Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lauren

I want to set static IP details and other network settings onto my Netlite LED boards which are running version 2.60 firmware. Do I need to use a telnet session to do this and if so, how?

A. No. If the boards are running 2.60 firmware you can use a web browser to access the board. Open the browser and enter the current IP address of the board. If you don’t know this then use Symon IP Jump start to identify this board and obtain its IP address.

  1. You will be asked for a username and password
  2. The default username is “admin” and there is no password.
  3. You can then change the various aspects of the board’s configuration using the tabbed screens.

Technical Support can be contacted Mon-Fri  08:00 – 18:00 on +44(0)1442 275200 or email support@symondacon.com.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lauren

My predecessor set a password on our LED wallboards and now I can’t log into them via a telnet as no one knows what the password is? What do I do now?

A. Netlite & Netbrite LED boards can have a password set against them. If there is an issue in logging on then you can provide us with the password in its encrypted form and we can decrypt this and provide you with the password.

  1. To accomplish this you need to open Symon IP Jumpstart and enter the old password then click Update
  2. This will not work so when you are asked to verify the password click on “Unknown”
  3. A file is then created at c:\Programfiles\SYMONIPJUMPSTART. Find and open this file which will contain the encrypted password.  Copy this and email it to support@symondacon.com with your customer details and an brief explanation as to the issue.
  4. We will decrypt the password and then inform you of the plain test.

Technical Support can be contacted Mon-Fri  08:00 – 18:00 on +44(0)1442 275200 or email support@symondacon.com.

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Corporate Announcements: Leadership Changes

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lauren

Symon Dacon, an industry leader of visual communications and digital signage solutions, are delighted to announce several key leadership changes which have recently been made effective, here in the UK. With intentions of further strengthening and supporting continued growth and profitability, Symon Dacon are extremely confident that such developments will positively encourage further corporate success, leaving all at Symon Dacon very optimistic for the future ahead.

We are therefore delighted to announce Dan Horgan as the Managing Director here at Symon Dacon Ltd, who is now responsible for leading every aspect of the corporation towards further optimal success. Dan occupies over a decade of experience in visual communications solutions, along with a wide understanding of telecommunications and digital signage industries. Having dedicated 12 significant years to the progression of Symon Dacon, Dan has applied strong business acumen in enhancing corporate growth throughout existing channels, whilst commendably introducing Symon to new strategic markets.

With a clear vision of increasing business opportunities throughout numerous industries and verticals, Dan has been admirably responsible for the successful development of high profile partnerships throughout EMEA & APAC. Having demonstrated a significantly high level of integrity in all business engagements, Dan was appointed Director of Sales at Symon Dacon in 2008, thereby concentrating on both channel and direct sales activities throughout EMEA & APAC, whilst effectively leading a team of industry and vertical specialists across the region. Having demonstrated a strong commitment in exceeding corporate objectives and forming outstanding relationships with all business associates, Dan was appointed Managing Director of Symon Dacon in 2012 and is now creditably directing the entire business towards further accomplishments.

In addition to Dan Horgan’s recent appointment, Symon Dacon are also pleased to announce Martyn Barnett as our Director of Client Services here at Symon Dacon. With responsibility for both Professional Services and Technical Support activities across EMEA, Martyn will be effectively contributing to the continued success of Symon Dacon as a visual communications provider. Martyn Barnett is the director of Client Services at Symon Dacon Ltd, with responsibility for both Professional Services and Technical Support activities across EMEA. Having been appointed Director of Client Services in 2012, Martyn now effectively leads the operational and technical functions of the company, guaranteeing excellent service delivery to all Symon customers.

Martyn has over 20 years’ experience in technology development and project delivery including electronics development, software and software management, audio visual systems integration, and project management. Prior to joining Symon Dacon, Martyn held great responsibilities for the leadership of global driver information software development for Visteon Corporation, as well as for audio visual system integration projects across EMEA, serving as the General Manager of Operations at Electrosonic Limited. In applying his extensive range of technical expertise and thorough understanding of the importance of customer satisfactions, Martyn is now responsible for maintaining and improving project delivery standards and customer service levels at Symon Dacon.

For more information on the above changes, call 01442 233 222 or for more information on Symon Dacon visual communications solutions, visit www.symondacon.com

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

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What’s New! SES Version 11.2.1

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lauren

Symon Dacon are pleased to announce the recent release of the Symon Enterprise Suite Version 11.2!

