Frequently Asked Questions

Not Sure if 3M Digital Signage software is right for you? Check our commonly asked questions below.

1. What kind of computer do I need to install the software?
2. Can I use any digital display device?
3. Can I change the layout of content on the screens?
4. Can I play 'live' content on the screens?
5. Can I include live video feeds in playlists?
6. How secure are 3M's servers?
7. How do I create the content to play on the screens?
8. I've placed an order, what happens next?

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3M Digital Signage software must be installed on a Windows XP Pro computer (the ‘player’) that can be used exclusively for the play out of content to one or more attached screens. This computer needs to be connected to the internet, either via a dedicated ADSL (broadband) line or via a corporate network. Most computers available today will be powerful enough to run digital signage. The administration portal that is used to manage your network, upload content and create playlists, is accessed via the 3MDS.com website. You can connect to this website from any internet-enabled computer running Internet Explorer and Java.

Yes, you can attach any display to our players, including plasmas, LCDs, projectors and video walls, provided an appropriate video card is specified. Screens can be any resolution and can be in portrait or landscape format. You can attach multiple screens to each player, although they will all show the same content. You need a different player for each ‘channel’ of content, with 3M software installed on each player.

Yes, 3M Network Edition allows screen layouts to be scheduled with your playlists, meaning you can change the look of your screens by location, time and day. 3M software supports up to three content zones in each layout – the main dynamic content controlled by the playlists within Network Edition, a scrolling text ticker that can be updated easily via the 3MDS.com portal, and a third zone containing HTML or XML content. Network Edition is provided with some default layouts that you can choose from – e.g. ticker on the bottom or top of screen. Should a customer require a customised layout, perhaps including a company logo, weather information or XML data feeds from a company database, please contact 3M. The programming required to set up new layouts is easy, we just need your design. And once a new layout is set up, we can add it into your network for you to use with a click of a button.

It is very easy to incorporate live data feeds into a 3M system. As 3M Digital Signage software can include HTML or webpages as part of either playlists or screen layouts, simply take your XML data from your data source (such as a database), incorporate the data on a webpage in your desired layout, then schedule that webpage to appear in your playlists.

Yes, it is possible to schedule a feed from a live video sources, such as tv, within your playlists. This requires some additional hardware and a signal to be fed to each player, but 3M can advise you on how to set this up.

Our exceptional reliability depends on secure and fully redundant servers that comprise the backbone of our terrestrial, web-based communications infrastructure. The servers we use to host your digital signage network are housed by Adhost in Seattle, USA (http://www.adhost.com/) located in Fisher Plaza (www.fisherplaza.com) , a large co-location facility built to California seismic zone 4 standards providing redundancy in firewall and server configuration, cooling, power and internet connection. 3M Digital Signage operates with a Gigabit Ethernet network backbone, dedicated leased bandwidth, a total disk capacity of one (1) terabyte and three (3) redundant OC-12 connections. A special application provides automatic 24/7 web site monitoring to deliver our “always-on” guarantee. The Network Operations Centre includes a team of staff experts dedicated to the 24/7 monitoring and trouble-shooting response required for total network reliability. The online content management system is a password protected JAVA application. All communications between the User and the Server are encrypted through a secure XML-RPC pass. All files stored on the Server are stored as binary files with unique identifiers (not stored as common files). Although all of our customer networks are hosted on the same servers, our login protocols mean it is not possible for one customer to access any of the information about another customer’s network. Therefore your confidential content and playlists remain secure.
3M Digital Signage is ISO 9000 certified.

3M’s believes that the success of any digital signage network is driven primarily by the design of the content that is played. We also believe that content is best created by third party industry-standard software applications that specialise in content design, not by a content management system designed. This is why we do not include any content creation capabilities within our 3M software. Instead our full multimedia compatibility ensures that 3M users can utilise content generated by anyone using any industry-standard content creation packages. To maximise the impact of your messages, we would recommend that all customers select a content creation provider that has experience in digital signage. 3M can provide recommendations of some excellent providers if required. 3M can provide specification information to those generating the content to ensure full compatibility with 3M Digital Signage software. The exception is the incorporation of live data feeds into either content files or screen layouts, where we would recommend that you contact 3M for technical advise and/or programming services.

3M will process your payment and enter your details into our system. Because we need to set up a new network for you on our servers, this may take up to 48 hours. We will then email you with the licence number for the software you have purchased, with details on how you can download and install the software.