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Frequently asked questions
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General:
- What
operating system does the software run on?
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What hardware is required to run the IMU software?
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What are the differences between the BASIC and PRO software versions?
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What
does the software require as far as computing power?
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Does IMU allow users to send pictures from their phones to the system?
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Does the system receive messages longer than 160 characters?
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What is the maximum number of text messages the IMU software and the GSM
modem are able to handle?
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Is IMU a highly scalable application? In other words, if we get a lot of
SMS traffic what kind of volume can it handle?
- Does
the software allow filtering of text messages?
- Does IMU
allow the use of Adobe Flash files?
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I read that IMU directly supports both GSM and CDMA modems. Which type
of modem is best for me?
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Is it possible for me to use the SIM card from my mobile phone in the
GSM Modem supplied with IMU?
- Are the modems
tested before delivery?
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Is there a way to extend the modem or the antenna outside of a building
to help with a low signal problem inside the building?
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Is it possible to charge premium rates on any phone number or would I
have to apply for a special number from the mobile network?
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Do you see a market for revenue sharing in nightclubs -- where the
customers are charged for sending each message to IMU?
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Program Specific:
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Are the bars in the lower left of the IMU screen directly related to the
modem signal strength?
- How do I send bulk
messages to users?
- How long are the
text messages displayed?
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How do I activate or change the initial message that is sent to all
users when they send their first message?
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How do I activate a voting task and how does the voting task in IMU work
with the voting panel in VMU?
- How does the Voting
System work?
- How does the Trivia
System work?
- Is there a way to
censor nicknames?
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Are there options to export other fields with the text from each
message?
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How do I keep all the messages and settings from each of my parties
separated?
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How do I automatically roll back messages into the Display Queue from
the Display Archive?
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Troubleshooting:
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When a chat message comes in, I see that you can Display it, or Block
it, or Delete it. Displaying the message is obvious, but whats the
difference between Blocking and Deleting a message?
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The software only lets you delete messages from the inbox. You cant move
messages from box to box. All the functions are grayed out. Why is the
software programmed this way?
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The mobile coverage in my area is very spotty. I'm
worried that some of my shows may be in an area where the modem does not
connect.
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What happens when the program receives more than 20 text messages per
minute Are they lost?
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Whats going on if I plug the modem into my computer and none of the
lights come on?
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A variety of Questions addressed by Pangolin developer William Benner...
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A:
IMU runs on the Microsoft WIndows Operating System. We
recommend installing the software on a PC compatible desktop or laptop
running Windows XP or VISTA.
For Mac users, owning new desktops and laptops with Intel based
processors, IMU will also run on these computers, if Windows is installed
and running through "Bootcamp"
on OSX. We have tested the system on an 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with 1 GB
of RAM and had no problems. |
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A:
Because of the mobile nature of where the
IMU software will be used -- we recommend using a laptop. IMU runs on the
WIndows Operating System so it will have to be a PC compatible laptop.
The IMU package includes the required
GPRS External Wireless Modem and USB cable. The laptop must have a USB
port so you can connect the modem. The modem requires an activated GSM SIM
card to operate properly. This is not included but is easily acquired.
The laptop must have a way to output video. Laptops normally come with a
VGA output. The VGA output allows you to connect a second monitor and
expand the size of your operating system desktop.
Figure 1 shows how a scan converter such as the CS-450 from TVOne,
connected to a VGA output, allows you to add a second monitor as a VMU
preview monitor, add input sources so you can gen-lock overlay VMU text
over live video, connect to S-Video and Composite video outputs that send
a signal to your target screen or monitor(s).
Some laptops come configured with an S-Video output. It is also possible
to use a laptop S-Video output to send a signal to your target projector
or monitor(s). See
Figure 2. Configure the laptop system output settings to send the
second monitor video out through the S-Video port. Split the S-Video
signal 4 ways using a video distribution amplifier. Send a signal to your
target projector or monitor(s). Send another signal to a preview monitor.
IMU allows you to configure panels in VMU that play video. Video panels
can play video files from the computer hard drive or live video from a
source like a live camera, video mixer, DVD player, etc. We recommend
using an adapter like the KWorld DVD Maker USB 2.0 to bridge live video
into the laptop. This adapter allows s-video and composite video input
through the laptops USB port. The plugin provided by the KWorld DVD Maker
USB 2.0 package is compatible with the configuration of the video panel in
VMU. |
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A:
A summary of the differences can be seen
on this page.