The latest enhancements to the SES consist of both hardware and software features that function cohesively in order to manage the collection, design, scheduling and delivery of rich digital content to a broad array of electronic displays deployed across businesses worldwide. With a combination of new products, new software features and general developments to existing applications, the Symon Enterprise Suite Version 11.2 is designed to further enhance the value and efficiency of the entire Symon Solution. To give you a better insight into such advances, here are a few brief descriptions of some of our key developments:

InView Mobile Data

InView Mobile Data, designed for all iOS & android smartphones and tablets, is our revolutionary application made to deliver real-time, logic driven data straight to you. Just like InView, our popular client software used to reach audiences through an interactive user-defined multimedia display, InView Mobile Data is also entirely managed and controlled by the Symon Enterprise Server (SES). The Symon Enterprise Server is in fact the engine responsible for driving the content management system, extracting the relevant data from a specific source, synthesising this data into the appropriate format and then finally delivering the data to the appropriate output, all within a highly effective time frame.

Due to Symon’s ability to be fully networked, our mobile application is able to interact with all popular data sources, as long as the data can be collected by the SES. Such popular data types include trouble ticketing systems, schedules, warehouse management systems and IVR/ACD systems. Content delivered via InView Mobile Data can also include any text and image-based company messages to further enhance staff communication levels.

All corporate content delivered to this mobile application remains completely secure and will only be available to those with access to the secret search code, along with VPN access to the specific network. Both of these are required in order for any mobile device to begin receiving this user-definable content.

SDA 830

The SDA 830 is the latest media player to be added to the Symon product portfolio. Being a must for any organisation wanting to deliver high-impact content to their visual communications eco-system, the SDA 830 allows for seamless integration with Symon’s content management system in order to provide a more carefree and robust ownership experience.

With this SDA however, users are able to power up to three individual screens concurrently. This means that there is no longer any need to buy several media players in order to deliver discrete content to multiple displays, as this can now be done all from this one device – saving you money! Content to be delivered by the SDA 830 can include a variety of video, graphical and audio formats, including WMV, MOV, VC1, MPEG 1, 2, 4, JPG, GIF and SWF.

Symon “Edge Server”

The Symon Edge Server allows a remote PC to effectively become a resource hub, delivering content from the Symon server to targeted media players. Each player (version 11.2 or later) can have an edge server defined within its properties, allowing any enterprise to off-load Symon’s network traffic to the perimeter of the network, so that all content requests are handled with the highest level of efficiency possible. Content is then off-loaded from the central server to the edge of the network, where end points then effectively connect with the Edge Server to retrieve the required content. Great idea!

LobbyView

LobbyView is a virtual concierge and information portal for venue lobbies, waiting areas, corridors, etc.

Providing users with a one-touch connection to news, sports, weather, maps, venue amenities, airline flight data and optional meeting and event information,LobbyView can also serve to help venue guests and patrons in navigating the property in which it is installed.

Providing many benefits to both venue and guests simultaneously, LobbyView allows:

  • Venue personnel to focus their time on other demanding activities
  • Venue management to offer their guests an easy-to-use virtual concierge
  • Improved guest visitation experience by providing easy access to information
  • The venue to portray an aura of technical sophistication and competence
  • The company/venue to further enhance their branding and image

Design Studio

Symon Design Studio is the popular design and scheduling software that works in conjunction with the Symon Enterprise Software (SES) and Symon Digital Appliances (SDAs) to enable users to direct and control the collection, synthesis, design and delivery of digital content to a range of outputs. In the new release of SES v11.2, the Design Studio Software has even more impressive features, designed to enhance all user experiences! These include:

  • Player based output filtering
  • Data filtering by output for single and multi-layout players
  • User defined play limits for content frequency and play durations for output filtering
  • Download scheduling and throttling
  • Customised Design Studio themes (7 themes)
  • Redesigned and simplified interactivity configuration user interface

These are just some examples of the various new features, the list goes on!

Design Studio Lite

Design Studio Lite is a browser-based interface into shows created in Design Studio. The purpose of Design Studio Lite is to give those less schooled in the intricacies of Design Studio a quick and easy mechanism for changing and editing content within shows. New features of Design Studio Lite include:

  • Newly designed user interface
  • Supports Microsoft Silverlight 4.0
  • Tree View option
  • Content Assets Manager to allow remote users the ability to add/remove graphic and video assets with a progress bar

Previous features have also been enhanced, including improved quality for graphics imported through Content Courier and a Design Studio Lite shortcut available to install on the user’s Desktop and Programs Menu.

