Can You Keep Content on an Interactive Touchscreen Display Updated?

Are you considering investing in an interactive touchscreen display, but need to know if you’ll be able to update it first and keep the content fresh and current?

If you’re like many of our clients, getting the most out of your touchscreen solution is a must. Perhaps you need your interactive touchscreen to be updateable for future events, keeping your content fresh for users, or expanding on your product range or services.

Whatever the reason, the answer you’re waiting for is a big fat yes! Your interactive touchscreen display can be updated and futureproof. However, there are a few factors to bear in mind first.

As interactive experiences specialists, we’re going to explain more about this below, including the main considerations when ensuring your solution is going to be updateable.

An updateable experience

If your interactive touchscreen experience needs to be regularly updated you need to decide upon this early on in the development process. It can be fairly complex and costly to build in this functionality – especially if you only decide on it at a later stage –  and it should be developed specifically to your needs.

If your touchscreen solution is in a remote location – maybe in another building or in multiple sites – the option of being able to update your content via a web-based content management system is a true asset. It will instantaneously and automatically update if there is an internet connection. If there is no internet connection, content is updated as soon as a connection is detected.

Will you have to keep going back to your agency or developer?

One of the biggest things that puts people off is the idea that they’re going to be tied to their supplier whenever they want to update their content; we completely understand why, as this can add to the costs each time they need to make a change. Fortunately, that shouldn’t have to be the case.

As long as you make it clear early on in the process that you’ll need to be able to update aspects of your interactive content yourself, you shouldn’t need to be tied to an agency.

One example of this is when we developed a bespoke interactive touchscreen display for the National Library of Scotland. They needed a way to organise their film database into themes for users to explore and wanted a way of updating this, complete with contextual and biographical information, without having to call for outside help.

Our solution allows them to export their database – and all other related info – which could then easily slot into the touchscreen experience. Meaning they’re not reliant on us to refresh their content or add new themes and films.

The most important takeaway

If there’s one thing we cannot stress enough, it’s that you really need to decide at the beginning of the process what needs to be incorporated into your interactive touchscreen experience in terms of updates, as it can be very costly and time-consuming to retro-fit.

If you’re not sure of exactly what your options are, speak to your chosen touchscreen specialist, who can listen to your needs and help you come up with a solution that will be right for you.

Another example of this working in practice is with our client, the GSMA, who needed an interactive hub to allow attendees at their global events to access a wide variety of data sheets and videos.

Our sophisticated content management system allows for remote updates by country admins in a highly secure and encrypted system.

GSMA’s touchscreen experiences are often run offline, updates to the experiences are automatically downloaded as soon as an internet connect is available, allowing for a seamless updating process.

Keeping your interactive touchscreen display up to date

Thanks for reading, and we hope we’ve been able to put your mind at ease when looking to get the most out of your interactive touchscreen display. Just be sure to mention early on that you need your touchscreen to be updateable and futureproof.

An interactive touchscreen specialist should be able to go over all your options with you – and you should carefully consider factors such as whether there will be an internet connection at your location, or if you’ll need to update your touchscreen manually.

Luckily, in most cases, you shouldn’t ever have to rely on your touchscreen developer to keep updating your content, and they should be able to come up with a tailored solution that’s just right for you.