Userful Evolves Infinity Platform With Full Suite Of Workplace Visualization Tools, Including Signage Applications

January 7, 2025 by Dave Haynes

Calgary, Canada-based Userful has been steadily evolving its platform offer through the years, and is now positioning its offer “as a comprehensive suite of interconnected data visualization tools for both centralized and distributed operations” that includes a lot of workplace digital signage capabilities.

Userful says its Infinity Platform gives users single license access to as many as eight different applications that can modernize workplace operations, in one building or interconnected across a global footprint of company workplaces.

The Quad-Play Workflow for Control Rooms is ideal for NOCs (know that one), as well as SOCs, EOCs, and ADTs centralized operations, which … are … something?

1. Command Center Video Walls: Userful’s Decisions application powers multi-sourced video walls for viewing critical operations center data. The Decisions engine transforms control room operations by delivering unparalleled real-time data visualization, connecting multi-source data to intelligent displays.  
2. Operator Workstations: In the same platform suite of services as Decisions, uConduct can power operator-workstations using breakthrough network KVM technology. uConduct now allows operators to create multiple real-time interactive views in cooperation with the video wall or shared canvases.  
3. War Rooms: Spaces enables operators to securely bring corporate resources into leading unified comms platforms for urgent decision-making. When rapid response is essential, operators want to book a war room meeting for decision-makers and bring all relevant data sources together in real-time.  
4. Employee Notifications:  A brand new Notifications app for delivering timely, multi-modal messages across the organization. Centralized management for visual, voice, and text based communications with employees, suppliers, and customers.  

The second workflow for workplace collaboration and decision-making is Operations Management Workflow, which is tuned ideal to working environments like food/beverage, manufacturing, production, logistics, and fulfillment – all scenarios where staff tend to be deskless and on the move in large spaces. It serves as a one-stop platform for operators working across distributed operating environments, providing instant visibility to a multitude of data metric source content from multiple sites and repositories:

1. Datametrics Visualization. Userful’s Trends app enables real-time visualization of multiple data metrics simultaneously with authentication for stringent enterprise security and privacy standards. Userful’s approach is unique in that we maintain secure persistent sessions, rather than the non-real-time “web macro” approach of most digital signage companies (ie. screen captures).  
2. Datametrics Streaming:  Userful’s OpStream app delivers real-time operational data, including dashboards and canvases from Trends or Decisions throughout the organization over the enterprise’s secure network via HLS protocol, enabling secure access across a breadth of devices (tablets, laptops, mobile phones). RBAC and air-gapped streaming enhance security and control. 
3. Leadership Dashboards:  Userful’s uControl app empowers operations leaders to control multi-sourced data visualization across the organization and provides a personal dashboard of operational performance across the many applications and sources monitored by that leader. Whether selecting dashboards and content on video walls, control rooms, or digital signage, uControl makes centralized control easy. For example, one operations leader for a major automotive company chose uControl to provide visibility to the operations of 3 manufacturing plants, across 3 different software applications on a single dashboard, improving operational performance by 5%. 
4. Secure Corporate Signage:  Userful’s Engage app, a powerful CDN for digital signage, 100% on the enterprise network. Engage offers easy content creation, customizable templates, and advanced scheduling. The Video Wall Asset Processor optimizes content for video walls, enabling ‘forward and store’ playback without server players. And without creating internet security vulnerabilities.

Userful says Infinity can be virtualized into HyperV and VMWare environments. Userful maintains interoperability between its Infinity Platform and a wide range of displays and browsers, including LG webOS, Samsung 6 and later, Sony Bravia, Brightsign players supporting HTML5, and browsers including Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

Interesting stuff, though I won’t even pretend that I understand a lot of what this going on about. What I do know is with larger, enterprise-grade digital signage opportunities, the people running the meetings now are quite often from the IT department. This sort of network-based approach will resonate with them, particularly if their workplace messaging needs are not all that exotic and can be run off the same suite that’s doing data visualizations and running control room screens.