I explore how to enhance hotel guest experiences by appropriately upselling services. By tapping into guests' needs at the right time, we can create more personalised and effective service offerings.

Enhancing Hotel Guest Experiences Through Upselling

So in a previous video about a hotel guest experience, I talked about what would make an impression on a guest as they arrived, but we can also continue this journey as they stay with you. I was also asked about how can you upsell services without seeming too salesy? The best way to do it is to make it appropriate. So after a few days staying at the hotel, you may have used all of the regular facilities. And at that point, you might be thinking, you know what? Actually, a massage sounds good if it's towards the end of the week or the weekend or something like that. Likewise, if you are running, say, a breakfast service, you could advertise that you could take a coffee to go on your way to the meeting or on with your day. And actually, that is more informing that you've got a takeaway service, but also that is upselling. So mostly we create products and services because people want them. We just have to tap into when they want them. The good news with a screen is, you know, the time of day. You know the location. And so you can be appropriate. When would you be making this suggestion as a human being? Just codify that and turn that into a digital signage content. And I think you'll start to see some great results.

I discuss a quick and effective method to conduct customer research using domain names. By leveraging public information and AI, I demonstrate how to gain deeper insights into potential clients, enabling more informed and personalised interactions.

Enhancing Customer Research with Domain Insights

So here's my 10 minute customer research hack. From simply knowing the domain name that your potential customer's coming from, you can do a huge amount of research. And here's how I do it. So let's say that we have a large grocery chain has made an inquiry. First of all, we can research the company. We don't really need to ask them. Now we might be familiar with them, but we're probably not that familiar. The initial piece of research is gonna tell you broadly what they do, how big they are, et cetera. But you can go much more granular than that. So at ScreenCloud, we put screens into locations. What matters to us is the number of locations you have, the type of locations, and who is in those locations. For large companies, that is all public information, easy for AI to go off and actually understand. Then you have an understanding of the footprint that you're potentially working with. Now, given that you have the email address of the person who has got in touch, you can probably also then easily research their background, their job title, and that will give you a sense of what they are going to care about the most, whether they're coming from IT or internal comms or facilities management, whatever it might be. That will give you an inkling as to what you're gonna talk about. But you can even push that a step further. Public companies will talk about their plans and aspirations for the future as part of the information they put out to the market. So for us, when we were researching a large grocery chain, we could see that there were three really big cultural change initiatives that were happening around digital transformation, going paperless, ESG, and certain other things which would identify them, so I won't mention it. Now, digital signage could help in all of those different pillars. And when it came to time to doing the demo, we were actually customizing the content to the very big strategic pillars that even their own CEO had talked about publicly. So yes, you

I discuss innovative ways to enhance digital signage in hotel lobbies by focusing on guest needs. By stepping into the shoes of a new guest, we can provide valuable information through simple tools like QR codes, enhancing the visitor experience.

Improving Digital Signage in Hotel Lobbies

I was speaking to someone recently from the hotel industry about ways in which they could improve digital signage. Typically when you go into a hotel lobby and do see screens, it's normally really just advertising and self-promotion. But if you wanted to make that really useful, just put yourself into the shoes of a new guest who might not be familiar with the local area, of the amenities of the hotel and maybe put up a simple QR code to a guide or show recommendations locally that they could easily get to on foot, maybe some transport information and things like that. I think often we obsess too much about content that we create and actually some of the best content and most helpful content is all around you. And that reflects back on you as being helpful. So if you really want to know what a guest might like to see, just put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the basic questions. And I think you'd be surprised just how much you could put up on a screen and how much goodwill you would get as a result.

Explore how Dubai is transforming construction sites into attractions with imaginative displays. Discover how this approach can inform and engage the public, setting a new standard in construction communication.

