Rise Vision, Sharp NEC Partner On Raspberry Pi-Driven Digital Signage Solution For Schools

June 23, 2021 by Dave Haynes

Rise Vision and Sharp NEC Display Solutions have done a partnership that sees K-12 schools and higher education institutions getting a free year of using Rise Vision’s CMS platform with NEC Display MediaPlayer solution they purchase. 

As part of this partnership, Rise Vision has integrated their solution with the NEC MediaPlayer via the pre-installed Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 or Compute Module 4.

Schools just select the Rise CMS in the MediaPlayer settings, which the companies say simplifies the installation process, eliminates the need for an external media player, and reduces the overall launch and operating costs of digital signage.

“Partnering with Rise Vision enables us to offer educational institutions an all-in-one digital solution. With schools returning to in-person learning, the ability to easily communicate messages throughout a school or campus is more important than ever – and providing institutions access to quality, easy-to-use, digital display solutions will help ease the transition back for the upcoming school year,” says Art Marshall, Product Line Manager, Solutions with Sharp NEC Display.

The offer is available until October 31st. More details here: risevision.com/sharp-nec

I have seen several companies, particularly in the last 16 months, offering limited-time free subscriptions to try out a software product, but a full year seems longer than the others I know about. It’s an interesting strategy – as it likely appeals to the crowd that wants to use Raspberry Pis as media players, and that same crowd likely gravitates to the low-cost, open design of Rise’s CMS,

Three month trials are just that, but if you can get people using a platform for a year, a good chunk of them will just get a paid subscription if they’re happy enough with how things work.