Digital signage and mobile phones may be perfect partners.

information, through one or more interactive techniques, we can deliver far more information to our viewers if they are motivated to get more information from the initial digital signage message.”

Adding Interactivity to Digital Signs

One way to add interactivity is touch-interactive displays. Adding a touch-interactive layer to existing displays is affordable. However, a lot of digital signage isn’t positioned where viewers can touch it, and many deployers don’t want to subject displays to this kind of physical interaction.

Fortunately, there are other ways; in particular, ones that use a mobile device such as a cellphone, smartphone, or tablet. (This has led to the terms “Mobile Convergence” or “Mobile/Digital Signage Convergence” for these solutions.)

And with just about everybody these days toting a mobile device, that makes these approaches viable.

Why Add Interaction?

“What we view as the real driver for mobile/signage interaction is to take a one-to-many experience, and make it more personal and one-to-one on the mobile device,” says Steve Gurley, senior vice president of Marketing and Mobility, Symon Communications. “The screen creates the one-to-many, the network lets you take it to one-to-one. You can control what’s on the screen with the mobile device. And you can extend what you see on the screen to your mobile device.”

Using a mobile device, you can sign up to receive messages or offers, receive coupons, and more.

SMS or Texting

The most common mobile convergence solutions for digital signage are the use of SMS and QR codes.

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