Innovative Construction Displays in Dubai

Only in Dubai would a construction site look this premium. I recently saw that the Dubai fountains were being closed for refurbishment but they've been very imaginative with the way that they have reconstructed the construction site. They've put a ring of screens all around it which are in themselves something worth looking at and visiting but also can be used potentially to inform customers as to what's going on in the location. I think this is really smart. I've actually seen a few of our own customers in construction use external facing screens to inform the public about what's happening and what's coming. So I fully support this. I think this is great. It's quite bling but that is Dubai and therefore I'm going to give this a four out of five. It would be a five if I saw any evidence of them just giving a bit more information to the people in front of the screens.

Explore how Puma flagship stores in America are transforming the retail experience using RFID technology. By integrating digital screens and interactive content, they create a unique, informative brand journey for customers.

Innovative In-Store Experience with RFID Technology

This digital shelf turns browsing into a brand experience. In Puma's flagship stores in America, they're using screens very elegantly as a backdrop to a shelf of their main shoe line. Now, this in itself isn't unusual. However, what they have done is then tie the shoes using RFID technology back to the content. So if you pick up a shoe, you will actually then see the qualities of that shoe and the specs of that shoe change on the screen. I really like that because it's actually useful. It's something that's happening in connection with the experience, and that is a key buying and decision-making moment. So other retail stores who've been using screens to be very flashy with their branding should take note of what Puma are doing and trying to take this experience further in their interactivity. I'm gonna give this a Science of Genius score of five. I've been very generous in this series, but actually I think some of the big retailers out there are stepping up. Let me know if you agree in the comments.

Discover how ScreenCloud supports enterprise customers beyond just providing a product. Learn about the specialised teams that help implement, customise, and optimise enterprise solutions for maximum impact.

Maximising Value in Enterprise Rollouts

ScreenCloud's enterprise offering is broken down really into two parts. Firstly, obviously, the product, we have a product which is suitable for small projects, but also big enterprise rollouts. And that comes with all the enterprise functionality that you've come to expect. But I think maybe where this is more interesting is in how we service enterprise customers, because having an enterprise product is really only the start point. It's how you use it, implement it, and set it up, which really counts. We have account management teams, professional services teams, and solutions engineering teams who help our customers maximize the value from the product. And that can take many different forms, from project managing the rollout to many locations, to customizing what can and cannot be deployed, custom permissions, and even design and custom applications and integrations that sit on top. So that is really where we specialize in enterprise. And if you're looking to do an enterprise rollout, you know who to call.

Discover how engaging experts early can save enterprise clients significant costs in digital signage deployment. Learn about the importance of proper implementation and how advancements in web technology can optimise your strategy.

Maximising Success with Enterprise Digital Signage

We recently came across an enterprise-level customer who was using ScreenCloud in quite a small way. So it had gone a bit under the radar of the enterprise team, they were only using a handful of licenses. However, this was just one location and there were many more to do. So we got in touch with them and they were very receptive to us coming down and seeing what they had done so far. Unfortunately, what we found when we got there is that the implementation had just been done all wrong. And they'd actually wasted a huge amount of extra money and capital expenditure in the hardware deployment, which could have easily been done for less than £2,000. The story here really is that we understand most customers have not really done this before. And even if they have, they may have done it in the old way, right? There is a lot more going on with digital signage today. And the advancements in web technology mean that you can do a lot more for a lot less. If we had been able to engage with them right at the very beginning, we could have set them up properly for success and they would have saved almost half a million pounds of cost, which was just needless and actually more complicated. So why do enterprise customers need to have their hands held? Well, partly they've got their own jobs to do. They're not experienced in doing this. We are and we can bring best practice from what we've learned along the way. So I would say this is a really fundamental part that is often overlooked and is not as expensive as people think. Doing a POC with our team is not a huge investment, certainly much less than what I just said there before with the capital expenditure. But it's putting the time, effort and energy into getting it right at the beginning so that when we do roll out, we roll out with a high guarantee of success.

Discover why robust remote device management features are crucial for managing digital signage networks effectively. Learn about the cost benefits and how they can prevent unnecessary site visits.