For more information on other new products, developments and general improvements involved with the SES version 11.2, call our sales team now at 01442 233 222, email sales-uk@symon.com. For more information on our visual communications ecosystem, visit www.symondacon.com.

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

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Symon OnTarget & Content Courier!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lauren

Get closer to the Olympics with Symon OnTarget – Bringing the Olympics to you!

Want to get behind your country but struggling for ways of maintaining those crucial business procedures? Concerned about potential absentee levels? Well, why not enrich employee performances with Symon OnTarget!

Thanks to Symon’s latest OnTarget offering, we are giving you the chance to receive highly engaging Olympics related visuals for your digital signage network, throughout everyday of the entire period of the London 2012 Games!

Whilst we wouldn’t want you to miss out on all the excitement, we primarily wouldn’t want your business productivity levels to struggle. Therefore, with Symon OnTarget, you can benefit from a customised layout created especially for your business, involving various sections for the simultaneous display of critical business stats as well as key Olympics updates. But that’s not all – You will then also receive the Olympic graphical updates for your very own Symon Digital Signage solution, throughout every single day of the London 2012 Games period. For those all-important games which you really wouldn’t want to miss, you can even enjoy an optional TV layout allowing you to completely override displays for that particular occasion. Templates will therefore include a large statistics area, a scrolling ticker, a small employee communications or TV area and of course an area dedicated to the Olympic news! This template however is in fact optional for those that already have an applicable area on their displays for the Olympics news section to be incorporated.

With Symon OnTarget, employees will remain completely up-to-date with the London 2012 games, but more importantly, they will also have immediate access to key statistics that will remind them of their current responsibilities in the office!

For more information, contact Matt Cole, our Manager of Visual Communications at mcole@symondacon.com or call 01442 233 222. For more information on Symon Dacon, visit www.symondacon.com.

To sign up to our monthly newsletter, press releases or even information, visit: http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

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Screenmedia Expo 16th – 17th May, Earls Court, London

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Lauren

For the fourth year running, Symon Dacon will be exhibiting at Screenmedia Expo 2012 – The only digital Screenmedia, marketing and technology show in Europe! Offering a complete mix of media and technology developments, Screenmedia Expo provides a valuable combination of both new ideas and best practices to all taking part.

This year, with the recent release of the Symon Enterprise Suite Version 11.2, Symon Dacon will be showcasing the ‘latest and greatest’ of the Symon product portfolio – all at stand C47! Through a range of high-impact solutions, ranging from interactivity to mobility, Symon’s broad digital signage spectrum is utilised in businesses all over the world as a means of influencing viewer behaviour, elevating viewer experiences and encouraging brand awareness. As a worldwide provider of end-to-end visual communications solutions, Symon offers a broad array of products and services designed to combine cohesively in order to encourage maximum value from any digital signage platform, including; consultancy, hardware, software, content creation, professional services and on-going system support.

This year, our product showcase will include high-impact Micro Tiles, interactive video-walls and innovative technological advances that are new to the world of digital signage…You’ll just have to visit us to see what these are!

Five key reasons to visit Symon Dacon at stand C47:

  • Meet the Symon Dacon team to discuss any questions or future digital signage plans that you may have
  • Witness demonstrations of our latest product suite
  • Explore our content capabilities and discuss any of your content needs
  • Find out about the latest means of effectively connecting with your audience
  • Find out more about our end-to-end solutions, involving hardware, software, content creation, professional services and on-going support (because that’s what makes us different!)
  • You can even book an appointment with a member of the Symon Dacon team, for a more beneficial one-to-one demonstration!

Being free to attend, the event is a must for anyone wishing to find the most suitable means of engaging with their audiences and translating that engagement into meaningful results! With expert led seminars and workshops, Screenmedia Expo 2012 also offers a valuable educational programme involving:

Track 1: Connected Screenmedia: What media and technology should Screenmedia connect to in order to improve its relevance and responsiveness to connected audiences?

Track 2: Connected Content: What content is appropriate to use in a connected network, how does it work and what response does it deliver?

Track 3: Interactive Content: What is the best method of engaging connected audiences physically and what is the benefit of interaction?

Track 4: Smart Connections: What data drives Screenmedia networks and how is this managed to make the networks “smart”?

