AirDroid Business Touted As Android Device Management Solution For Digital Signage, Kiosks

July 31, 2019 by Dave Haynes

A San Francisco-area company that specializes in mobile device management (MDM) software solutions has announced a business application, AirDroid Business, aimed at use-cases like kiosks and digital signage.

“Our research tells us that small and medium businesses cringe at expensive enterprise mobile device management solutions that offer far too many valueless features,” says Anson Shiong, CEO of Sand Studio, whose flagship product is AirDroid. “AirDroid Business appeals to companies that are seeking for an easy-to-use mobile device management solution that fuses strategic and tactical smarts, delivering business vibrancy to companies. Those companies all have specific demands for an affordable and hassle-free tool for device remote management.”

The company says there have been more than 50 million downloads since 2011 of its personal mobile device management solutions, which allow Android mobile device users to access and manage their phone from any computer, anywhere. They can do things like send SMS, view app notifications, transfer files and fully control their mobile phone via a computer.

AirDroid Business is tailored “for small and medium businesses who desire an effective and reliable solution at an affordable price rather than an expensive solution with far too many features that provide little value or are hardly used.”

“Our MDM solution is especially useful for businesses that deploy Android devices in different locations where they need to perform periodic device upgrades, maintenances, send bulk file transfers, screen monitoring, app management, or monitor via camera surveillance. All of this can be done remotely through AirDroid Business,” says Shiong.

AirDroid Business does:

• Full remote control (remote desktop) – remotely control any Android device anywhere
• (Bulk) Remote file transfer – securely send and receive bulk files in real-time, and with two-way transfer capabilities
• Remote screen mirroring – monitor Android device activities or real time data to ensure all untended devices (kiosks, digital signage, vending machines, etc.) are displaying the correct contents on the screens
• Application Management Service (AMS) – a dedicated built-in app store which enables administrators to provide app releases, updates, and maintenance
• Notifications – send short messages with text and images to the controlled devices as for either notification or advertisement purposes

A kiosk mode is coming – something fairly critical to anything that is within reach and in need of being locked down against tampering.

I have no idea if there are many MDM solutions out there that do Android and have versions friendly to the SMB market. The one I know of is Moki, but I am not sure if it is being used for signage applications, My guess is MDM companies are more interested in enterprise accounts with many, many licenses.

What I do know is device management is very important for digital signage network operators, and if a CMS software provider is weak on those features, maintaining high uptime percentages and controlling field service costs can be a challenge.