I.T. Roadmap works with small and medium-sized businesses in the Dallas area, and we’re always excited to bring new technology solutions to age-old problems to our customers. One problem that’s nearly universal for all of our brick-and-mortar customers: waiting. Medical offices have patients waiting to be seen, restaurants have customers waiting to be seated, dry cleaners have lines of customers waiting to pick up their shirts and suits. No doubt you’ve seen monitors auto-playing video or audio in these waiting areas, but you may have found the idea of setting one up for your business daunting. Recently, we’ve pared down the process to something so simple and inexpensive that it’s within anyone’s reach.
The Device
The cost of computing has dropped to an insanely low price. You can buy a bare-bones “computer” that will run Windows for $35. For an application like this, though, a full operating system is a bit of overkill. So here’s what we’ve done with our setup. This device—tentatively priced at $75—
- Is about the size of a deck of cards, and can be mounted on the back of your monitor.
- Can be used with any monitor—either one you already own, or a new one purchased for this application.
- Needs only an electrical plug—no WiFi or cable connection required.
- Can be loaded with new photos or videos via a USB stick (flash drive)
To change out your slideshow, you simply insert a USB stick loaded with new photos (or videos), and what’s on the device will be completely overwritten. Need the images to appear in a certain order? Just number them 1, 2, 3, etc.
The advantages are that this system is highly secure and extremely stable. Since it’s not connected to the Internet, there’s no risk of downloading viruses or other malware. There are no updates to run or changes to monitor. And for doctors’ offices, you might be frustrated by available network media-produced medical content, which can be filled with inaccurate, outdated information or sensationalized stories. Instead, you can provide just the content YOU want.
A media setup can’t really get much simpler than this… but it can get more complicated.
A Little More Customized?
If you need a little more flexibility, we have you covered on this front. We can set it up so that it DOES connect to WiFi. We can then set it up so that we can upload media to the device remotely, using FTP or Dropbox. With a monthly service fee, I.T. Roadmap can manage your media once per month; you would simply email your images or video to us.
There are so many applications for a simple, low-cost video setup like this one. Think about using it to display a loop of family photos, or a way to offer advertising space for other local businesses. You could use it to showcase customer testimonials, or let people know about upcoming events you’re holding. The possibilities are nearly endless. Interested? Contact us, or leave us a comment.
