As we wrap up 2023, it's that time of the year when many of you are knee-deep in planning for what comes next – setting goals, dreaming up projects, and, of course, figuring out what to do with those trusty digital signage screens.
We get it; your teams are riding the digital transformation wave, and nailing down a killer strategy for the upcoming year has never been more crucial.
In this recap, we'll delve into the key product developments that defined Fugo's journey in 2023 and provide a glimpse into the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. We'll also share a few tips for planning your 2024 digital signage strategy.
First, let’s take a look back on some of Fugo’s key product highlights in 2023:
New apps & integrations
Microsoft Power BI
Our dedicated Microsoft Power BI integration allows you to select which dashboards & reports you’d like to show on screen & optimize their look & feel with a few helpful settings.
See how to share your Microsoft Power BI dashboards & reports on screen with Fugo
HTML Embed app
We released the HTML Embed app to ease the process of sharing content from your website, an external widget, or info from platforms like Google Maps onto your digital screens. See how it works & get some ideas going here for how you might use it on your screens.
Zapier
We integrated Fugo with Zapier to automate content publishing and updating flows on TV screens connected to Fugo. Learn more about how connecting Fugo to your favorite tools with Zapier here.
Check out how you can use Fugo to create content update automations from 3rd party tools
Social Wall
We launched this native ‘lite’ version of our walls.io integration for Fugo users who wanted to display their social posts on screen without an additional software subscription. The app currently supports Instagram posts, but we’ll be adding more content sources in 2024!
Local App Casting
As we rolled out our support for on-premise TV dashboards, we also released an app that allows you to cast your local desktop apps to your digital signage screens! See how to get started with that here.
New features
On Premise TV Dashboards
Our TV Dashboards feature can now be run on your local servers to showcase self-hosted dashboards, reports & apps on screens too!
What are on premise TV dashboards in Fugo?
Multi-screen mirroring
Mirror to multiple displays simultaneously with our new multi-screen casting feature! Find it on the Screens page of your account:
Fugo touch support
Use Fugo’s Design Studio to build simple touch flows that direct users through presentations or information about your store, product, venue or company. Learn how to get started here.
Password-protected channels
Embeddable Channels have been around in Fugo for a while now, but this year we added the option for you to make them password protected! Channels are a great way to share your Fugo content with your audience who aren’t consistently in front of your digital signage screens.
Are you using Embeddable Channels in your organization yet?
Rest API functionality
We've added REST API functionality to allow you to manage playlists, media, and content from externally triggered sources. Interested in using this for your team? Contact support@fugo.ai for access to the documentation or to chat about how this can be useful in your organization.
New hardware support
Introducing the Fugo Player
This year we introduced our very own Fugo digital signage player!
The Fugo Intel NUC is high-performing, secure, and packs the latest-generation full-size desktop PC power into form factor purpose built for digital signage. Pre-configured specifically for use with Fugo, it’s quick to get started with and comes backed with the support IT teams expect for their enterprise device networks.
If you're planning a new deployment in 2024, keep things simple & secure with Fugo Players. Get yours directly from our website here.
Meet the Fugo Digital Signage Player
LG WebOS Signage
Fugo is already supported on LG WebOS TV-powered displays, and can be configured to run on those screen from the 'Play via URL' setting.
This update builds on our support for LG displays by making Fugo also available on displays running the LG WebOS Signage operating system.
To learn more about our minimum requirements & recommended LG displays, check out this guide.
AirServer
You can use your AirServer device as a Fugo Player and easily switch between digital signage and screen sharing. All you have to do is set Fugo as your preferred content URL (https://player.fugo.ai) and that's it!
Whenever you're not mirroring to your display, the Airserver will automatically switch back to your 'normal programming' content as set in Fugo.
Learn more about using Fugo on AirServer devices here.
Fugo making industry waves
Capterra's 2023 Digital Signage Shortlist
Capterra - one of the world's biggest software review & discovery platforms - revealed the 7 most top-rated digital signage softwares and named Fugo one of them — yay!
If you loved using Fugo in 2023, please take just a moment to leave us a review!
Fugo joins forces with Google & ChromeOS
Fugo joined Google's Google Cloud Partner Advantage program this year. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our journey to provide better solutions for engagement through employee-facing and customer-facing TV screens powered by ChromeOS devices.
Learn more about what the partnership means for our users here.
Whats in store for 2024
We won't let the cats out of the bag just yet, but here are a just a few things you can expect to see in the Fugo platform in 2024:
- Our Microsoft Teams bot for automating content posting within Teams
- More integrations with the Microsoft 365 Suite
- SOC 2 certification
What do you want to see in 2024?
You can follow along with our plans & releases on the public Fugo Roadmap. Add a suggestion, upvote others suggestions and track our progress as we release new features & integrations onto the Fugo platform. Now's a great time to add your requests!
Tips for planning your 2024 digital signage strategy
Strategy is what takes digital signage screens from average or just fine, to screens that actually help with business goals, like driving data adoption or smoothing out bumps in workplace operations.
Without a strategy, your content is set adrift and it’s really difficult to know what to show, and when. A strategy also ensures you have regular “checking in” periods so that you don’t agonize over your first batch of content, then once you’ve shown your boss, forget to ever look at it again.
Here's a few things we suggest:
- Check your playlists for any outdated content that hasn't been removed
- Have a browse of the app store and changelog, in case you've missed a release that could be super helpful for your team
- Check our roadmap to see if our pipeline has any helpful upcoming apps/features for you on it. If not, add a suggestion! Take that idea that's been baking out of the oven & put it out into the real world
- Set up a quick meeting with your colleagues to review your content so far & jot down new ideas
- Circulate a survey or poll in your Slack/Teams channels to solicit ideas
- Set up a dedicated Slack/Teams channel for your digital signage (since, spoiler, a Teams bot is coming soon, so why not get ahead of the curve 😉)
- For those projects that still need a push to get started, book in a demo or start a Fugo trial (it's free!)
We'll be back soon
As we close out the year, this confetti-filled update feels extremely appropriate. So, as you finish up all of that hard work, don’t forget to celebrate!
We’ll be back in the new year with even more updates. Until then, we’re wishing you a very happy New Year!
