PowerPoint Scheduler from Schneider Infosystems Ltd

The Cultural Center Casino in the Swiss municipality of Herisau is informing its visitors with several PowerPoint schedulers since 2017 — Figure 1: The Cultural Center Casino in the municipality of Herisau in Appenzell, Switzerland, has been informing its visitors since 2017 with several PowerPoint schedulers

Figure 2: In the entrance hall, screens direct the flow of visitors while other displays show information about the cultural program

Figure 3: In the cafeteria and at the information desk, up-to-date information is appreciated by the public

Figure 4: In the modern and architecturally impressive concert building in the Belgian city of Brugge, more than a dozen information points were realized with PowerPoint Scheduler

Figure 5: In the large entrance hall, large screens inform about the current program of the concert and congress center

Figure 6: The large-scale displays were discreetly integrated into the grand interior design

Displays guide the visitors to their seats and provide about health measures — Figure 7: Displays guide visitors to their seats and provide information about current health measures

Figure 8: In the in-house catering inform projectors about culinary offers and events

Continuous Display Operation Controlled by PowerPoint Scheduler

Automatic time control of PowerPoint presentations, video and audio playback, web pages and PDF

PowerPoint Scheduler is the best Digital Signage solution if several Microsoft PowerPoint® presentations shall be displayed in continuous operation on a predetermined schedule. PowerPoint itself does not provide the ability to automatically turn selected presentations on and off.

With its built-in timer, PowerPoint Scheduler displays your PowerPoint presentations right on time, as well as videos and internet-TV and web pages and PDF. In addition, the scheduler can turn the displaying flat screen or projector on and off or change their signal source.

The application areas of PowerPoint Scheduler are manifold: greet your visitors at your reception, build an information system or a digital signage based on your existing PowerPoint presentations or play your company videos time-controlled. PowerPoint Scheduler is successfully used worldwide by companies and organizations such as museums, schools and hospitals. Even various local television stations use PowerPoint Scheduler to play their programs repetitively every hour. With the optional ticker you inform your audience immediately about important events.

PowerPoint Scheduler is characterized by ease of installation and operation. Microsoft Office skilled staff can use PowerPoint Scheduler easily and intuitively. This allows even small organizations without IT staff to use their existing PowerPoint presentations to setup a POI.

Since the easiest way to purchase PowerPoint Scheduler is directly from us as the manufacturer of this software, you will also get the best support from us for installation and operation issues. Due to a simple and intuitive handling you will be fast in building your own display solution.

PowerPoint® is a registered Trade Mark of Microsoft Corporation

Figure 1: Calendar view of planned switches

Figure 2: Detail information about PowerPoint time controls

Figure 5: Statistical view of shown media files

Figure 6: Programming a PowerPoint time control

Figure 8: Monitoring of the running scheduler in network mode

Plan PowerPoint and Video Switches in the Calendar

In a clearly arranged calendar you define the start time of your presentations

Due to concept that the planning tool - the Agenda - and the display control - the Scheduler - can run separately on different PC's connected by a network, a continuous programming without intermit the display is supported. In this Network Operation Mode you are able to instantaneously show a new presentation or a new important ticker message.

The scheduler will usually play your presentation repetitively from the desired time until the start time of the next presentation. Alternatively you have the possibility to show a presentation only one cycle or for a predefined duration. Do you want to show several presentations and videos consecutively as sequence? The sequence group switch supports this. The audio switch allows to emphasis your presentation by an audio track or by music from an Internet radio station.

At the time of entry you decide if the new switch appears immediately at the start time or if the running presentation or the video shall be finished before. The Agenda supports the entering of repetitive switches and sequences.

Optional the scheduler turns on your flat screen or projector in the morning and turns it off in the evening at defined times. To support this feature your display unit needs an RS232 interface for the functionality of remote control.

To have an overview of the scheduled switches three different views are available: daily, weekly or monthly view. Furthermore you have the possibility to switch between the calendar and the list display. The Scheduler continuously logs all running switches. Afterwards, the executed switches can be shown as a list or within a statistical view. This statistical view informs about how often and how long a presentation or a video was shown.

By using the Network Mode the Agenda offers a continuous monitoring of the Scheduler. The ongoing presentation screen will be shown together with information about the past and the upcoming switches.

Figure 1: Scheduler with additional supervising monitor in Desktop Mode

Figure 2: Programming in the Agenda in Desktop Mode while stopped Scheduler

Figure 3: Scheduler in Network Mode offers continuous planning

Figure 4: Scheduler connected over Internet for greater distances

Figure 5: Up to 4 Agendas plans and supervises concurrently one Scheduler

Figure 6: Several Schedulers are controlled by one Agenda in Multiserver Mode

Figure 7: Multiserver Mode allows Schedulers connected by Internet/Network

PowerPoint Scheduler fits your demand

The operating modes of PowerPoint Scheduler

The System PowerPoint Scheduler is highly flexible and can grow with your needs. For this PowerPoint Scheduler provides the tree modes Desktop, Network and Multiserver.

