Digital Signage Implementation Plan: 5 Phases

A digital signage implementation plan has five phases: prepare (sites, network, content, roles), a test in the office, a pilot at two to five locations, a phased rollout in waves, and handover to the people who will run it. For 50 to 200 screens this usually takes 8 to 16 weeks from contract to the last screen.

Each phase has one owner, a date and a pass test, and the next phase starts only when the last one passes.

What are the phases and how long does each take?

Skipping the office test is the most common way to find a network or content problem in 40 stores at once.

Who does what?

Name one person for each line before phase 1 starts. The vendor's project manager does not replace yours.

• Project manager (buyer): owns the plan, the dates and the wave list. One person, not a committee.
• IT: network access, sign-on, security review and device policy.
• Content owner (usually marketing or internal comms): the first playlists, the schedule, who approves what.
• Location contacts: one person per site who receives the player, checks the screen and tells you when it is wrong.
• Installer (if you use one): mounting, power and cabling. Quote per screen, including a new power outlet where needed.
• Vendor: account setup, training, and fixes during the pilot. Ask for one named contact, not a ticket queue.

Phase 1: what do you prepare before any screen goes up?

A screen list. One row per screen: location, position (for example, "counter" or "by the coolers"), size, orientation, TV model, and whether it has power and network within reach. The position name matters later: it is how you change the same screen in every store at once.

The network. For each site, find out whether the players use Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet, and whether the network blocks outbound traffic. Ask the vendor for the domains and ports its players need and send them to IT in phase 1, not on install day.

Guest Wi-Fi with a login page and networks that block streaming are the usual surprises.

Content. Decide what plays on day one: usually a brand loop, a promotion playlist and a schedule by time of day. Check image and video sizes against the screens (16:9 landscape is 1920 x 1080; portrait is 1080 x 1920). Content that does not match the screen shape gets cropped or stretched.

Roles and approvals. Write down who can change which screens. A common model: head office publishes to every screen, each location changes only its own, and anything a location uploads waits for approval. See user permissions by location.

Moving from an old system. If you are here because your old signage company went defunct, or because some screens show old content and some show nothing, list every screen's current state. Export what you can from the old system now: logins and exports may stop working. See how to switch digital signage provider.

Phase 2: what does the office test prove?

Put three to five screens where the project team walks past them every day. Use the same player and TV model the stores will get. In one to two weeks, check:

1. A new file reaches every test screen, and a scheduled item starts and stops at the right time.
2. A screen that loses its network keeps playing, and the right person gets an alert.
3. The TV turns off and on at the set hours.
4. A person with a location-only role cannot change another location's screens.
5. IT has signed off the security questions and the network rules.

Fix what fails here. Every fix is cheaper on five screens than on five hundred.

Phase 3: how do you run a pilot before rollout?

A pilot is how most multi-site rollouts win their budget. Pick two to five real locations, including one with a weak network and one with a busy manager. Write the pass criteria before it starts:

• A location manager changes content without calling anyone.
• No screen shows expired content for more than a day.
• An offline screen raises an alert, and someone acts on it.
• Head office can see what every pilot screen shows right now.
• Install time per screen is known, so the rollout can be priced and scheduled.

Run it for two to four weeks, long enough for at least one content change and one schedule change. Share a one-page result with whoever holds the budget.

Phase 4: how do you plan a phased rollout?

Roll out in waves, not all at once. A wave is 10 to 30 locations that ship, install and go live in the same week or two.

• Group waves by region, so one installer or one trainer covers them.
• Ship players pre-labelled with the location and screen position.
• Go live on a weekday morning, never the day before a promotion starts.
• Hold each wave's content in a shared playlist, so every new location plays the same thing on day one.
• Close each wave with the go-live checklist below.

Leave a week between the first two waves. What the first wave finds (a TV model with no HDMI-CEC, a store with no outlet behind the screen) changes the next.

Phase 5: what training and documentation do you need?

Most RFPs ask for user training with documentation and manuals before rollout. Plan three levels:

• Administrators (1 to 3 people): a full session on roles, approvals, schedules and alerts.
• Content editors: a 30-minute session on uploading, playlists and publishing.
• Location staff: a one-page sheet: how to check the screen, who to call, and how to restart the player.

Record the sessions. Keep the one-page sheet next to the screen or in the location's shared folder, so new staff can use it.

What goes wrong on real installs?

• No power or network behind the TV. Found on install day, it costs a second visit. The site survey in phase 1 prevents it.
• The TV does not turn off or on as scheduled. Some TVs have HDMI-CEC switched off in their settings; some models do not support it.
• Portrait screens mounted the wrong way up. Record the mounting direction per screen and set the orientation in the software, not by re-mounting.
• One login shared by every store. Nobody knows who changed what. Give each person their own login from day one.
• No owner after go-live. The project team moves on and screens drift. Name the person who owns content before handover.

Go-live checklist

• Every screen is online and playing the right playlist.
• Orientation and fit are correct on each screen.
• Screen hours are set, and the TV turns off at night where it should.
• Offline alerts go to a named person, not a shared inbox nobody reads.
• Every user has their own login and the right role.
• Location staff have the one-page sheet.
• A support route is written down: who to call, and the vendor's hours.

Before any of this, compare vendors with our digital signage RFP template and the questions to ask a digital signage vendor.

Where Brix fits

Brix is cloud digital signage software priced per screen: $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly. The 7-day free trial needs no card, so the office test in phase 2 can start the same day.

• Setup: an Amazon Signage Stick takes about 10 minutes per screen. Pick "Brix Signage" during the stick's own setup, then pair it in the CMS. See connect a screen. Brix also runs on Fire TV, Android boxes and a Windows player, so you can often use the TVs you already have.
• Sticks for larger rollouts: Amazon provides Signage Sticks free for rollouts of 30 or more screens. Contact us and we arrange it with Amazon.
• Pilot pass criteria: offline alerts by email, webhook or Microsoft Teams (alerts guide), roles scoped to a location, content approval, and start and end dates on content.
• Help: US-based support in Los Angeles, 7 days a week, at no extra cost.

Brix is not the right choice if your rollout centres on a large video wall (use Windows or Android players built for walls), touch kiosks or wayfinding, or screens that must run on Samsung or LG TVs without a separate player.

To plan a pilot for your locations, book a demo.