So, why not register your free attendance HERE and benefit from all of the above, and more!

Don’t forget to visit us at Stand C47 - We look forward to seeing you in May!

Keep up to date with all other Symon Dacon news & events HERE!

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Call Centre World 2012

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Lauren

Once again, Call Centre World 2012, Europe’s largest contact centre event, proved to be an extremely valuable show for all who managed to get involved. Whilst we continue to attend every single year in order to showcase the latest enhancements to the Symon Dacon product portfolio, each appearance is visibly even more valuable than the last.

Symon Dacon Stand at CallCentre World 2012

In having the opportunity to demonstrate the latest Symon hardware and software collections, we were also able to network with a diverse range of industry specialists in order to understand the latest in contact centre requirements and how we can incorporate these within future releases of Symon.

Juergen Petzendorfer, Manager of Central & Eastern Europe, says:

“At CallCentre World 2012, we were once again able to meet many of our customers and partners, whereby we discussed new features and benefits of our latest solutions. We also gained incredibly valuable feedback on our latest offerings, particularly on interactivity and mobility. With this in mind, we will definitely be continuing our presence at the Call Centre World trade show and conference next year.” Juergen Petzendorfer also carried out a quick interview at CallCentre World this year, which you can also find below.

For those of you who were unable to visit us this year at Call Centre World, we have included a number of demos below to give you an even better insight into Symon Dacon and our solutions catered specifically towards the contact centre industry.  For those who did visit us, don’t forget about our exclusive offer, now only available up until the 28th April 2012, whereby every order placed for InView Mobile Data will receive a Free iPad2! We hope to see you there again next year!

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Product Spotlight – Content Courier!

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Lauren

What you can do with Content Courier - Making things that little bit easier!

At Symon Dacon, whilst we believe in creating the most highly effective visual communications solution, we also believe in making things as simple as possible for all of our users. So, we asked ourselves, what is one of the biggest struggles digital signage users have in terms of maintaining their systems? Well, most users would probably answer, finding the time to keep their content FRESH and relevant!

That’s why Symon have incorporated the Content Courier application within the latest SES V11.2! Through this incredibly easy to use software, Symon users with access to this application will now have an incredibly simple way of ensuring content is always, always, always up-to-date – therefore guaranteeing the success of their visual communications solution!

So how does it work?

It’s simple. The Content Courier software allows the SES (Symon Enterprise Server) to monitor network folders set up by the user. Once this folder is created on the user’s desktop, any chosen graphics or video files can be dropped into the folder by the user, where they will then be automatically added to the SES server. The best part is, pre-defined rules set up by the user can allow for such files to automatically appear on a display, as soon as they are dropped into the network folder. All the user really needs to do is arrange Content Courier’s settings to ensure that any uploaded content will go directly to the correct category and if that particular category is included within the current playlist, the new content dropped into the network folder will automatically begin to play – Just like that!

To dig a little bit deeper, users can also set Content Courier to check for any network folder updates at a choice of three different frequencies, providing total user control over when new content is to appear on their digital signage displays. These include:

  • Instantly (Set Content Courier to apply any changes made to the folder immediately when graphics are placed into or removed from the network folder)
  • On an interval (Set Content Courier to check for any network folder updates at a specific time. If you tell Content Courier to check for any updates ever hour, that’s exactly what it will do!)
  • Daily (Set Content Courier to check for any changes to the network folder once a day, at a specific time set by you).

So now there’s no excuse in not keeping your content fresh, relevant and timely – With Content Courier, everything is kept simple!

For more information on Symon Dacon, visit www.symondacon.com or for more information about our new application, call 01442 233 222 or contact Matt Cole, Manager of Visual Communications.

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

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Behind the Solution: Rachel Ward

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Lauren

Rachel Ward: Senior Business Applications Engineer

How long have you worked with Symon Dacon?

1 yr & 3 months

What is an average day like?

Busy, busy, busy!  My job is very different from any other job I have ever done.  The main reason for this is that I do not have daily / weekly tasks to perform that you would normally have in a typical engineering role (such as a report that needs to be run etc).  The duties that I perform are for each individual assignment and therefore are rarely ever the same. My responsibilities do not end until the entire project is complete.  Then on to the next Project!

Being a Senior Business Application Engineer working in the professional services department, I am responsible for installing & configuring the customer Server with our software, all to which is done according to the customer’s requirements.  I am also responsible for delivering training & carrying out additional paid work for our customers.  It tends to be a mixture of working remotely on the server as well as on site.