A more wordy explanation of the differences between BASIC and PRO is
that BASIC offers "one" chat window, "one" Voting panel, "one" media
player panel, etc. Although you can pre-create as many voting sessions as
you like, you can only activate one at a time. Also, BASIC can only
receive messages through a GSM modem or through email. The messages may
contain "pictures", but these pictures can not be true MMS pictures. In
other words, if an email comes in with a picture, it may be used. Also,
there are ways of creating "picture messages" that isn't really MMS -- but
instead it is EMS or what's called "Nokia Smart Messaging" -- mostly
simple black and white bitmaps, not much bigger than the text itself.
By contrast, PRO offers the possibility of having "multiple simultaneous"
everything. Multiple-simultaneous chat windows, multiple-simultaneous
voting panels, multiple-simultaneous live video windows,
multiple-simultaneous media player panels, etc. This is handy for certain
Cable TV applications where you may have two voting sessions going on at
the same time.
Also, where BASIC can only receive messages through a GSM modem or Email,
PRO can also receive messages over the "internet" using a protocol named
SMPP. This protocol allows for high speed message traffic. But this
requires a service provider called an "Aggregator". Here in the US,
aggregator's include MBLOX, Simplewire and MCUBE, and they charge anywhere
between $500 and $1500 per month as a service charge. But when you use an
aggregator, you may use a shorter phone number (5 or 6 digits, instead of
10 or 11 depending on how you count).
For clubs, DJs or Events, we recommend BASIC, but there is one more
capability that PRO provides and that DJs, Clubs or Events may be
interested in, and that is "True MMS" -- the ability to receive picture
messages that are photorealistic, not just simple black and white bitmaps.
IMU in Basic mode:
Support for Modem or Email only. No SMPP (i.e. no direct connection to
SMSC over the internet)
One Chat session
One Voting session
No MMS Picture Messaging or other advanced features such as "Juke Box"
VMU in Basic mode:
One Message panel
One Nickname panel
One Voting panel
One Live-Video window
One Media Player panel
IMU in PRO mode:
Support for Modem, Email and SMPP (i.e. direct connection to SMSC over the
internet)
Multiple simultaneous Chat sessions
Multiple simultaneous Voting sessions
Support for WAP PUSH and MMS Picture Messages
VMU in PRO mode:
Multiple Message panels
Multiple Nickname panels
Multiple Voting panels and sessions
Multiple Live-Video windows
Multiple Video Player panels
Advanced features such as "Juke Box" which allows people to select audio
and music videos with SMS
Above where it says "Multiple", the limit is generally processing power
and memory in the PC and has essentially nothing to do with the software.
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A:
The power requirement (i.e. strength of the PC) depends on
the display that you want to create. If you only want to do a rather
pedestrian-looking text-to-screen output, then I am sure our software will
work on any computer. The power requirement increases as you create more
dynamic visual displays with animated advertisements, media file playback
(for example, music videos), etc. So really you should know your computer.
If it plays back media files pretty well, then you would probably be able
to run media files plus text to screen plus voting with our software, but
if it chugs at only the thought of playing a music video, then you would
have to scale back your desires to a more simple text-only (with decent
looking background) display.
Your computer will need to have "Dual Monitor" outputs. That is, it will
need to have a second output that you can direct to the video screens in
your club. For a desktop computer you will need a dual monitor video card
or S-Video output or composite output. For a laptop you will need VGA
output or composite video output or S-Video output. |
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A:
The BASIC version of IMU allows for people to send "EMS"
and "Nokia Smart Message" type pictures to the software, and for these
pictures to be displayed by VMU. "EMS" and "Nokia Smart Message" pictures
are usually small, black and white images which may or may not include
animation. The PRO version of IMU provides "True MMS" capability -- the
ability to receive MMS picture messages that are photorealistic, not just
simple black and white bitmaps. |
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A:
Our system currently supports SMS with 160
characters or less, as well as "concatenated messages" that have more than
160 characters.
Our system also supports 8-bit, as well as 16-bit (Unicode) messages as
well, and even right-to-left reading order for Arabic text.
