Welcome board in two places

Lynne Desrochers · October 15, 2013, 06:41:15 PM

We have had a welcome board up by the receptionists desk for a while. It's just a powerpoint running on a third monitor at her desk. I've had a request to have the welcome board show at multiple locations in the office (ok, well at least 2, but I think once i put it one place they will want it another as well). Any thoughts on an easy way to get this done? Thank you.

Lynne

Mark · October 15, 2013, 06:46:12 PM

Is this a PowerPoint that is edited regularly to welcome specific people, or is it a static message that changes infrequently?

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Lynne Desrochers · October 15, 2013, 06:47:21 PM

Edited regularly to welcome specific people.

JohnGage · October 16, 2013, 08:25:58 AM

We still run a Prezi (similar to PowerPoint) but I have this link saved so that one day I can convert to a more advanced signage solution. I'm not 100% certain that this is the correct vendor should I ever upgrade from Prezi but it's free and with minimal research it seemed to be what I was going after.

http://www.risevision.com/

Ric · October 16, 2013, 08:27:58 AM

Lynne,

Is adding another video card/port with a long VGA cable an option?

Now exactly how long but I know Video cables can run 100' or more.

HTH

Ric

Mark · October 16, 2013, 09:03:34 AM

Quote from: Ric on October 16, 2013, 08:27:58 AM
Lynne,

Is adding another video card/port with a long VGA cable an option?

Now exactly how long but I know Video cables can run 100' or more.

HTH

Ric

This was going to be my next suggestion. First suggestions was going to be TV with built-in DVD player but that was only if you didn't change it that often.

Sherry Burrell · October 16, 2013, 09:47:32 AM

Could you save the Power Point file to the network and both locations (as long as there is w/s) open the file? The second one would be read-only but that wouldn't matter.

Lynne Desrochers · October 16, 2013, 10:17:29 AM

John: Love Prezi, but how would i set it up to run in both locations?
Ric: ok on the extra long cable, i have them, would powerpoint (or prezi) run on two monitors at the same time? I haven't tested this out yet. But if this works it would be the easiest answer.
Sherry: I think the 2nd monitor would be up in a hall somewhere, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to have a workstation running the same file. Also, thinking this through, wouldn't we have to manually run it again every time she updated it? I could set up remote access to the other workstation, so she could pop on over right from her desk...

Jeff Golas · October 16, 2013, 10:17:57 AM

If I were in that situation, there's 100 different ways you could go, but easiest would be a VGA splitter sending signal to the other monitors using a VGA to cat-5 adapter if you have the wiring available.

Jon Robinson · October 16, 2013, 10:22:00 AM

What about using roku devices? You could just put the slides on a USB and then just pop them in. You can get them pretty cheap. You might have to change the format of the slide from power point into pdf or photos. But you could defiantly do it.

Billy Welsh · October 16, 2013, 10:22:25 AM

We have a much older wired-LAN-only version of this http://www.viewsonic.com/us/digital-signage/media-players/wpg-370.html.

We upload the content from the (admittedly not very good) desktop client, and the unit holds the content in memory and displays on the monitor. The content is generated with PowerPoint. We have it fastened to the back of the LCD so unless you are looking for it you don't even know it's there. I believe it is using a memory card vs. a USB stick.

Very nice solution for our small office - no potential complications from using someone's PC. The client software will work with multiple units, so you would simply have to upload once for each unit to get the same content on each. I would hope/assume that they have improved the software since our purchase, which was several years back.

Jeff Golas · October 16, 2013, 10:23:39 AM

FYi - Roku makes a digital sign module. Its not as cheap as a regular Roku though.

Another idea - Dell sells those new workstations that are more or less giant ipads, you could always just mount those on a wall and have them set to copy files from a central location every so often, and display a wallpaper. Down the road they could be used for more.

Debbie Fuson · October 16, 2013, 11:06:01 AM

What about one of the Android mini TV dongles? We have a TV in our lobby, and I was thinking about trying one out on it.

Of course, Lynn would end up needing two of them.....

Jeff Zylstra · October 16, 2013, 11:47:04 AM

Love these kinds of posts! Many good ideas here. I'm liking the Roku idea of using a non-computer device to broadcast a signal. I was also thinking of Jeff's idea to us Ethernet as a means to connect to a VGA or other monitor. Or, many TVs now days have a USB slot that you could run a presentation on. +1 to Lynne for starting the discussion!

Jeff Golas · October 16, 2013, 02:44:03 PM

Quote from: Debbie Fuson on October 16, 2013, 11:06:01 AM
What about one of the Android mini TV dongles? We have a TV in our lobby, and I was thinking about trying one out on it.

Of course, Lynn would end up needing two of them.....

Is that the FAVI stick? I think I saw those for sale in the local comp store (the only one left) and was going to look into it furthur. Gets mixed reviews but then mostly positive later on Amazon.