The Importance of Remote Device Management in Digital Signage

Often when we speak to customers who've not run a digital signage network before, they are unaware of the importance of RDM, remote device management features. Often they think the screens will just work or fix themselves, or that someone on the ground will actually do it for them. The reality is that is not the case. You need really robust remote device management features in order to enable your IT team to do the work themselves. The cost of remote device management really is negligible when compared to the cost of having to do site visits, especially if they have to get through security at an airport or anything like that. It's been estimated it's around $800 per technician, often just going in just to push a cable back in or switch a source. So really consider RDM features when you consider your digital signage network. You will thank me later.

Discover how ScreenCloud's Employee Challenge offers small businesses in London and Charlotte an opportunity to benefit from free digital signage strategy development. Our team members gain hands-on experience by helping you optimise your content strategy, while you enjoy the advantages of our digital signage solutions.

Enhance Your Business with ScreenCloud's Employee Challenge

Calling all small businesses, at least those in London and Charlotte. At ScreenCloud, when we onboard new members of the team, I want them to get really hands-on with digital signage, not just the ScreenCloud product, but also digital signage in general, and helping customers with their content strategy. So we invented the Employee Challenge. This is where we take a small business, it could be a school, a small shop, a little office, or whatever it might be, and we give them ScreenCloud for free. We'll supply media players and ScreenCloud licenses all they have to do is have the screens all ready, and one of the team will come in and deploy and develop a full digital signage strategy for you as part of their training in joining the company. Now, not all members of our team know a small business that they can go and help, so this is where you come in. If you would like to be involved in the ScreenCloud Employee Challenge, there's gonna be some information in the comments below, and it would really help out a ScreenClouder.

ScreenCloud is evolving its business strategy to include resellers and channel partners, aiming to enhance its reach among enterprise customers. By doing so, the company seeks to be a key player in digital signage projects, especially those targeting employee and deskless worker communication.

ScreenCloud's Strategic Shift: Engaging Channel Partners

So, in 2025, ScreenCloud will be 10 years old. For the first 10 years, we went direct to customers because that was a new way of working and that suited our product and our customers best. But now, as we've matured into a bigger business and we have more enterprise customers, we need to engage with resellers and channel partners who are already working and serving those large customers. If we're not in that conversation, then we won't be in that project. We believe that ScreenCloud should be considered for every digital science project out there, especially ones where we're communicating to employees and deskless workers. So, this year, it's time to engage the channel and we are open for more conversations and we're excited about what comes next. If you're a reseller or channel partner in my network, please get in touch. We'd love to talk to you more.

A viral post from London Euston sparked national debate on the over-commercialisation of public spaces. This video explores how public feedback led to positive changes in digital display usage, enhancing commuter experience.

The Impact of Digital Advertising at London Euston

So back in 2024, a post went viral on X from London Euston. The person just took a simple photo of the massive screens in the station that were being used purely for advertising and confusing all of those travellers and commuters down below. The post took off. The press took it up and it became a national talking point at how we had over commercialized our environment and forgotten that screens are here to actually serve people and make their lives easier. Well, it all got so much attention and so much collective outrage that actually Euston have rolled this back and now launch screens, which are back to being useful again and digital and helpful. So although it was a bad start, I definitely give that a one out of five because they understood their mistake and came back with something useful. I will give this a screen score of four out of five. A sign of genius that you listen to your customers. Let me know in the comments.

Explore the role of screens in enhancing customer experience in modern hospitality settings. Learn how to balance functionality and impact in digital displays to optimise user engagement.

Maximising Screen Use in Modern Food Markets

How many screens can you fit in a 5,000 square meter food market? Recently the team were over in Barcelona and they went to the timeout food market and naturally they filmed all of the screens. This post that we put out on LinkedIn gives you a good flavor of what was going on there, no pun intended, and I think from this you can see how screens are helping a modern hospitality environment. The issue sometimes with screens in hospitality is that we can get a bit excited with our content. Often there'll be a menu board which then vanishes because we want to show a flashy video when someone's actually trying to choose what they'd like to eat. So we need to be careful that some screens stay simple and functional whilst other ones have that wow impact and advertise all of the great things that are going on. I like the fact that the menu boards are interactive. I think they should probably prompt people to actually scan a code and take it onto their phone rather than spend too much time at the screen just in case there's a queue. But otherwise this all looks pretty good to me so long as they keep that strategy tight and remember that it's the customer experience that counts first. My screen score for this is four out of five. Everything looks very yummy to me. Let me know in the comments if you think this is a sign of genius.