You can fully moderate, correct, and change the text with no problem. Our
system DOES support email messages with as many characters as you would
like. |
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A:
The included GSM modem can receive around 30 SMS messages
per minute, and send around 10 or 15 per minute. For most club and mobile
applications the GSM modem speed should be more than adequate. For
concerts and very large events you will need to use an Aggregator along
with the PRO version of our software. When using an SMPP connection and
our PRO version, you will be able to receive and send tens of messages per
second! |
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A:
The application itself will not be the bottleneck. If
there is a bottleneck, it would be in the message receiving device. We
include a GSM Modem with our system (so this is one less thing for you to
buy), and this can receive and process around 30 messages per minute. If
you have a higher volume application, you will need to go through what is
called an "Aggregator". This is a company that can receive messages from
all of the mobile carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.) and send them to
you. With this, you can handle a much higher volume -- perhaps many per
second. The PRO version of our system can connect directly to an
aggregator and receive messages in this way. The BASIC version can not,
and can only be used for clubs. This is one thing which determines the
price of our product. |
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A:
Yes of course. Our system offers the ability to operate in
an entirely manual mode, or an entirely automatic mode, or even a few
semi-automatic modes. In the automatic modes, there is a list of words
that you can add to the system, and this list of words is used to filter
the incoming messages. Messages that have offensive words may be blocked
or transformed automatically. |
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A:
The answer is YES. The Multimedia Player panel in VMU will
play Adobe Flash, in addition to AVI, WMV, MPG, MOV and other types
of video files, as well as WAV, MP3, MID, and other types of audio files. |
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A:
It is true that IMU supports both GSM and CDMA modems, but
there are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Unlike GSM modems and phones, which all use a
uniform set of commands set forth by the ETSI standard, CDMA modems don't
have the same level of uniformity. Because of this, IMU supports only one
brand of CDMA modem -- one made by the company AnyDATA. This means that
other types of CDMA modems such as the "Aircard" made by Sierra Wireless
will not work with IMU.
2. There is an operational undesirability with
respect to CDMA in the U.S.A. If someone who has a GSM phone sends IMU a
message on a phone number that is being serviced by the CDMA modem, IMU
will receive the message text itself, but IMU will not receive the phone
number. This means that you will not really know precisely "who" sent the
message and because of this, you will not be able to reply to that person.
3. Generally it only makes sense to use CDMA modems
in countries that do not have good "interoperability". For example, there
are countries in Latin America that have both CDMA and GSM carriers (just
like the U.S.A). However, unlike the U.S.A., if a person with a CDMA phone
sends a text message to their buddy who has a GSM phone, the GSM phone
will not receive the message, and vice-versa. This is because the mobile
carriers (falsely) believe that they will make more money by keeping the
text messaging only within their own carrier and thus, try to discourage
competition. This has been tried all over the world, and slowly,
country-by-country, the mobile carriers discover that they make the most
money by allowing messages to flow freely between the carriers. In any
event, in these Latin American countries, IMU may be used with two modems
simultaneously -- one GSM and one CDMA -- so that all messages will be
received by customers no matter who their mobile carrier is.
Since the U.S.A. has very good interoperability
between carriers, and since you can always receive both the message text
and phone number if you use a GSM modem, we strongly suggest that only GSM
modems be used in the U.S.A. In fact, from the year 2002 until now,
Pangolin has only deployed a single CDMA modem in the U.S.A.
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A:
Yes, you can use a SIM card from any GSM mobile phone, but
you would want to have a service that gives you a large number of (or
unlimited) text messages. |
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A:
Yes, every modem is tested and also configured for optimal
AT command settings. We do not ship until both of these are done, and
therefore there is no way we could ship a modem that is bad. |
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A:
Well, don't forget there is one more element to consider.
Yes, sure if you put the modem outside the building it may get better
reception. But what about all of the patrons inside a building? If they
can't get signal to send a message, what's the point in having a better
location to receive it? We supply a modem with a high gain half-wave
antenna. This is far better than the eighth-wave antenna in typical cell
phones. This means that we will be able to receive signal where most cell
phones can't. For these reasons, it makes little sense in most cases to
extend a modem cable. |
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A:
It is not possible to do Premium SMS using a modem and SIM
card approach. If you wanted to do Premium SMS, you will need to work with
an Aggregator such as MBLOX or Simplewire, and you will have to get a
short code. There will be an investment of a few thousand dollars, and
around 6 weeks time to get this setup. And typically for a clubbing
environment, we would not recommend Premium SMS anyway . Rather, we think
the system pays for itself insomuch as its ability to provide a level of
interactivity that clubbers can't get elsewhere, coupled with your ability
to send bulk SMS messages to them on slow nights and get them into the
club. Note that since the VMU software includes a bitmap sequencer (slide
show type window), you may also sell "ad space" and get revenue out of the
system this way as well. |
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A:
What you are talking about is called "Premium SMS". We
believe Premium SMS is not workable in a clubbing scenario. We have seen
some companies try, and fail with this technique (not using our system --
but companies in UK who have tried to develop "text to screen" for clubs).
