Devices

What a Device is

A Device is a specific ScreenSoft player/display assigned to a Company and a Location. Its detail controls screen behavior and provides operational information. The detail contains the tabs Information, Published campaigns, Published applications, Commands and Monitoring.

Presentation and Application layers

Campaigns belong to the Presentation layer. Applications belong to the Application layer. The Presentation layer automatically plays campaigns, advertising, information visuals and notices. The Application layer is the interactive part of the device where visitors use applications. A device can enable the Presentation layer, the Application layer, or both.

If both layers are active, touching the screen while the Presentation Layer is playing activates the Application Layer. With Presentation Layer only, no touch control for entering applications is shown and touch does not trigger that transition. With Application Layer only, there is no arrow for returning to the Presentation Layer.

Default Application Layer mode

For each device you choose what opens when the Application Layer is activated. There are two options:

• Kiosk – opens the complete menu of applications available on the device.
• One specific web application – opens the selected web application directly instead of the kiosk menu.

You cannot choose any arbitrary application type as the default mode, such as Wheel of Fortune, Quiz, Image or Maze. Direct opening is intended specifically for a web application.

Web application: keyboard, fullscreen and controls

Opening a web application directly does not automatically mean that it must run without ScreenSoft controls. The web application has separate settings for Keyboard, Fullscreen and Controls.

If Controls remain enabled, ScreenSoft provides its own navigation. If you enable fullscreen and at the same time disable Controls, the website is displayed as a clean fullscreen application. Only in this mode do you need to implement your own navigation in the website when visitors need, for example, a button back to advertising or to the kiosk menu. Use Browser Embedded Functions for that.

A typical example is a shopping-centre map: advertisements play on the screen, a visitor touches it and the web map opens directly. If the map runs fullscreen without ScreenSoft controls, its own buttons can use Embedded Functions to return to the Presentation Layer or perform other navigation.

Published campaigns and applications

The Published campaigns and Published applications tabs show the content assigned to the specific device. At device level, administrators can also inspect the assembled campaign playlist and playback schedule.

Both tabs also allow you to change the order of published campaigns and applications. This lets the administrator control the order of published content wherever that order is used in the device interface or content composition.

Commands

The Commands tab is the service section of the device detail. Use it when you need to resynchronize, restart or technically inspect a device. Normal publishing does not require these commands: ordinary content changes are distributed automatically by the server.

Campaign synchronization

Requests a fresh synchronization of campaigns intended for the device. Use it during service checks when you need to verify that the device is working with the current campaign set.

Application synchronization

Requests synchronization of applications published to the device. It is useful when checking whether the device has the current Application Layer content.

Configuration synchronization

Requests the current device configuration from the server, including operational settings that apply to the device.

Restart application

Restarts the ScreenSoft client application without restarting the entire player/computer. This is an appropriate first service step when the client application is not behaving correctly.

Restart device

Restarts the whole player/computer. Use it when a complete device reboot is required rather than only restarting the ScreenSoft application.

Update

Updates the ScreenSoft client on the device. The Dashboard can recommend an update with an Application version outdated status when an older client does not support a newer function or application.

Remote console

Provides remote service access and diagnostics for the device. It is intended for technical administration when the information available in the standard administration is not sufficient.

Remote screen view and control

ScreenSoft lets you check a device without visiting the location. Remote view shows what is actually visible on the screen at that moment, so an administrator can verify campaign or application playback and diagnose problems faster.

When remote control is available for the device, a technician can also interact with it remotely. Remote view and remote control are different: view is for checking the current screen, while control enables an active service intervention.

Typical use: a customer reports that a screen is showing something unexpected. First check the device status in Monitoring, then open the remote view. If intervention is required, use the available remote control or service commands. Many support cases can therefore be resolved without an on-site technician.

Support can therefore inspect and resolve many issues remotely without a technician travelling to the screen. An on-site visit is only required when the issue cannot be resolved through software, remote configuration or diagnostics.

In addition to the remote view and control available for normal administration, ScreenSoft technical support also has remote service access through a command line, similar to working in a Linux terminal. This access is intended for advanced diagnostics, configuration checks and service operations beyond the capabilities of a normal user.

Remote ScreenSoft technical support

In addition to the remote view and control available for normal administration, ScreenSoft technical support also has remote service access through a command line, similar to working in a Linux terminal.

This access is intended for advanced diagnostics, configuration checks and service operations beyond the capabilities of a normal user. Support can inspect system state, diagnose technical issues and perform required software or configuration actions remotely.

Many issues can therefore be resolved completely remotely without a technician travelling to the screen. An on-site visit is only required when the issue cannot be resolved through software, remote configuration or diagnostics.

Monitoring

The Monitoring tab provides technical supervision of the actual state of the device and ScreenSoft Player. In the device recording, Monitoring contains two visible areas: a full hourly report and live connection status.

The hourly report contains technical information from the microcomputer, including host and CPU identification, current time, system uptime and ScreenSoft application uptime, RAM usage, and information about system and data disk storage. Depending on the hardware and available sensors, Monitoring can also expose temperatures of selected components, IP and other network information, and video-output status — whether the player is actually sending a picture.

The live connection status area shows a history of ON/OFF states and connection timestamps. A technician can therefore see not only whether the device is currently online, but also whether connection outages occurred and how long a connection remained active.

Monitoring helps distinguish a device that is online and communicating with the server from an issue with video output, networking, performance, or another technical part of the player. The exact set of values can vary depending on the microcomputer and available sensors.

Disconnected from server means that the server currently has no connection to the device. Power and internet connectivity are the first things to check. Application version outdated means that the device uses an older client version and an update is recommended.

How new content reaches the device

When a user creates or changes a campaign, application, visual or targeting, the server receives the change and determines which devices are affected. It sends each device the required instructions, for example what to download, update, remove or stop using. Under normal conditions distribution begins within seconds; completion also depends on file size and connection speed.

Synchronization does not interrupt playback

While new content is downloading, the device continues the current playlist. A very subtle, few-pixel-high activity indicator appears at the bottom of the screen. It is not a conventional 0–100% progress bar; it tells administrators that the device is synchronizing content. After the required data has been downloaded, the device switches to the new playlist or configuration.

Offline operation

Campaigns, applications and required media are stored locally on the device. If internet connectivity is lost, the screen does not go blank: it continues playing the last valid local content. While offline it simply cannot receive new server instructions, such as stopping a campaign, a new visual or a playlist change. It resynchronizes after the connection returns.

Dynamic visuals are evaluated locally

Dynamic Visuals are also prepared locally. The device downloads all required variants in advance and, immediately before the campaign plays, evaluates current conditions such as time, day, temperature or weather and selects the correct visual. The server therefore does not select a particular dynamic visual for every individual playback.