Another, Very Different Digital Signage Fail At Timmies
May 2, 2019 by Dave Haynes
This is a Tim Horton’s in downtown Toronto this morning, as spotted by a digital signage vet. I’ve seen lots of Timmies where one or several screens are out – notably at Montreal’s airport – but this is a new one.
Things are working – but the screens all have on-screen messaging for SICOM, weirdly backwards – and information on the operating system. SICOM bid for, won and took over the Timmies menuboard job from Cineplex Digital Media/EK3.
Been a bit of a mess lately, based on what’s evident in stores. Not as bad as screens being out, but not good.
It does say “Default Group”. Could be a licensing issue. On large networks, you pre-configure, pre-load the OS & content, then and as soon as the systems come online, you license them & do the final commissioning checks (99.99% before the store opens).
However, sometimes the Menu Boards are installed before the ADSL or comm cabinets… thus, no communication, therefore no licensing. The screens will allow you to maintain the store open, but with a note to “fix your connection asap”.
Or it could also be one of those nasty bugs where the screen is “maxed out” on memory allocation that wont let the panel go online. 🙂
I’m not surprised. I worked with EK3 when they first did digital menu boards for Tim Horton’s helping them develop their system. That was before they became Cineplex. The indoor digital menu board system they do has always been one of the best in the world. I have referred people to Cineplex because of their work with Tim Horton’s, such as Dairy Queen. Tim Horton’s switching from Cineplex to Sicom is like switching from a professional basketball team to a grade school team.