In our opinion, our IMU software provides many tangible benefits directly
to a club which are not message-revenue related, including advertising,
communication with DJ, and best of all, bringing in "punters" during slow
nights. Even outside of clubbing, for example at concerts and the like,
you really can't make that much money with message revenue -- perhaps
$5000 per concert. We think you might make more money selling T-shirts...
Nevertheless, this is one of the services that an Aggregator provides --
Premium SMS, and connectivity with all major carriers. The PRO version of
IMU can connect to such Aggregators. |
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A:
Yes, the bars are the signal strength and in
general, they should respond pretty quickly unless you unscrew the modem
antenna. When you do that, the modem gives a special kind of indication
which is generally filtered out over the short term. So bottom line, yes,
the bars are signal level indicator, just like a phone. Normally these
bars will react just as fast as the signal strength changes (for example,
throw a sauce pan over the modem and see what happens). But the bars will
basically appear to "stop responding" for a minute or two, if the antenna
is completely disconnected. |
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A:
You can send a bulk message to multiple
users by selecting multiple messages from the Display Archive or by
selecting multiple users from the User Profile folder. To select multiple
groups of messages or users use the shift key. To select and deselect
individual messages or users -- use the Ctrl Key.
Click here
to see an example of the first step.
Click here
to see an example of the second step. |
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A:
The text messages may be displayed as long as you like.
Our system is very adjustable in terms of how long the messages are
displayed and how fast they are scrolled. We also have a few modes where
messages that were already displayed may be re-displayed, in essence,
keeping the screen alive. |
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A:
You can activate a welcome message that is sent after they
send their first message to the system:
Click here to see an example. |
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A:
Mostly you would "Add a voting task" in IMU. There is a
built-in example which is a "Favorite Beer" voting. The example shows how
to set up all the voting features and parameters. You can activate this
voting session in IMU and than VMU will automatically pick up the voting
settings when VMU is in PLAY mode. If you then go to DESIGN mode, VMU will
retain that voting session in terms of heading, categories, etc. This is
probably the easiest way to adjust the look of voting in VMU -- just
activated it in IMU, then go to PLAY mode in VMU, then into Design mode
and adjust the window as you need to.
Don't worry too much about VMU control panel, especially for voting. That
is there for "advanced users". If this causes any confusion ignore it.
Add a voting panel in VMU. Then you do pretty much everything else in IMU.
You create voting sessions in IMU, you "Activate" them in IMU, etc. All
control for voting is done in IMU. It is only the "look" of the voting
panel that is controlled by VMU.
In IMU, you can make as many voting sessions as you want, but you can only
have one voting session ACTIVE in the BASIC package. You can also only
have one voting panel in the BASIC package. This basically means you can
only have one voting session at a time in the BASIC package.
There are three basic things to voting in IMU. You "Activate it" and it
will start counting votes and displaying the results. You "terminate it"
and it will stop counting votes and also stop displaying the results. Once
a voting session has ended you must "Restart" it in order to Activate it
again. The reason is because you may want to know the results of your last
voting session, which are stored and preserved until you press "Restart".
In any case, you can always get the result of past voting session by
looking in the Voting folder.
From IMU Make sure the Voting Task is Active:
Click here to see an example of the first step.
In VMU right click the screen and choose "Designer" from the menu. Make
sure the appearance settings are not causing a problem. Check to see that
the font is not that same color as the background, that the alpha blend is
set properly, etc:
Click here to see an example of the second step. |
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A:
The "voting" system can look for certain words, and then
"count" the number of occurrences of these words. The voting system can be
setup so that once a person sends a text message with a particular
keyword, they can not send any more keywords. If they do, they would
receive a message back saying something like "Sorry, you have already used
that word" or "Sorry, you can not change your keyword". This reply text is
completely under control by you. If the user sends a keyword that is not
recognized, you can also trigger a response like "Sorry, we do not
recognize that keyword", etc. You may also use a "help" command -- like
where the user can send a special word (maybe "help" or "clue") and
receive information on how to participate.
