FWi Reviews

Pros

The way locations, templates and content cascade down the network tree is both familiar and intuitive, but don't let the simplicity fool you: there are powerful features and settings just under the surface if you know where to look that allow you to build almost anything you can think of.

Cons

Accomplishing complex solutions like integrating unique data structures or getting certain behaviors to function properly can involve some trial and error. Documentation for more advanced abilities in the past has been notoriously lacking, although there has been some improvement since they switched to their community portal. The appearance of the CMD software seems a bit antiquated, like old Windows programs.

Pros

Eventually, if you're like me, you'll push the limits of you CMS. I like to do more. Maybe you started out wanting to push images to a single display. However, as your business grows, you may now need to pull live data and push that to your display giving your staff up to date metrics to judge business decisions. Does your current Content Management system provide that? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe you didn't know you needed that. I've discovered over the last twelve years as a designer and CMS admin I needed an overly robust shoe to perform in. I outgrew my last CMS and needed more functionality. FourWinds was that bigger shoe, for me. As I grow to do more with my digital signage the FourWinds platform is growing faster and I can't keep up. Thats a good thing! You don't want to eventually outgrow your shoe, you want your shoe to grow with you. Changing your CMS, because it can't keep up what with your business needs is painful. I done it three times and it's a pain, to say the least. To sum it up, the FourWinds content management system seems to have few boundaries and I like that the most.

Cons

If I had to come up with what I like least about the FourWinds software my list wouldn't be long. I have to separate my gripes into two categories. Are my issues caused by the media player I'm choosing to use or is it the software? Most of my gripes are directed at the media player which, really, has nothing to do with the software at all. So, separating the two, I would wish for a way to bulk upload assets. Each month I create, upload and schedule 40-60 promotional assets. If I could select, schedule, set duration of play, days to play, upload, etc. as a bulk list without doing it one at a time would save me considerable time. That would be what I like least about this software.

Pros

Automation, i do not have to manually enter information. It saves me time when it works

Cons

Inconsistency. Sometimes i call and the person is helpful and great and other is like a tunnel with no end

Pros

We had 3 old systems, one for wayfinding, one for signage and 1 a bit of both. Four Winds Interactive allowed us to consolidate our signage/wayfinding into 1 system and gain loads of functionality at the same time.

I could build the system I imagined from scratch utilizing Four Winds Interactive. This included creating my own templates, design and touch functionality to make it work best for our audience. It could integrate with 3rd party data utilizing JSON or XML which makes it extremely versatile.

Cons

Many past problems I have run into including documentation, etc are being actively addressed by the company with enhancements coming to the customer portal.

Content Manager Desktop is only available on Windows (which creates extra steps for Mac users like myself) but with their new Cloud system I need to open Content Manager Desktop less frequently.

Pros

The strongest aspect of FWI signage software is the ability to integrate with so many sources of data, including RSS, XML, SQL, and JSON. This has allowed us to greatly reduce the time spent manually managing sign content, as the signs update themselves as information is entered into our many different systems of record which serve as sources of content/data.

Cons

The Content Manager Desktop application, as it exists currently, is Windows-only and is much too complex for a beginning user who will only need to make simple image/video content updates. The application is incredibly powerful and makes sense to a power user, but I'm glad to see the FWI Cloud content library start to become available to serve the needs of basic content contributors.

Pros

Ease of use, and flexibility. Being cloud based also provides the ability to make changes quickly and on the fly as needed. It is great to be able to deploy these players rather quickly and have the flexibility to do so as needs and client demands change.

Cons

Not much that I have not liked about this software. This is not a negative comment regarding the software, but being a cloud based solution it is critical to have a proper infrastructure behind this solution. This solution does not require a high amount of bandwidth to manage, but it is critical to have a stable connection to get the full benefits. This is specially important when pushing large contents like videos or HD images from the content manager to the players.

Pros

My prior display system was extensively customized because the base software had little functionality. The Four Winds Display System has allowed me eliminate my custom programs because all the functionality is built into the system. I have been able to transition myself from a custom program to a user because of this system. Life is much less complicated now.

Cons

I have used the system for over 4 years now at 20 different locations. I recommend using a fanless computer solution for long player lifespan or use their Samsung smart TV technology to help minimize costs. I believe they have a cloud based system available or coming very soon.

