DSE 16:9 Mixer Sponsor Profiles – Capital Networks

March 19, 2018 by Dave Haynes

Capital Networks – Booth 2618 (with Sharp)

Markham, Ontario-based software shop Capital Networks has been in the digital signage space longer than the space has been called digital signage. It started off, and still does a lot of broadcast work for community cable stations and specialty channels. They even have informercial networks.

The Audience software stack is very strong in broadcast graphics and integrated data. If you are in the Toronto area or pass through it often, you’ll know about the almost iconic CP24 all-day news channel that is a multi-windowed, hyper-kinetic news display that always has something changing. That was run by Capital’s software for many, many years.

One of the things that has always struck me about the company is continuity. I was a customer of these guys almost 20 years ago, and the key people I dealt with then are still there … and I don’t think it’s because they lack options.  Capital has been another GIANT sponsor of 16:9 for years and years, and a longtime backer of the mixer.

Most of the signage customer basis is in areas like corporate, campus and healthcare. They kitted out, for example, a Toronto health care centre billed as North America’s first fully digital hospital with screens that drilled all the way down to patient rooms, and integrated with patient information systems.

This year, the company is in the Sharp booth. Sharp has released its System on Chip solution, and Capital – an early adopter of SoC going back to 2013 – has a player running and working with its platform.  “We will be demonstrating how our Android OS digital signage media engine supports advanced scheduling scenarios, including on-demand content playback and our dynamic NFC features which provide a easy method for engagement between the big digital signage screen and the little screens we all carry around.”

The big marketing pitch to DSE people this year is engagement. “The ability to engage with digital signage through touch screen and mobile interaction has never been in higher demand. From consumers, marketers and network operators alike. Triggering on screen content and downloading on screen content using mobile devices will be on display in the the SHARP booth.”

Capital says it is seeing and benefiting from a trend of organizations evolving their networks, perhaps having launched with one company and realizing that solution is not THE solution. “Recently, we’ve been quite successful at helping organizations that have some experience with digital signage, maybe operated a small networks for awhile, but are looking to change or expand their operations. We have been able to demonstrate our platform flexibility (hardware and OS flexibility – including hybrid environments) and the day-to-day operation features that experienced operators value.”

You’ll see guys like Morgan Henderson and Jim Vair at the annual mixer on March 27th. Say Hi and also thanks for being a big supporter of the mixer and the industry.