Note that both the Voting and Trivia systems can be setup to look for
multiple keywords at any stage. |
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A:
The Trivia system can look for keywords, but it is much
more "transactional" and you can setup multiple-stage interactions. For
example, the following type of interaction is possible:
Somewhere there is text printed "What is Brooke's shoe size". The person
texts an answer like "7". The system can respond with "Sorry, that's too
high. Try again". Then the user can enter "4" and the system can reply
with "Sorry, that's too low. Try again". Then the user can send "6" and
the system can respond with "Yes, that's absolutely correct!! Answer only
one more question and win. What is Brooke's favorite color?". The user can
send "Blue" and the system would respond with "Sorry, that is not correct.
Try again". Then the user maybe sends "Green" and the system responds
"That's absolutely correct! You win Prize code XYZ".
Note that both the Voting and Trivia systems can be setup to look for
multiple keywords at any stage. |
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A:
There are a few things that can be done. First, you can
enable moderation of nickname commands themselves. In Settings/System
Settings dialog box, you will see a check box for "Moderate nickname
commands". When this is checked, even the nickname profile commands will
require approval by the moderator. However, please note that even in the
absence of this, all nicknames are compared against the offensive words
list and they are censored using the censor rules specified in the
"Offensive Message Filter" tab. |
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A:
We recommend selecting either the "All" folder, or the
"Display Archive" folder. Then use the menu "Messages/Export Messages
Wizard". It should be pretty self-explanatory as to how this works.
Note that to quickly export only the displayed messages with no other
information, you can use the Messages/Export Display Archive Only menu.
This is handy if you want to give someone a keepsake of the messages shown
at their party (for example). |
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A:
Before you start a new event -- create a new Profile. This
allows you to keep all the settings from each event saved in a separate
profile:
Click here to see an example of the first step.
Click here to see an example of the second step. |
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A:
There's a feature that allows the Display Archive to
automatically roll back into the Display Queue:
Click here to see an example. |
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A:
When you receive a CHAT message, you can generally do a
few things with it.
* You can "Display" it. When you do this, the message will go into
the Display Queue and eventually to the big screen, where it will
eventually come to rest in the Display Archive (showing you which messages
were displayed).
* You can "Delete" it. When you do this, the message will not be
displayed and instead, it will go into the DELETED folder.
* You can "Block" it. When you do this, the message will not be
displayed and instead it will go into the BLOCKED folder.
The difference between "blocking" and "deleting" a message is that when
you "block" a message, the system will also increment the "offensive
message counter" for that user. This counter becomes visible in the Users
list, and also the next time that user sends you a message, you will see a
colored indication along with the "# offenses" in the message area. The
color goes from yellow to orange to red, depending on how many offensive
messages the guy has sent. In addition, the system may optionally send a
"warning message" to the user, which typically tells them that if they
keep sending offensive messages, they will be banned. And of course, if
you have the system setup to automatically ban someone, it will ban them
if the offensive message count becomes too high. So that's the difference
between "blocking" and "deleting". Both of these will get the message out
of the inbox and still not display it, but "blocking" has additional
consequences for the user.
On those occasions when I am the moderator, I will "block" a message that
I consider to be offensive, or also when I want to "keep an eye on a
user". For example, maybe a user isn't really sending offensive messages,
but he is sending some other kind of messages. By "blocking" one of his
messages, it will make IMU give me a colored indication the next time he
sends a message. This helps me to visually distinguish messages. If it has
no color, I don't have to pay that close of attention. If it does, it
serves as a reminder to me to "hey -- keep an eye on this fellow" and to
pay closer attention to the message content. By contrast I will "delete" a
message when I don't want there to be any consequences. For example, maybe
someone sends me a private message, or a message for the DJ (hey, you got
any SALSA music?). I will reply, then delete the original message. |
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A:
Each of the folders in IMU have a specific purpose. Unlike
an email program where you can make your own folders and put things pretty
much wherever you want, IMU is much more strict and structured. The Inbox
is where messages normally appear, as long as the messages are not
automatically forwarded to the display queue or used for voting. If a
message comes into the Inbox, you can basically do three things -- Display
it, Delete it, or Block it.
* If you Display it, it will be send to the Display queue, and then once
it is displayed, it will go into the Display Archive.
* If you delete the message, you are saying that you want to get it out of
the inbox. You don't want to display it, but at the same time, you don't
consider it to be an offensive message either. Therefore deleted messages
do not increment the "offensive message" counter.
* If you block the message, you are saying that you want to get it out of
the inbox, but you DO consider it to be an offensive message. This will
increment the "offense" counter for that user, which, depending on the
System Settings, may have implications such as automatically banning the
user or sending them a warning about the offensive messages.
