Setup Signage Mode for Webex Board and Webex Room Series

The Webex Board and Room Series devices, which are part of the Cisco Collaboration Endpoint devices, now have a new feature that allows the display of digital signage on connected Webex video screens when they are not being used for screen-sharing, whiteboarding, or conferencing.

Available on Webex Cloud, the solution is part of Webex’s Room OS.

To leverage this, all you need to do is input a URL that points to the Appspace App, which is called via an integrated browser. The Appspace App (PWA) will run on the browser as signage, and will be automatically enabled when the device is not in use for conference or collaboration.

With signage mode enabled, the Webex device offers a full digital signage experience, supporting both passive and interactive digital signage capabilities. It allows the user to watch live or recorded video, view presentations, web content, or book a meeting room directly from the Webex device, using an Appspace channel.

This article provides the instructions to configure signage mode for Cisco Collaboration Endpoint devices, namely the Webex Board and Room Series devices.

Prerequisites

• The device must meet the manufacturer’s minimum hardware and technical specifications. Please refer to Supported Devices & Operating Systems.
• Supported Webex devices running the latest Webex Room OS, registered on Webex Cloud. We support the following devices:
  • Webex Board Series – Board 55, Board 70, Board 85S
  • Webex Room Series – Room 55, Room 70, Room Kit, Room Kit Mini, Room Kit Plus, Room Kit Pro.
    Note

    Every registered Webex device will consume one Appspace ID each.
• Integrator role account on the Webex Board/Webex Room devices.
• An active Appspace account, with sufficient device licenses to register the device.
• Account Owner or Location Admin user roles with sufficient platform licenses.
• An active Internet connection.
• At least one Appspace playlist/live/advanced channel. For channel browsing, multiple channels/channel groups are required. Click here for instructions to create a playlist channel, live channel, or advanced channel.
• It is recommended that the device clock is set to automatically retrieve time from a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server, with the correct time zone, in order for it to sync correctly with the Appspace server.
  
  
  Note

  • Appspace cloud servers by default retrieve time from an NTP server. If an Appspace on-premises server is used, ensure the server time is automatically retrieved by an NTP server.

  • Appspace has updated the timezone configurations, which now include timezones other than GMT. This enables users with daylight savings to adjust the time accordingly.

    For more information, please refer to the Appspace 7.1-ac.8 Release Notes.

• Please ensure your network is configured to allow Appspace Approved URLs and the relevant network ports.
  On your proxy server, ensure our approved URLs are listed in the ‘How to set up networks with SSL content filters’ section in the following article: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/3504942#sslinspection.

Configure the Collaboration Endpoint (CE) Device for Signage Mode

1. Enable signage mode on the Cisco Collaboration Endpoint (CE) device by following the instructions outlined in the Enable Digital Signage on Cisco Webex Boards, Desk Pro, and Room Series Devices document: https://help.webex.com/en-US/article/nmd8log/Enable-Digital-Signage-on-Cisco-Webex-Boards,-Desk-Pro,-and-Room-Series-Devices 
   Note

   You may use either the Set Up Digital Signage Directly from Cisco Webex Control Hub or the Set Up Digital Signage from the Web Interface method.
2. Enter one of the following Appspace App PWA URLs in the Digital Signage URL field, depending on your Appspace deployment:
   • Appspace Public Cloud:
     • https://cloud.appspace.com/app/?registrationmode=passive
   • Appspace Private Cloud:
     • https://<customer>.cloud.appspace.com/app/pwa/?registrationmode=passive
   • Appspace 7.0 On-Prem:
     • https://<APPSPACE_FQDN>/app/pwa/?registrationmode=passive
     • https://<SERVER_IP>/app/pwa/?registrationmode=passive
       Note

       For offline on-prem servers with no access to the Appspace Cloud, use this manual registration option: Registering a device locally.
3. Once the Webex device enters idle mode, the signage mode is activated and launches the Appspace App displaying the registration code.
4. Follow the instructions, from Step 2 onwards, in the Register a device article.
5. In the Channel selection mode field, select one of these playback options and assign a channel (if already created):
   • Channels will autoplay sequentially – this option is currently available only for playlist channels. Channels with autoplay based on the playlist sequence or any scheduling or dayparting settings configured.
   • Administrators can select a single channel – ideal for signage, you may select either a playlist channel, an advanced channel or a live channel. However to select a channel here, the channel must already be created prior to this registration. If the channel has not been created, you may skip this step and assign a channel later.

Known Issues

Unable to Register Cisco Collaboration Endpoint (CE) Device

There may be instances where the Cisco Collaboration Endpoint (CE) device is unable to be registered, or load the Appspace App registration screen, even though it was successfully registered before. This is caused due to data, such as cache, cookies, and local storage isn’t automatically cleared when the device restarts.

A workaround to this issue would be to manually delete the data by using the following delete storage command:

• xCommand WebEngine DeleteStorage Type: All