You can find below the steps to follow in order to complete the integration between BroadSign and VidiReports 7.
Broadsign 13.2 and above: CMS API integration
With this integration, Vidireports "listens" to the contents information broadcasted by Broadsign - For example, Broadsign will announce that content "X" started playing, then stopped. Vidireports would then send back that Y peoples saw this content, along with their demographic details.
In order to enable this integration, please follow the step explained in the Broadsign documentation under the "configure the Real-Time Audience with Quividi Programmatic Source" section:
https://docs.broadsign.com/broadsign-control/15-9/real-time-audience-quividi.html
You can find below URL examples depending on your network setup:
- If Broadsign and VidiReports are installed on the same machine:
http://localhost:9080/v1/{{action_name}}?content_id={{content_id}}_{{content_name}}
- If VidiReports is running on a different machine, replace localhost:9080 by the IP address of the machine running Vidireports, and make sure both machine can talk to each other. for example, if you machine address is 192.168.0.99:9080, the URL would be:
http://192.168.0.99:9080/v1/{{action_name}}?content_id={{content_id}}_{{content_name}}
Note - In order to have audience data in Broadsign Control Campaign reports, you need the Audience Per Content (APC) Pack
Dual Sided Installation
Two configuration are possible here:
If your setup uses one player to capture both side of your screen (same contents mirrored on both sides), with two instances of Vidireports running (one camera on each side), you need to alter the URL in order to associate each Vidireports instances with one side of the screen. Note - This is only supported with Vidireports 7.7.2 or above.
For dual sided installation (mirrored), please use this URL:
http://localhost:9080/v1/{{action_name}}?content_id={{content_id}}_{{content_name}}&instance_name=*
If you are using two (or more) FrameID to have different content on each side, you have to associate each Vidireports instance to the corresponding frame. Please follow the steps below:
- First, rename each boxes in the control center (sideA and sideB fro example)
Camera Screen Name field
- Setup the following URLs in Broadsign - "Name=XXX" should match the boxID names
- Associate each URL to the correct frame: https://docs.broadsign.com/broadsign-control/latest/criteria-and-conditions.html
To get the frameID from Broadsign:
2. Select the expected Daypart and
3. Click on Edit button
4. Frames tab
5. Select the desired frame
6. Edit the frame.
7. On the Frame pop-up window, you will see the frame id.
Installation Troubleshooting
- Open the the Control Center
- Go to the "Configure" section
- Save your change, and open the "Configure" menu again
- Open the log file - you will see contents being played in Broadsign in real time:
You also watch for the contents in Vidicenter:
- First, restart VidiReports, let it run for a few minutes, and force a data upload to vidicenter from the upload menu (in the Control Center center : go to Uploads and click on “Transfer data now into VidiCenter”).
- In VidiCenter, create an ‘Audience per Content’ dashboard, and check that content information has been uploaded.
Legacy Installation - Broadsign 13.1 and earlier
Note - This integration is not recommended - When possible, use the CMS API integration
- Configuring Vidireports
Go to Configure > Advanced Parameters and fill in “broadsign_addr” and “broadsign_port” with the following lines:
broadsign_addr = <ip_address_of_broadsign_player>
broadsign_port = 2324
Note that broadsign_port number must match with the one that you have configured with the Broadsign administrator tool.
If Broadsign and VidiReports are on the same machine, set broadsign_addr=127.0.0.1
Legacy troubleshooting:
There are 2 common issues:
- Cannot connect to Broadsign (message in VidiReports log file):
- Verify that both VidiReports & Broadsign player are in the same netmask. The one configured in your broadsign admin (the first 3 digits of the IP address must be the same)
- If you are on different machines, verify that both machines can ping each other
- Try to get the clip data without using VidiReports:
- Find the remote_action tool. It should be in c:\Program Files (x86}\BroadSign\bsp\nbin on Windows /opt/broadsign/suite/bsp/bin on Linux
- Start from your Broadsign player, by running:
./remote_action -p 2324 now_playing
The result should look like:
Sending:
<rc source="application"
clear="0" frame_id="0" version="1" name="" action="now_playing" duration="0" enabled="0" regenerate="0" id="1" show_data="0"/>
Action Successful.
<!DOCTYPE rc>
...
If this does not work, check the port number that is entered in the configuration profile properties of your player.
Next, you should get the same result by adding the IP address of the player to the command:
./remote_action –a [player ip] -p 2324 now_playing
If you have an issue here, it means that there is a problem with your netmask setting in the configuration profile properties.
- Broadsign Cannot parse response (not XML?) (message in VidiReports log file):
- Like in the previous section, check with the remote_action tool to verify if the problem is related to the configuration of player.
- This message may appear when the netmask has been set to 0.0.0.0/24 (don’t use this value for the netmask).
For double-sided totems
You will need to assign a frame ID to each instance of VidiReports. To do so, in the webcontrol center, go to Configure > Advanced parameters and add the frame id in the correct field.
broadsign_frameid = <frameid>
In your BroadSign manager, you can find the frameid – which is usually a 9-digits number – either:
• by following the instructions given by Broadsign on this topic : https://docs.broadsign.com/broadsign-control/13-2/display-units.html - a double-sided totem would appear as two frames, and double-clicking the frame will give you the properties and the frameid.
• or, via "Criteria & Conditions", where your two frames should appear. Double-clicking each one will give you access to the properties and in the "frame" tab, the frameid.
https://docs.broadsign.com/broadsign-control/15-9/real-time-audience-quividi.html