Your digital sigange is a lot like your front lawn.
Before you laugh, hear me out: they’re both iconic, front-facing (literally), and leave an immediate impression on your visitors.
You’d probably do everything in your power to keep the yard looking pristine. Maybe this is once-weekly attention — a little trimming here, a little fertilizer there — and a pinch of elbow grease.
The same is true of your digital signage program. Because proper maintenance is essential for keeping your investment looking prim and proper.
And while it might sound daunting, it's probably easier to manage than you'd think.
So on that note, here's a quick and easy guide to digital signage maintenance tasks, including everything you need to do for your hardware and software.
Okay, but why bother with digital signage maintenance?
Considering the average digital signage screen lasts between five to 15 years, worrying about nitpicky maintenance seems like an unnecessary 'to do.' But make no mistake — hardware and software maintenance tasks are essential to longevity.
With the right digital signage maintenance plan, you can:
- Stretch your bottom dollar (aka cost savings). The longer your digital displays keep kicking, the more money you'll have to spend on other tasks (such as designing stellar content).
- Get those lifespan gains. Considering hardware maintenance can extend equipment lifespans by 50% or more, you could potentially see dramatic gains for digital signage hardware, too.
- Defend against bad actors. Fully updated software makes it harder to exploit backdoor loopholes, which will keep your data much safer and more secure.
- Stop problems before they start. With regular maintenance, you can save time, money, and literally hundreds of hours spent troubleshooting costly repairs.
- Plan for contingencies. Because when, not if, your signage player decides to act up, you'll already know what you need to do next.
The right digital signage maintenance plan can help you manage all this and more. You can care for your displays, keep an eye on your software, and manage a frustrating or emergency situation by keeping your program in tip-top shape.
The cherry on top? It won't actually take that much time.
Let's start with a breakdown of digital signage maintenance tasks:
Building a digital signage maintenance plan
There are two key components in digital signage maintenance: hardware maintenance, and software maintenance. You'll need to care for both if you want the best possible performance.
Here's a closer look at what to expect.
Quick note: many of these suggestions work for indoor digital signage. If you're managing outdoor signage or something more unique (like massive video walls), you'll want to skip down to the lower segment.
Proper hardware maintenance
To sidestep the worst of the worst digital signage issues, you'll need to start with hardware maintenance. By 'hardware,' we mean all the physical components of your digital signage program — like your digital signs, media players, and other hardware components.
With this in mind, here are some hardware maintenance tips for your players and digital signs:
- Inspect your electronic displays. This is probably the most basic hardware maintenance tasks, and the good news is, it starts with a simple inspection. If you notice anything squirrely about your screens (like burn-ins, for example), immediately take a closer look to see if you can stop the damage.
- Monitor your electrical components. Power cables and HMDI connectors can get frayed, crimped, and a myriad of other things. Keep an eye on the health of your electrical components and never leave probable damage up to chance.
- Clean regularly. Dust is a given in most indoor spaces, and outdoor spaces have their own ‘flavor’ of gunk and detritus. However, you can often avoid costly repairs or replacements just by wiping off your screens and components. First, clean all screens with light soapy water and dry gently with a soft cloth. Then, use compressed air to blow dust out of filters or vents. This will help you ensure optimal performance for your equipment.
Proper software maintenance
Contrary to popular belief, hardware failure is a lot less common than software failure. That's why it's critical to keep up with regular software maintenance — like ongoing content management and digital signage updates — so you're rarely at risk for unexpected bugs or glitches.
Here are some suggestions for maintaining digital signage software:
- Update your programs often. This includes your OS, your CMS, and your digital signage networks (if applicable). The more frequently you update your system(s), the less likely you'll have a security breach, and the more likely you'll have access to the latest features as well. You should also test for compatibility issues so you can switch software providers if needed. Some platforms like Fugo let you schedule software updates so you never forget to get your ducks in a row.
- Optimize your display. The better adjusted your power display settings are, the less power you'll consume and the better your image quality will be. You can also avoid costly repairs or replacements such as screen burn (which occurs after exposure to prolonged static images).
- Make sure your content is up to date. Be sure you’re regularly managing content so nothing dated, incorrect, or offensive gets released on your screen. Depending on your software, you may want to create backups so you don't lose your software in the event of a power outage or data breach.
