or not, I’m happy to point you in the right direction.

Saving Energy Through Building Automation

I read a great article from Neil Gifford at Smart Buildings this morning. I always enjoy reading what he has to say about how technology is making buildings smart. When you really start to get in to this stuff like I am, you start to see how the future of green and sustainability has a lot to do with our adoption of technology in our buildings. This goes far beyond just automation for lighting and HVAC systems – even though simple automation helps a lot (I leave the room and the lights automatically turn off after 5 minutes). Neil talks more about how an intelligent building wide automation system should start to take data in real time by monitoring building loads and usage in real time and reporting that information back to facilities managers to act upon. Based upon specific data and parameters set, the system could automatically adjust heating and cooling loads based on occupancy data and similar factors.

Check out the article for all you designers, builders and facilities managers. Looking forward to getting more of these types of systems in our buildings!

Technology Systems Integration - What the heck does it mean?

This post is in response to a familiar question I get from clients and partners on a daily basis. The question is:

“What exactly is a Technology Systems Integrator?”

Here is the elevator pitch:

My company is a solutions company. We solve everyday business problems through the use of innovative and sometimes “radical” technology systems.

Of course that being said, the next logical questions is:

What the heck does that mean?!

And now we get to the real meat of my post. My industry (The Audiovisual and Systems Integration industry) is tough to understand. We are literally right in the middle where Audio systems (think churches, stadiums, performing arts centers), Video Systems (Think theaters, Big projection screens, Digital Signage), building technology (think intelligent buildings, automated systems controls, over the top boardrooms) and digital services (think video conferencing, interactive whiteboards) all meet up. It is extremely hard to wrap any one of things under one description, let alone all of them put together. We do so many things for so many different people and industries. Our biggest challenge is educating our partners on what it is we actually do. After all, our firm is a commercial contractor, systems design firm, engineering firm, software development firm and low voltage systems project management firm. On top of that, we work with acoustics, network systems, software systems, audio and video optimization and a variety of one off system types for specialty applications. We represent and sell literally thousands of different products from hundreds of different manufacturers. To further complicate things, we have different solutions and products for a number of different industries including Corporate, Non-Profit, Education, Hospitality, Government, Transportation, and more…

So to wrap things up here, I want to make a point. We are a solutions company. We help our clients increase efficiency, increase profits and increase their competitive advantages through the use of innovative technology solutions. It means something different to every client. It means we aren’t just “technology geeks”. We ask questions, we probe, we dig deep to understand the business our clients are in. We consult. We design. We engineer. We Value Engineer. Often we do this over and over again until we get things just right for our client. Overall while we do work with technology, the business we are in is really about leveraging the core competencies of our clients and amplifying those competencies through the use of intelligent systems.

Keep your eyes on our blog. This is where we will continue to post on Integrated Technology Design & Integration. We welcome feedback and thoughts on how you view our industry and what firms like ours can do to serve you and our other clients best!

Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom

Recently local developer, Urban Ventrues and respected architect Michelle Kaufman announced that they will be partnering on a Green, Sustainable community development here in Denver. The project is called Aria Denver. As a result of that announcment, I found Michelle's blog and have been following it ever since.

I'm really glad I have been because she has some very interesting and thought provoking posts. Yesterday's post was one of those. She brought to my attention a design competition currently underway and sponsored by Open Architecture Network. The idea is for local architects and designers to partner with a local school to help design a classroom of the future. Something that is smart, safe and sustainable. Because this is through the Open Architecture Network, any designs that win the competition would make their design available worldwide through some type of open copyright. This is opensource software for architects! What a great idea. The reason for the competition is to address the fact that (according to the World Bank), educating all children worldwide will require the construction of 10 million new classrooms in more than 100 countries by 2015.

MediaLogix partnered with local architecture firm, Bennett Wagner Grody to design a similar classroom for the National Middle School Association show in Denver last year. Actually, I should say that Bennet Wagner Grody designed the classroom and MediaLogix designed the technology systems.

So, who is up for it? Any architects out there interested in taking on the challenge? We know that technology is an integral part of future classrooms. It enables better presentation/learning environments and the ability to connect in a multitude of ways. We have some great ideas so lets get started!

The ZED Prize!

I came across a very interesting competition and had to share it. Seeing as how many of our clients and partners are deep in to the green living movement, I’m sure many will find this intriguing. Perhaps this post might even inspire some of our local architects and designers to get involved! It’s called the ZED Prize and the folks over at Zerofootprint are hoping to turn it in to the largest architectural prize issued worldwide in 2009. That is quite a bold goal!

The idea of the competition is to address the issue of re-purposing or “Re-skinning” (as they call it) existing buildings to have little or no carbon foot print. As they point out on their website, we are starting to do a good job of building NEW buildings that have low carbon footprints but we need to do a MUCH better job of re-skinning existing buildings. I would say they make a very good point. Especially seeing as how existing buildings account for 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions in north America.

Of course a smart building isn’t smart at all without a smart technology system helping to run it. That is where MediaLogix comes in! Our focus is on creating integrated building solutions for commercial buildings in Denver and throughout the west. We would love to partner with a forward thinking architectural firm or developer to help create the (Retrofit) buildings of the future! Email us or comment on this blog to get the conversation going!

People you can "Count" on

Kevin sent me a great article worth sharing. Our goal at MediaLogix is and always has been to help our clients utilize technology to enhance their overall business success. Implementing People Counting systems can help certain companies achieve that. As described in this article by Smart Buildings, Knowing how many people have entered a building or a space is directly related to a financial or management objective for the building. Some of those management or financial objectives might be related to Security & Access Control, Life Safety, Financial Metrics, Audience Tracking, HVAC Control, Staff Management, Space Planning and more.

MediaLogix specializes in integrating technologies such as this in to your overall building management programs. Shoot me an email or comment on this posting so we can start the discussion!