Pros

The ability to customize the output for different purposes - we can utilize the built in functionality for specific implementations without necessarily developing in-house custom applications - and if there is a functionality question, their customer support has been very helpful in working though those issues.

Cons

At times, with the many different types configuration options available, one needs to refer to documentation to find the specific feature(s) one is looking to implement for a specific purpose. Most of the documentation is feature based or driven - more design examples utilizing typical features by configuration or deployment purpose may be of help to those just starting out with the software.

Pros

FWI is constantly innovating, staying current regarding industry trends and progressively adding useful functionality and features.

Cons

There can be a steep learning​ curve for new users. A drag and drop GUI for general users may be a good feature in the future.

Pros

It is very versatile. It can handle many file types. It is very stable.

Cons

Software is never perfect. I do not have any issue with the system that I would consider a problem.

Pros

It gets the job done for dynamic signage that most competitors can't perform (i.e. live data, IPTV, motion graphics, etc.)

Cons

If you are in need of something custom and unique, you are put on the backburner while other customers who are more "standard" are taken care of (i.e. we've been asking and were promised a Unified Player for years.....they usurped development of it for a Cloud based storage system, which, while useful, ignores any of our needs that were promised to us).

Pros

-Functionality
-Scalability
-Great for large companies to manage multiple locations
-Very Customizable
-Almost all systems are able to be integrated into the Four Winds Software

Cons

-Process intensive software on the players
-Thick Client for administrators (CMD)
-Web version does not have 100% functionality of Thick Client at this time
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Pros

The stability of the product provides a no worry approach to developing and deploying digital content. The power of the product makes it possible to create between quite simple to very complex.

Cons

The piece that is missing, is a faster way to deploy the same graphic to multiple signs. An application for drag and drop of one image to be deployed to as many signs as that app is active in a region would be so awesome.

Pros

Content Manager is easy to you and intuitive. It is a great place to build a sandbox and test different themes. It is fully configurable and can be fine tuned to address any eventuality

Cons

In the content manager, the initial design is cumbersome since you have to enter and exit the template to see the end result.

Pros

Software is fairly easy to use with no prior knowledge and the support crew is easy to contact and answer questions as needed. And didn't mind when called about the same issue multiple times.

Cons

Sometimes I'd have to running to look for accessories to use when needed, which wasn't a big deal but I felt bad for having to keep the support team on the line while doing so.

Pros

I like the freedom to add images, power point slices and be able to free type. For me I like to personalize my groups so I can always type a personalize message to my groups.

Cons

at this moment I have encounter any issues.

Pros

The ease of use and ability to customize the service how I need it.

Cons

Nothing really! Great service that helped my company grow!

Pros

the software is easy to understand and works with little or no issues, the FWI support covers any questions

Cons

did not have any real dislikes a lot of engineering went into software to insure minimal issues

Pros

I like that it's easy to use and install. I felt that it was easy to configure and the price of training was good too. I like that they allow you to do online training.

Cons

Can't think of anything at the moment. I enjoy using this software.

Pros

Functionality, support, and community. There are a lot of things that can be done with this software other than just displaying visual content.

Cons

Steep learning curve, but tons of resources are available

Pros

I like the appearance of the reader boards and the diverse options we have in changing the appearance to meet our groups needs.

Cons

Somewhat complicated to use if not familiar with this type of system.

Pros

It is flexible and powerful and constantly being improved

Cons

My version relies on IE for HTML which has caused several problems. I understand the updated version has the option of chromium though. Have had issues with powerpoint as well.

Pros

versatile feature sets, "magic folders" make adding or subtracting content as easy as drag and drop so we can set things up for ANY user to be able to add content from their department without having to know the software inside and out.

Cons

It is a little difficult to fully grasp all the controls from the administrative side.

Pros

Easy to learn the basics to get started.

Cons

Can be a bit overwhelming when you dive into the higher end functionality but worth tackling the learning curve.

Pros

This software allows our local government an additional avenue to reach our citizens who do not utilize social media via our government channel.

Cons

I think that the Con lies with my own lack of tech skills and lack of knowledge about the software.