Discover Pixi, ScreenCloud's new low-cost device designed to fill the gap left by Amazon Firesticks. Perfect for price-conscious customers, Pixi offers an easy setup and comprehensive features for digital signage.

Introducing Pixi: Affordable Digital Signage Solution

As most of you know, over the last 10 years, ScreenCloud has been running mostly on Amazon Firesticks. They've been a great consumer device that ran digital signage really well. However, as it was a consumer device, things changed. And Amazon decided that digital signage was no longer a good option for the consumer version. They have since released a business version. However, it left a gap in the market. We wanted to fill that gap with Pixi. Pixi is a low cost device that is super easy to set up and run digital signage on. We know that customers are price conscious about their capital expenditure when doing projects like this, especially when they're going to many, many screens. The Pixi is a perfect entry-level device that covers every single feature you required with digital signage, and of course, runs ScreenCloud really, really well. The little Pixi gives you a big bang for your buck. So if you'd like to trial a device, go to screencloud.com and buy one today.

Explore how trust and understanding customer pain points are crucial in the deployment of digital signage solutions. Dive into the importance of IT collaboration and delivering real business value in B2B SaaS environments.

Building Trust in Digital Signage Solutions

I think specific to digital signages is you have to very, very quickly build trust with the customer. IT is normally the team that we're initially working the most with, because ultimately the screens are on the network, and if it's on the network, it's the responsibility of IT. Now, if IT get on a call with you, and they don't think that you anticipate the needs and problems they're going to have, they're not going to trust you, in which case they're not going to back you and roll you out, right? So you have to build that relationship really carefully and deliberately from the very beginning. And normally that's just about anticipating the issues and the fears that they're going to have, because what they don't want is screens go down all the time. You go to the airport, you see black screens, blue screen of death, all that stuff. That's IT's worst nightmare, so you've got to really understand that pain, acknowledge it, and then show how you're going to work to alleviate that pain and minimize the risk in the future, because they don't want to be the person responsible for rolling out something that's a massive headache in a year's time. So I think trust is key. And then honestly, it's just really, it's kind of simple. You've just got to listen, got to listen to what they want. You don't necessarily have to do everything they say, but you've got to really kind of like focus on the pain. We don't want to be selling just like aspirin here. We want to be sending proper painkillers like, oh, I've got a little bit of a problem over here. Fine. I want to be solving major, major issues, right? Because otherwise it's so easy for SaaS products to fall into like a nice to have category. And especially in like a market like we're in now, no one's buying nice to have products, right? They're buying products which are going to deliver business value back to them. So you've got to really hook into that pain and figure out what you can do uniquely to help solve it. And I kind of 

Discover how ScreenCloud caters to both large enterprises and smaller customers, facilitating growth through easy and cost-effective digital signage solutions. Learn how to utilise consumer screens and affordable devices to display essential information that engages your audience.

Getting Started with ScreenCloud: Simple and Affordable

Quite often in my content, I talk about the large enterprise customers we're working with, but we also work with over 9,500 smaller ones as well. And a recent prospective customer asked me if they were too small to be using ScreenCloud. The answer is no. We have many customers just running a couple of screens in a single location. And that's great. It's a really good way to get started. And often those customers end up growing over time. The best way to get started is really just using regular consumer screens. You probably already have them up on your walls. And then just use affordable devices. A ScreenCloud OS device is really good. Or you can use things like Google Chromecast. Historically, Amazon Firesticks, but not so much anymore. And that's a really good way to get started. Then just think about what is the essential information you would like to see on those screens that your audience would most want from you. And then get in touch with the team. We have many ways in which we can display content. Our app store has over 80 preset configurations. But there's also ways you can be imaginative just with spreadsheets, Google Slides, PowerPoints as well. So you don't have to worry. Getting started is super simple and not that expensive. And we're here to help. Get in touch.