Additional maintenance tasks for digital signage solutions
Is your digital signage a little more. . . complex?
The good news is, your maintenance and repair tasks won't be too different.
Here's how to keep unique digital signage running smoothly:
Outdoor digital signage maintenance
Outdoor digital signage includes any screen that displays content outside the four walls of your physical business location. This could be a plaza, your front display window, or even a receiving yard depending on your business.
And as you might imagine, outdoor signage requires additional maintenance.
Hardware maintenance includes:
- Checking for damage. Pay close attention to cracked screens, finicky cooling systems, or screen burns.
- Wiping down outdoor signs. As mentioned earlier, use a soft cloth for exterior grime and compressed air to 'puff' dust and detritus out of vents.
- Testing power supplies. Extreme weather events such as flooding or high/low temps can make certain outlets a bit testy, so you might want to pick up a receptacle tester.
Software maintenance includes:
- Checking on your CMS. Is everything synced and communicating as expected?
- Considering security enhancements. This includes scheduling software updates if necessary.
- Updating the OS. This could be your TV's OS (like an Apple TV) or your player (like a Chromecast or Google TV Streamer).
Interactive digital signage maintenance
Interactive digital signage refers to any screen that responds to touch. Since these screens are actually engaging customers and not necessarily just displaying content, you may need to provide a little extra maintenance and TLC.
Hardware maintenance includes:
- Replacing weatherproofing (if applicable). If you can't handle this yourself, there's no shame in calling the experts to help with installation.
- Sanitizing everything. Pandemic or not, the human hand carries some pretty gross stuff.
- Accounting for safety. Cracked screens or chipped hardware should get replaced quickly, especially if fingers could get sliced while interacting with the screen.
Software maintenance includes:
- Calibrating your screen. This ensures it responds accurately to customers and visitors.
- Updating your CMS. For optimal performance, this should include third-party integrations.
- Checking pathways. Are your touchpoints mapped to the right endpoints?
Outdoor interactive digital signage
This is probably the most complex type of digital signage. So as you can probably guess, losing an outdoor interactive screen can lead to costly repairs or replacements.
Shuddering at the thought?
It may be worth considering professional maintenance services so you don't feel totally overwhelmed (or have to worry about $1,000 mistakes).
Again, proper maintenance for these digital signage systems is incredibly important. If you don't have the skill set — and no one on your team does either — paying for expert maintenance and repair will be worth every penny.
Unless you fancy purchasing a new system, that is.
Creating a maintenance schedule that works for you
Understanding which boxes to tick is well and good, but none of it matters if you can't do it regularly. Consistent maintenance is what makes the difference between a healthy digital signage network and costly repairs.
Here's a tentative timeline for more comprehensive maintenance:
- Daily: Look over your screens for general signs of hardware failure. This could be outdated content, obviously busted screens, or media players not working.
- Weekly: Check your network infrastructure for display problems. Is everything functioning correctly? Are there loading issues? Does anything need a second look?
- Monthly: Focus on regular cleaning with a soft cloth, compressed air, and other screen-specific products.
- Quarterly: Check screens, players, and your content management system for new security patches. The sooner you update your programs, the quicker you can tighten up on security vulnerabilities.
- Annually: Assess the overall performance of your screens. Does anything look like it's on its last legs? Should you start budgeting for a new screen/player/component soon?
Maintaining digital signage the easy way
Keeping up with digital signage maintenance sounds a lot worse than it actually is. If you can dedicate 15 minutes per day, and maybe a few hours per month, to a consistent maintenance routine, you'll save time, money, and effort in spades.
Of course, investing in maintenance-friendly digital signage equipment is an essential part of making upkeep easy. You'll want to purchase simple digital displays — as well as user-friendly content management systems — to keep your program looking its best.
There are lots of different options on the market these days. But for many small business owners, that software program is Fugo.
Fugo’s remote management capabilities allow businesses to monitor the health of their digital signage displays from anywhere. We also make it easy to schedule software updates effortlessly so you never have to worry about bad actors slipping into your network.
No need to take our word for it, though.
See how Fugo keeps digital signage running smoothly with a 14-day free trial.
