How to choose a digital signage system — 10 questions to ask any vendor

The difference between a successful signage project and a failed one is almost never the screen — it's the system managing it. Here are ten questions we recommend asking every vendor.

The ten questions

1. Does the CMS manage all branches centrally, with targeting by branch, region, day and hour?
2. How does it integrate with our systems — ERP, POS, promotions engine, corporate calendar?
3. Does content keep playing when a branch loses internet?
4. What monitoring exists? Will we know a screen is dark before a customer tells us?
5. Who designs the content — are there locked brand templates for branch teams?
6. Can it be deployed on-premises if IT or regulation requires it?
7. What's the security update policy and who accesses the branch network?
8. What's the SLA response time, and who installs in outlying regions?
9. Does the same CMS also drive electronic shelf labels?
10. What does expansion cost — another branch, screen or language?

Three red flags

• A vendor who talks only about hardware and can't explain the integration model.
• No remote monitoring — meaning the branch is your alerting system.
• Every content update has to go through the vendor instead of your team.

Why this matters for chains

In one store you can get away with almost anything. Across 50 stores every operational gap multiplies by 50. That's why central management with reliable monitoring is the top criterion — exactly what we built KONEKT for.