Explore how the content displayed on workplace screens can significantly impact employee morale and customer perception. Learn why showing negative news might be detrimental and discover alternative solutions to enhance your organisational environment.

Optimising Workplace Screens for Positive Impact

So whatever you do, do not show cable news on your screens, in your workplace, to your employees, or even to your customers. Let me rewind. Every single business I know already has screens up on walls and they had some vision for why they put those screens there in the first place. But often over time, they become blank or just rotating a list of images around, or they end up showing cable news muted with subtitles. The issue is that the news is generally negative and divisive in many cases these days. So if we're pumping out this information to our prospective customers or our employees, we are impacting the mood of the environment. So for me, showing just even basic information, which is a bit outdated, would be better than generally bringing the vibe down. Imagine you're a potential customer. You're sat in the lobby of a building and you're watching the screen and it's talking about all of the various things which are going on in the world. You're about to go into a meeting talking about the budget for the next year. If you went in affected by what you had just seen on that screen, would you feel inclined to spend as much money, to be as optimistic for the future? The answer is simply no, you are affected by this. So when I look around, lobbies is classic, or break rooms, and I just see cable news being shown, I think, why are we doing this to ourselves? We see enough of it already. We don't need to contribute more. I understand why, because why not? But the reality is, it doesn't work. It affects the mood of the people. It changes the mood of your environment. So let's just do better than that.

Discover how Company TV from our Customer Success Team helps businesses strategically use screens to enhance communication and achieve key objectives. This service includes comprehensive site visits, insights reports, and targeted campaigns to improve various business metrics.

Strategic Business Engagement with Company TV

So, Company TV is another package that we have from our Customer Success Team, and this follows on from customers who've used Launchpad previously. If you don't know what Launchpad is, there'll be a link below to a video explaining that. So, Company TV is a little bit more strategic. You've already started to roll out your screens in your various locations, content is looking good, your team is trained up and working well with ScreenCloud, so now we start to get a little bit more strategic. The Customer Success Team will do a series of interviews, either like over Zoom or Teams, but ideally coming out in person to a site visit to really start to get under the skin of the business and the kind of key objectives you have that you'd like help with to communicate via screen. We then go away and we write an insights report where we'll pick up from all of those various interviews and our own research and come back to you with some recommendations around how we can use screens to strategically move a number in a certain direction. So, that might be reducing the number of accidents or increasing the percentage of open enrolment by the deadline, more people applying for internal job opportunities, or just a general sense that people have a better understanding of what's going on across the business and that being reflected in employee engagement surveys or something like that. So, we'll pick one of those key campaigns and then we will use our content team to come up with various ways in which we can educate the users, but also prompt action and calls to action and improve those numbers. We'll agree that with you, we'll go away and we'll do all of the work in combination with you and then we'll launch it and show the power of screens together. So, Company TV is about building a really wide set of content, but specifically about trying to move a number and training you in how to achieve that so you can then go on and run further campaigns in future and start to really make the

Launchpad is our customer success onboarding product that sets clients up for future success. We audit your full real estate of future screens, professionally set up your account via API with proper permissions and workflows, help your design team create on-brand content optimised for screens, and develop training programmes. It's about taking a step back, planning properly, and using initial projects as templates for seamless scaling.