Messages that are sent for Voting are sent directly to the Voting folder.
Now, there is a strict structure about what happens to a message. The
message has a very strict and specific path. That path can not be deviated
for the most part. The reason is mostly because of "legal purposes". The
message has a very strict path so at any point in time, you can see
exactly what happened to a message. It can't be moved around later, if
someone comes questioning what happened.
There is a little bit of flexibility for messages that have already been
displayed. They may be moved back into the Inbox so that they can be
displayed again, or they can be deleted. Messages that have already been
displayed may also be "recycled" periodically if desired (see the System
Settings -- Interval Filter tab). If it is a slow night, this will
automatically keep the screen moving with messages, making the event seem
more lively than it really is... |
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A:
First, there is one thing to keep in mind, and this goes
for ANY venue, anywhere. If IMU can't receive SMS text messages because
the particular venue has bad cell coverage or whatever, then chances are
the people with mobile phones can't send an SMS either. This is a
fundamental thing to keep in mind... the system "requires" at least some
minimal amount of cellular signal to operate. AND people will mobile
phones also require some minimal amount of cellular signal to send and
receive messages as well. HOWEVER, another thing to keep in mind is that
for SMS, you can really get away with "barely any signal". You can send
and receive SMS with a signal level far below that which would be required
for a voice conversation. In fact, people have told us anecdotes of not
being able to communicate by voice, but sending an SMS message would get
through. For example, one guy was stuck in an elevator -- classic place
for not being able to talk on a cell phone. He tried to call his secretary
and the fire department but could not get through by voice. He sent an SMS
to his secretary who then called the fire department to help get him out
of the stuck elevator.
So, some "at least minimal" level of signal is required. That's one
constant to keep in mind.
The next thing to keep in mind is that there are places where there is bad
coverage for only one operator. We have found that T-Mobile has the best
overall GSM coverage. T-Mobile SIMs will work in places where AT&T SIMs
will not. Same phone, same everything. Just a different carrier... So some
carriers have good coverage in areas where other people have bad coverage.
As a person is figuring out whether to go with T-Mobile or AT&T/Cingular
(or Verizon, discussed later), they will hopefully have some idea of the
coverage in their venue, for the particular carriers. As a rule, we would
recommend T-Mobile, as long as there is some "at least minimal" level of
coverage. If T-Mobile is really bad, but AT&T/Cingular is pretty good,
then we would recommend they use AT&T/Cingular. If neither T-Mobile nor
AT&T/Cingular have good coverage, but Verizon has good coverage, then we
MIGHT recommend they go with Verizon. reason. |
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A:The
limit of around 30 messages per minute is strictly for modem use. This is
the same as a normal mobile telephone. Mobile telephones and modems can
only receive between 20 and 30 SMS per minute. If there are more messages,
they will be "buffered" on the SMSC message servers. If the acocunt
receives text messages when the software is not in use they are stored on
the service provider server. The software downloads the saved messages
next time the modem connects.
Also note that this limitation only exists with modem connections. If you
use the PRO version of our software and if you have a direct connection to
an SMSC via the SMPP protocol, you may receive many SMS per second! |
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A:
The modem will appear to do nothing when it is plugged into a port that
has never seen that modem before. And actually, USB ports NEVER offer
power to a device until the device is "enumerated". The only way for the
device to become enumerated is for the driver to be installed.
When the modem is plugged in you should see the "New Hardware Found"
window shortly after plugging in the modem. Certainly you would see this
within 15 seconds.
If you want to use the modem in more than one USB port -- every one of the
ports used has to be configured. |
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A:
DJChat.com Notes from William Benner:
Hi All,
As President of the company who wrote the Interactive Messaging Unlimited
software, a fellow DJ pointed me to this forum and this thread. Please
allow me to share my experiences with you regarding this software.
First let me say that this software has been developed over a period going
on five years now, with three people working on it full time during that
period. The package therefore has over 12 man-years worth of time
invested, resulting in over 500,000 lines of code. The system handles SMS,
EMS, Nokia Smart Messaging, WAP Push and MMS messages. We have a pretty
good number of users worldwide, including Middle East and Asia, and with
around 50% of those users being DJs of some kind. My point in saying these
things is: 1) This is not just some hacked piece of software put together
quickly. It is a strong and stable software, used by many users who have
given good feedback during its evolution. 2) The system conforms not only
to US Standards, but also to standards around the world 3) We have a lot
of experience with DJ and Club use of this system.