What are the highlights of your job?

I mainly enjoy working with a variety of customers from banking to hospitality.  Meeting new people all the time and not going to the same office location every day.  Also going to different locations around the world that you would not necessarily go to under your own steam!

What is the most exciting thing you have been working on recently?

I very much enjoy completing installations where I have to use blue sky thinking to achieve the customers goals.  Applying my knowledge of the system and using it  in a way that it was not specifically designed for by the developers is common as I need to ensure that I meet the customers’ expectations.  For Kuoni they wanted something that sounded simple but could not be directly done in our software.  They do not have any traditional wallboards (LED wallboards) or LCD TV Wallboards, they use desktop wallboards called InViews which are interactive PC wallboards.  InViews can  ‘drill down’ into further information by clicking on button(s).  They simply wanted a traffic light system on the main ‘bar’.  So Green if no calls in the queue, Amber between 1-5 calls in queue and so on.  But they wanted a Red traffic light to flash when it breached 20 calls in the queue.  Our software allows us to make a value flash that is being displayed but not make a graphic flash.  So initially we told the customer this could not be done, until I started on the project.  I ended up displaying the graphic for 1 second followed by blank for 1 second, then red traffic light for one second and looping this round when calls in the queue was greater than or equal to 20.  Technically this does not use any feature we have programmed but does give the illusion of flashing.  One very happy customer.

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

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Aastra Open Tour 2012

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Lauren

Symon Dacon and Partner Altetia return to Aastra Open Tour 2012 to exhibit the latest enhancements in visual communication strategies

Symon Dacon and Premier French Partner Altetia, have returned to the Aastra Open Tour this year, where they are currently demonstrating the newest range of innovative digital signage applications necessary for deploying an advanced visual communications platform. Scheduled over a six week period (8th March – 11th April), the tour involves one day spent in eight primary French city locations; Lyon, Nantes, Paris, Arras, Metz, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Avignon.

Only two years after Altetia’s establishment in 2002, the privately owned company became an official Symon partner. Since the 2004 partnership, Altetia’s Symon portfolio has expanded dramatically, supporting a current total of 120 European installations and over 40 European customers. With a cumulative international contact base, Altetia celebrates a strong global growth with over 700 end-points positioned from Sydney through to New York. Transforming the capabilities of employees and businesses worldwide, approximately 15,000 agents are utilising a specific Altetia Symon solution to achieve full potential within their day-to-day activities. Being an Aastra A2P2 Partner since 2008, the development of Altetia’s Symon portfolio also includes a specific AP1 capable of connecting directly to the Aastra ACP Call Centre solution.

In continuing this resilient global progression, Symon Dacon were pleased to announce the release of the Symon Enterprise Suite Version 11.2.1 late last year, comprising of both hardware and software advances that function cohesively in order to manage the collection, design, scheduling and delivery of digital content to a broad array of electronic displays deployed across businesses worldwide. The 11.2 advances are specifically designed to enrich user experiences, with InView Mobile Data, the SDA 830 (Symon Digital Appliance), new data collectors and many other enhancements capable of adding extra value and efficiency to any corporate communications platform.

Visitors to the Altetia and Symon stand at the Aastra Open Tour will be able to view exclusive demonstrations of such enhancements, including InView Mobile Data, Symon’s new application designed for smartphones, android and iPad. InView Mobile Data is an extension of Symon’s popular desktop software application, InView. In order to engage with users at yet another level, Symon have introduced this mobile application to allow for data to be delivered to all iOS and android smartphones & tablets, ensuring that all employees have access to real-time, logic driven data, updates and notices even when away from their PCs. In celebrating the recent release of InView Mobile Data, Symon Dacon have announced to all attendees of the Aastra Open Tour 2012 that a complimentary iPad will be received with every order placed for InView Mobile Data before the 11th June 2012.

Symon solutions power a complete visual communications infrastructure across an entire organisation, displaying vivid multimedia content on multiple displays simultaneously, creating an immersive visual communications ecosystem. Visit Altetia and Symon Dacon at the Aastra Open Tour 2012 to learn more about the latest in visual communications strategies.

Keep up to date with all product releases, corporate updates, offers, case studies and so much more at http://www.symondacon.com/signup.php!

Relevant Links: Altetia & Symon Aastra 2012 Advert

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