Launchpad: Empowering Future Success with ScreenCloud

Launchpad is a new product from our customer success team where we onboard new clients to get them set up for future success using ScreenCloud and digital signage more widely. So it focuses on a couple of key things that we've had success with with other customers and this is where us bringing this as a product from the learnings we've done elsewhere. Firstly we do an audit of the full real estate of the future screens. Now it doesn't matter if initially you're just doing 20 to 50 or even 100 screens. We're planning for future success so we will map out all of the locations and potential screen locations that you might have and then we pre-set up your account as if we were already working with all of those. So we're using our ScreenCloud API to professionally set up the account, build all the user permissions and workflows so that you're set up for success from day one. We then also look at your initial piece of content and our design team will come in and help make sure it's on brand, really popping for screen and using key concepts of how to communicate via screen from day one so the audience will receive it much, much better. And then we work on training programs with you and your future team so that when we onboard new locations they're inheriting the good work that started from the very beginning. So Launchpad is really about taking a step back, planning for future success, using that initial project as a template and learnings for how we can roll out hardware well, get content looking really good and train the team. And then in future it's going to be so much easier for other locations to come on and inherit all of that. So I highly encourage all brands that are coming on board with ScreenCloud to use Launchpad and actually even brands who are already using us, who have accounts which have been set up in more of a piecemeal fashion, department by department or location by location, they can actually re-onboard ScreenCloud, might even result in starting a brand

If you've started your career in the last five years working remotely, I'd urge you to get out at least once or twice a week to mix with colleagues. More importantly, you need to meet your customers face-to-face. Video conferences don't build the same trust and understanding. I still get nervous visiting customers globally, but those in-person experiences deliver insights you simply can't get virtually.

Why In-Person Interaction Matters for Career Growth

So if you started your career in the last five years remote working or working mostly from home, maybe all that you know, and at risk of just sounding like a old middle-aged guy, I don't think this is wise for your career development. Personally, I would emphasize at least once, twice a week being out and mixing amongst your colleagues, but also wider colleagues from other teams in an office environment. You need to build your network and I don't think you do that going on Zoom and Teams calls. In addition, and really most importantly, you need to get out into the world and meet your customers. Meeting your customer just on a video conference is not getting to know them. There is only one way to do that and that is to go out there physically and it can be a bit scary. I still get butterflies when I turn up to a location on the other side of the world in an industry I know nothing about and I'm going to spend the whole day with those customers. I feel that tension and that anxiety, but at the end of it I know that customer, their business and then probably other members of the team I would never have got to meet during that day way better than I could ever have done virtually. So I think at the moment the world is leaning too much on the tools of communication saying, oh everything can be done from home. In theory it can, but that's not the way the world works and I don't think that's ever going to change. We're not going to undo millennia of the ways humans interact and build trust with each other just because technology improved and we had a pandemic.

Most people using digital signage don't have extensive experience with screens and content strategy. Training is absolutely crucial for successful implementation. We offer ScreenCloud University and a knowledge base, but for enterprise customers, we develop custom training packages focusing on what matters most to you—starting simple, then progressively advancing to strategic thinking about automations and integrations.

Maximising Success with Digital Signage Training

I think it would be fair to say that most people using digital signage and screens have not really got a great amount of experience. Normally, it's a bit of an outlier when we get on a call and someone's talking about extensive 10-year experience of using screens and their strategies for how to do content. It's great when that happens, but to be honest, it's very rare. So we can't underestimate the value of training as part of a rollout and implementation of digital signage. And we have various degrees of that. We have ScreenCloud University, which is online training courses that anyone can use. We also have a big knowledge base for more technical queries and things like that. But really, for the enterprise customers, it comes down to a custom training package that our customer success team will develop with you. So we will just focus on the key areas of digital signage that matter most to you and drop the rest so that we're not flooding people with information. The other thing about training is that you want to do different levels. At the beginning, you've got to keep it super simple, empower people, get them successful, and then get them using the product. Maybe three months, six months, or even a year later, you want to refresh that training, take them up a level, get them thinking more strategically, maybe more about automations and integrations and less about uploading files and images. And we'll just keep on moving up the ranks with you. Investing in training from your IT team, but also from your comms and content team is so valuable up front and is definitely a gateway to future success.

Rolling out large screen networks internationally is challenging. Our customer success team offers project management services through Roadmap 100—auditing locations, understanding IT requirements, and planning iterative rollouts. We start with varied locations (not just head office) to understand real-world challenges, making future deployments increasingly smooth and encouraging wider adoption.