During the development of this software, both myself and our users have
gained a lot of good experience which I am happy to share. The system
finds good use in various events from simple Trade Show setups, to Bar
Mitzvahs, to high school parties to clubs. It works well and really
encourages crowd interaction. It also offers the ability for users to
"reach out and touch" people after the gig, to send them SMS messages
telling them about our next gig, or thanking them for coming.
I can speak about some of the topics being brought up, both the early
posts to the more recent ones made by Johnny Dee.
First, about the "busy" video screen, it is completely configurable. The
video output can have any of the following:
* "chatting" (i.e. the original text messages)
* "voting" (i.e. bar graphs and pie charts showing the results of some
context)
* messages on a scrolling text banner like what you see at the bottom of
CNN
* non-moving text, including "the current time"
* music videos, MP3 file playback, WAV file playback
* "Live video" from a video camera or other video source
The screen is configurable so that it can have any of these, or none of
these, or all of these. Each one of these appears in something called a
"Panel", and panels can be moved and resized anywhere on the screen.
Panels can overlap and have all kinds of borders. You can have a
"background" image and any of the panels can have a level of transparency
(known as alpha blending on high end 3D software). Also, the screen can be
"scheduled" to change over time. Any panel can come or go, resize, etc. It
is tremendously configurable.
So getting back to the "busy screen" you saw at one event. That is
possible given all of the flexibility and power, it might be easy to
create a screen that is visually overwhealming. But it is also easy to
create a screen that is simple with only live video and chatting, or only
chatting and voting, or only voting, etc. So the screen can be made to
look like anything, and this look can even change over time.
We have users who do exclusively Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. It works
wonderfully. Kids chat it up, offer congratulations, etc. I remember one
of the first gigs we used it at, someone sent a message like "Billy loves
Jenny". It was a cute message so we put it up there. A short time later,
"Jenny" came up to the booth and asked why we displayed it. It seems that
Jenny didn't want everyone to know that Billy loved her... So crowds are
funny and human moderation is a must. The system does have a sophisticated
filter that will catch foul language and the like, but still, there are
always situation where, as Johnny Dee said, you might change a word to be
more appropriate. An excellent example was given above like: "Jenny is
hot!" Well, maybe so, but for some crowds you might change it to "Jenny is
cool!".
This leads to another important element. The system allows you to not only
screen for foul language, but also change the message the people sent
before it is displayed (or prevent it from being displayed altogether).
This is very handy and there are a lot of examples of this along the lines
of those already discussed.
Also, you can "text back" to those who send a message. Like for example,
lets say someone sends a message like "Jim's mother wears army boots".
When I am the moderator and I receive a message like this, I usually block
the message (it isn't displayed), and I also write back something like "It
may be true that Jim's mom wears Army boots, but we can't display that
kind of message". That keeps it lively, but lets people know that they
can't really get away with much...
But with that being said, let me make one thing clear. It is interesting
actually because, when we first got into the programming of this system,
we expected people to be sending all kinds of BS messages. But this really
isn't the case. You get a few per evening, but that's about it. Really
most messages are quite jovial in nature. At clubs, people ask other
people out for dates, etc. Kids really have a lot of fun with the
system...
We have also seen it used at high school dance parties. Here is a great
opportunity for so many reasons. First, before the dance party, I
recommend that users ask the school for "patriotic" images, like a picture
of the school mascot, their logo, ask about the school colors, get any
kind of memorable pictures like football team winning etc. Get all of
these a day or two ahead of time and enter these into the system. Pictures
are really easy to use in the "Bitmap Sequencer". You just enter them in
and whammo -- its like instant PowerPoint Presentation. Remember when I
said to get the school colors? Well I recommend you incorporate those into
the layout. When you get to the dance party, what the kids see on the
screen is a presentation that is in their colors, with school patriotic
imagery, etc. It really makes the experience special just for them. Of
course the screen also has a chat window to allow them to chat it up, and
sometimes a voting window where, for example, they can vote for their
favorite to win the prom king and queen. Works wonderfully.
