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Any organization can tailor its site-specific atmosphere for increased relevance and impact through its use of what we call channel. Each channel has its own programs, its own broadcast calendar, and its own time basis. Combined, these differentiators create a framework of flexibility that can extend to the most ambitious global deployments. But even so, channels are intrinsically simple enough and lightweight enough for small, local deployments.
Topics in this chapter explain core channel concepts in Cisco Digital Signs and guide you step-by-step through your planning, preparation, and deployment of channels. You will learn how to:
Note You can trigger an emergency state on any DMP group. When a DMP group is in its emergency state, it plays emeregency messages instead of the channel events that it is subscribed to play. A declared emergency in progress will always override channel content on emergency-affected DMPs.
Timesaver Go to terms that start with... [ C | D | P | S | T ].
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Topics in this section show you how you might apply the channels concept in various settings.
Just eight channels might target every typical niche for the public spaces in a major commercial airport.
Meanwhile, a small regional airport might define even fewer channels.
Just eight channels might target every typical niche for the public spaces in a hospital or clinic.
Figure 20-1 Healthcare Example
Just eight channels might target every typical niche for the public spaces in a large, retail bank.
Figure 20-2 Retail Banking Example
Just eight channels might target every typical niche for the public spaces in a retail department store.
Figure 20-3 Retail Shopping Example
Just eight channels might target every typical niche for the public spaces at a school or university.
Just eight channels might target every typical niche on a factory floor.
Figure 20-5 Manufacturing Example
Note When you declare an emergency that affects one or more of your DMP groups, the affected DMPs stop all content playback from their subscribed channels.
The time basis that you set for a channel affects when its subscribed DMP endpoints render media for playback on digital signs. The time basis can be relative to each DMP individually or absolute to one time zone that you choose from a list. Thus, the time basis flexibility of channels helps to support global deployments of digital signs. But this same flexibility ensures that channels can be just as relevant and useful to small deployments as they are to large ones.
The time basis concept can become complicated in practice if you do not understand and plan appropriately for its possible effects.
Suppose that you make the time basis for a channel relative to each of its subscribed endpoints.
If so, the effect is no different than choosing this time zone absolutely. An event that runs on the channel will start and stop at precisely the same time on each subscribed endpoint. Any time of day occurs simulaneously across them all, without any offset or unexpected complexity.
If so, the physical distribution of these endpoints could mean that the relative time of day on any two endpoints is offset by 1 or more hours. Consider the continental United States, where noon in New York occurs a full 3 hours before noon the same day in San Francisco.
Absolute to <your choice from the Time Zone menu>
Suppose that you choose one absolute time zone as the time basis for a channel to impose on its subscribed endpoints.
– And is this exactly the same time zone that you chose to enforce absolutely?
If so, the effect is no different than choosing a relative time basis for this channel. An event that runs on the channel will start and stop at precisely the same time on each subscribed endpoint. Any time of day occurs simulaneously across them all, without any offset or unexpected complexity.
Note Compare and consider the time basis of when you change the subscription of a DMP group from one channel to another.
You can view a list of every channel or you can limit the list to include only a subset of channels.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Your browser loads the All Channels table alongside its filtering controls.
Tip If you haven’t yet created any channels, the All Channels table is empty. However, you can click at any time to get started.
Step 3 (Optional) Use standard pagination controls under the All Channels table, as needed, to navigate through your channels.
Step 4 (Optional) Click the corresponding column heading, as needed, to sort the table by channel name, content type, or number of subscribers.
Step 5 (Optional) Use standard filtering controls next to the All Channels table, as needed, to limit which channels the table should include. You can filter by:
The All Channels table repopulates itself each time that you submit a new filter.
Tip You can clear these filters at any time. Just click .
Step 6 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
You can create and define new channel at any time.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
The New Channel setup assistant opens. It can guide you through all of the phases to create and define your new channel. Alternatively, you can name and save your channel now, but then define it later.
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Step 4 Do one of the following.
Step 5 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
You can assign “folksonomy” tags to your channels. The more effectively you tag your channels, the more efficiently you can filter to the exact channels that matter to you in a given moment.
Step 1 See the procedure, elsewhere in this guide, to Add a Channel a channel.
Tip Tagging a new channel is just one part of creating the channel.
You can edit the fundamental attributes of any channel.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-28.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click a heading to edit its values.
See the “default content”glossary definition. |
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See the “time-specific content” glossary definition. |
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See the “play now” glossary definition. |
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Step 5 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
To simplify reuse, you can generate an almost exact duplicate of any channel.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Duplicate (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-40.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
Step 7 Click Yes to confirm that you are deleting the channel deliberately.
Step 8 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
You can define the basic properties of a new channel.
Step 1 See the procedure, elsewhere in this guide, to Add a Channel a channel.
Tip Defining the basic properties of a new channel is just one part of creating the channel.
You can redefine the properties of a channel.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-47.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click the Default Content heading to edit its values.
Step 5 Do one of the following to choose content from the default content selector.
Step 6 Click the content that your digital signs should play. Then, click OK.
The change takes effect immediately on all DMP groups that are subscribed to this channel.
Step 7 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
You can choose the time-specific content for a new channel during channel creation. Time-specific content is what a channel shows routinely. It is the very foundation of a channel’s identity.
Step 1 See the procedure, elsewhere in this guide, to Add a Channel a channel.
Tip Choosing the time-specific content for a channel is just one part of creating the channel.
You can change the time-specific content for a channel. Time-specific content is what a channel shows routinely. It is the very foundation of a channel’s identity.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-60.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click the Play Now heading to edit its values.
When you are not already using Play Now, a message explains the implications of your decisions here.
Step 5 Click Configure Play Now.
We prompt you immediately to configure persistence of the Play Now event, to choose what content should play, and to trigger the real-time start of the Play Now event.
a. Choose an option in the Play until area.
c. Do one of the following to choose content from the selector.
d. Click the content that your digital signs should play. Then, click OK.
The change takes effect immediately on all DMP groups that are subscribed to this channel.
Step 6 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-73.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click the Play Now heading.
Step 5 Click Stop “Play Now” Content.
The change takes effect immediately on all DMP groups that are subscribed to this channel.
Step 6 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
Step 1 See the procedure, elsewhere in this guide, to Add a Channel a channel.
Tip Choosing the play now content for a channel is just one part of creating the channel.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-83.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click the Time-specific Scheduling heading to start duplicating an event.
a. Navigate to your event on the timeline.
b. Click your event to highlight it on the timeline.
Details in the Event Information pane now describe your event.
Step 5 Click (Delete) in the Event Information pane.
Step 6 Click Yes to confirm that you are deleting the event deliberately.
Step 7 Stop. You have completed this procedure.
You can subscribe DMP groups to a channel at any time.
Step 1 Click Content Management.
Step 3 Click a row in the All Channels table to highlight it. Then, click Edit (s/5_x/5_4/dmm/user/guide/signs/channels.fm/jcr:content/renditions/channels-94.jpg" ALIGN="BASELINE" ALT="">) where your highlighted row meets the Actions column.
The Channels page now loads a sub-tab where you can edit attributes of the selected channel.
Step 4 Click the DMP Groups Subscribed heading to edit subscribers.
Step 5 When the DMP groups selection tree appears, expand and collapse its levels of nesting, as needed, to show the group that interests you.
Step 6 Click No in the Subscribe column to toggle this group’s subscription Off.
The change takes effect immediately. The group is now unsubscribed.
Step 7 Stop. You have completed this procedure.