Streamlining Global Screen Rollouts for Businesses

So one of the big challenges customers face is rolling out a very large network of screens, numbers of locations and even internationally at scale. This is definitely not straightforward. Our customer success team is actually here to help with project management services and planning in order to help audit all of those locations, really understand some of the key requirements that might be in there. So that'd be your IT requirements, whether there is power and internet connection and cabling already in place, whether screens are already there or they need to be ordered, and what various devices you might want to use, which may differ from country to country. None of this is straightforward and most of our customers haven't really experienced this at much at scale. So we have a product called Roadmap 100, that's a bit of a working title, which is the roadmap to 100% coverage of all of your screens. And mostly it goes into planning and iteration in the rollout of the first few locations. We like to start with a variety of locations, not just the head office, which is usually fairly easy, but also a more remote office or somewhere a bit further afield, so we can get a real sense of the challenges we're working with. Once we've done that a few times, things start to go very, very smoothly for the customers. And we find that the easier it is for people to roll out screens, the more they want to use them, which is not really much of a surprise. So consider working with us more closely in terms of rolling out that whole network, and we're here to help.

I discuss the journey of migrating from our original ScreenCloud Signage CMS to the new Studio platform. The process involved automating tasks, supporting customers, and addressing hardware compatibility challenges.

Navigating the Transition from Legacy to Modern CMS

So very recently, about one month ago, we end of lifed our original ScreenCloud product, a product known as ScreenCloud Signage. It was the first CMS that we developed for digital signage back in 2015, and served us very well all the way up to 2020 when we stopped taking new customers on board. However, we had many thousands of customers still using that old product. So we went through a long and painful process of migrating them over to Studio, which is our new CMS product, only four years old. And it was really interesting. It was such a long and painful process. And one of the key learnings is you've got to automate a lot of it, but you've got to really handhold the customer through that journey. But then you end up with a group of outliers at the end who are maybe using hardware that we no longer support, because that hardware is now almost 10 years old, and isn't supported on the new platform, because we have greater expectations of what that hardware can achieve, and we're pushing things a bit harder. And so in the end, you are forced to push those last customers over the edge. Unfortunately, no one likes to be pushed, but it's very difficult to maintain two platforms for that length of time. So a clear communication strategy, plenty of options for upgrading the hardware. We discounted our own hardware to help with that, ease the pain there. And finally, we got to turn the lights off, which is a big relief to everyone. And hopefully all the new customers are enjoying the new platform.

During a customer listening tour, I discovered the biggest digital signage challenges weren't software - they were physical. People unplugging HDMI cables, changing inputs, powering screens down. This changed our roadmap. We're now launching HDMI CEC integration to enable remote power cycling and input locking, eliminating the need for on-site engineer visits.

Revolutionising Digital Signage with Remote Management

So in the spring of last year, I went on a listening tour with some of our biggest customers in America and the UK. And I was walking around multiple facilities, particularly in manufacturing logistics environments, talking to the IT teams and people on the ground about what were their biggest challenges with digital signage. And repeatedly, it was a physical challenge, which is weird for a software developer to hear like me. This was people changing the source of the screen, unplugging the HDMI cable, even powering down the screen itself and showing something else. It changed our roadmap, actually, and we have decided to prioritize more assistance and monitoring around physical changes that go on in that environment. This month, we're launching HDMI CEC integration with a ScreenCloud OS platform, which enables customers to power cycle the screen remotely, but also lock that screen to certain sources and inputs. So after a period of time, it will push its way back to the digital signage and you don't need to send an engineer out to go and fix it in person.

Behind-the-scenes from our first customer conference. The stage looks incredible, we had a brilliant dinner with customers and partners last night, and I'm feeling nervous but excited before going on stage. The team has set the bar remarkably high for our inaugural event.

Behind the Scenes at Our First Customer Conference

So a quick behind-the-scenes video. We're getting all set up and ready for the customer conference, looking amazing. The stage is incredible. We had a really good dinner last night with all of the customers and partners and today it's all about content. So we'll be up on stage soon, having a bit of a good luck coffee. A little bit nervous before we get on stage but also really excited about what's coming and the team have done an amazing job. I can't believe this is our first one. We've set the bar pretty high.