But let me also speak to something else that DJ Johnny pointed out. When
you first put up the screen with the chat messages, people use it quite a
bit. Then it tends to taper off after a while. What I found is that it is
best if you don't really use this the whole night long with nothing else
on the video screen. We recommend you put it onto the screen for perhaps a
half hour, and then use the video mixer to switch over to a DVD player and
play music videos for a while. During the time you are playing music
videos, the system can still receive text messages, but of course they are
not displayed on the screen, they are "buffered up" for later. Then, after
maybe 15 minutes or so of music videos, switch back to the text messaging
system and... away you go. More messages. That mixes it up and makes it
work well for this kind of "dance party" scenario. Probably the same can
be said for a Bar Mitzvah.
Note that in a club, it is a different story, because you can make more
use of the system. Actually there is so much power, it can run the whole
club. Automatic MP3, WAV, VIDEO player sequencer, etc. Also, the system
has a "Jukebox" feature which will allow people to pick the next song they
want to hear by SMS -- fully automatic. Sure, this might seem like heresy
on a DJ forum... but the system has that level of power and flexibility.
In any event, for many venues, just having this one thing all night long
seems like not the way to go. But, having this as one of several tools for
your video screens is what makes it a worthwhile experience for the
party-goers.
There is another element too which is "DJ requests". One of the things
that we recommend that you do with the "scrolling text" line is have a
message like this: "Tell a joke... Say HI to a friend... Request a song
from the DJ... To see your message, send SMS to 407-555-1212"
This message is always seen by people. It sort of gives them a clue as to
what they might do with the system, one of those clues being "Request a
song from the DJ". People can send in their song requests like "Play some
SALSA", "Play holla back", etc. This helps you gauge how the crowd is
going and what they want to hear. Also, if they request a song you don't
have, you can text back to them and let them know, and also ask if they
want to hear anything else. This means, no more people coming up to you
and tapping you on the shoulder while you are trying to get into the
perfect mix between two songs.
At one of these party events, sometimes (especially at Bar and Bat
Mitzvahs) people want a keepsake of all messages displayed. No problem.
There is a quick feature that lets you export every message sent to the
screen. Burn it onto a CD and away you go. New laptops have a built-in CD
burner so why not take advantage of the feature. And with printable CDs,
you pre-print your company name and logo onto the CD, and then they have a
keepsake that essentially advertises your business.
Johnny Dee and DJ Jef mentioned font sizes and video quality. Excellent
points being made. Actually one of the problems with our business is that
often we are not the ones supplying the video. Video is supplied by a
separate contractor and you never know what you are going to get.
Sometimes they might come in with high quality PLASMA screens that can
directly take a computer VGA signal. This gives maximum quality. But more
often, they will come in with a crappy, out of focus video projector, and
give you bad cables, etc. All of this makes the video quality less than
great but the net result is that small letters can tend to blend together.
What you should do is use a font size that is pretty large. I typically
use Arial 28 point BOLD. Also, while setting up the system in a room, what
I will do is put the system into a DEMO mode, and then go to the back of
the room and see if I can read the text. If not, I go back and change the
font size, etc. This can actually be done even while the system is
running. So this is one way to combat poor video quality: just keep making
the text larger and larger until you can see it.
Also, as DJ Jef said, this company Corio makes boxes that can generate
pretty high quality video from the PC. I don't use the box that Jef
mentioned, but I use its big brother, called the CorioGen. This is a
Genlock device. It gives you S-Video and regular "composite" video
outputs, as well as the Computer video output that you normally get from
your computer. It allows you to superimpose the TextLive video over top of
live video from your other video sources. It also has a lot of adjustments
like brightness, color, etc. My laptop has a VGA output, and also a
S-Video output. Both work well. Still, there are those times when you just
never know what these video contractors are going to give you. I did one
gig where the video contractor had a Videonix console that had S-Video
inputs. But all of them were broken... Typical beat up rental equipment.
The one thing that worked was the "composite" video input (yellow
connector). The CorioGen has regular composite video output, so it was no
problem.
Anyway, I can go on and on about the system. Like I said, we have a number
of users who are using the system, always with success. It has brought our
clients notoriety that they would not have had otherwise. I would be happy
to answer questions or shed light on how to best use it.
As for price, some DJs think it is quite reasonable, and others think it
is a bit high. I think it may depend on your business model and other
factors. For those already heavily engrained in the Video business, the
price that TextLive is charging seems reasonable. Especially in clubs –
the system may pay for itself in literally just a few days. But for those
who are not yet into Video (still DJing with CDs and the like), the price
might seem high. It may be possible for us to reduce some of the features
and reduce the price as well. Please give us your feedback in terms of
feature set and price and we will consider it.
Best regards,
William Benner |
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