The Desktop Mode allows autonomous operation without network. You plan your switches regularly - for example once a week - in the Agenda in advance. During this planning, the scheduler will be stopped temporarily. After scheduling, the Scheduler application can be started on the same PC. If a second monitor is connected to this PC, it displays additional information about the executed switches and the pending next switches.

The Network Mode allows a local separation of the switch planning and the display unit. While the Scheduler plays continually the Agenda needs to be started on an office PC only during planning or supervising. Usually after planning of a new switch the media files will be automatically copied to the Scheduler PC. Alternatively you also can store the media files on your central server.

For small distances between Scheduler and Agenda PC a connection over local area can be used. For greater distance between Scheduler and Agenda PC the connection can also be established by use of the Internet. In case a new media file is planned, which has not been already transferred, the corresponding files will be transferred automatically from the Agenda PC to the Scheduler PC by using the File Transfer Protocol.

Do you want to run multiple displays simultaneously with different content at different locations? The Multiserver Version allows the concurrent administration of 2 to 16 Scheduler PCs by one Agenda. Thereby for the connections between the Scheduler PCs and the Agenda both types Internet and local area network can be used concurrently. In particular, multiple Scheduler PCs which are connected together in one local area network can be controlled by an Agenda which is located far away from the Scheduler's building by us of an Internet connection.

The Scheduler can be supervised by any connected Agenda in the Network- and Multiserver-Mode because the information of the second supervising monitor will be transmitted to the Agenda as well. Do you want control one or more displays by more than one Agenda workstation at the same time? The Network Version already offers simultaneously access up to 4 Agendas to one Scheduler.

PowerPoint Scheduler Product Editions

Editions, feature and prices of the latest version 2.6.0 ¹⁾

The following feature matrix provides information about functions and shows the differences between the four product editions Light, Desktop, Network and Multiserver. You find the prices for the licenses at the bottom line of the table. If you need more than one license you get already a discount for the second license. Note that you need an own license for each display unit (Scheduler). The Agenda is free and can be installed on any number of PCs.

		Product Editions
	Feature	Light	Desktop	Network	Multiserver
Scheduler	Show time controlled PowerPoint presentation²⁾ and video files³⁾ and video stream⁴⁾	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Sequence group: Show a list of PowerPoint presentations and video files as repetitive sequence	yes	yes	yes	yes
	View web pages and PDF on a scheduled basis: The integrated Chrome browser⁵⁾ displays web page or PDF files on a scheduled basis	-	-	yes	yes
	Remote control (e.g. turn on/off or change of signal source) of the display unit via network or RS232 interface⁶⁾	-	yes	yes	yes
	Play time controlled audio files⁷⁾ and audio streams⁸⁾	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Audio volume profiles: Configure the sound level for each media file type⁹⁾	-	-	yes	yes
	Ticker message¹⁰⁾ overlaid over the running presentation, video, or web view	-	-	yes	yes
Agenda	View of the past switches	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Statistics¹¹⁾ of presented media files	-	yes	yes	yes
	Monitoring the schedulers in network mode	-	-	yes	yes
Operation Mode	Single site operation: Scheduler and Agenda runs on same PC	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Local network: Separation of Scheduler and Agenda - Ongoing planning without interruption of the display	-	-	yes	yes
	Internet network connection between Scheduler and Agenda for higher distances outside of a building	-	-	yes	yes
	Control several Schedulers¹²⁾ by one Agenda	-	-	-	yes
Price USD¹³⁾	Price for the first license	835.00	1000.00	1500.00	1585.00
	Prices for 2nd-4th license	695.00	833.00	1250.00	1320.00
	Prices for 5th-9th license	555.00	666.00	1000.00	1055.00
	Prices for 10th license and more	415.00	500.00	750.00	790.00

Notes to the feature matrix
¹⁾ Release date: April 2023.
²⁾ Following file types are supported: PPTX and PPSX and PPT/PPS (legacy formats).
³⁾ The viewable Video formats depend on the installed video codecs. As default the formats MP4, WMV, AVI and MPEG are supported.
⁴⁾ Supports the M3U/M3U8 playlist format. Please note that MMS (Microsoft Media Server) and the flash video format is no longer supported.
⁵⁾ The integrated Chrome browser is updated by Windows and always up to date.
⁶⁾ Precondition: The display unit requires an RS-232 interface or network connection (TCP/IP) for remote control. The remote control commands are configurable.
⁷⁾ Supports the M3U/M3U8 playlist format. Please note that the formats of MMX, WinAmp and others are no longer supported.
⁸⁾ Playable audio formats depend on the installed audio codecs. As default the formats MP3, WMA, WAV and SND are supported.
⁹⁾ Distinct media types for PowerPoint and video: PPTX, PPT, PPSX, PPS, WMV, AVI, MPEG and MP4.
¹⁰⁾ The graphical appearance of the ticker message display can be adjusted as follows: Band size and vertical position, read speed, font type, font color and band color as well as transparency degree.
¹¹⁾ Informs about number of shows and repetitions, total duration with first and last show time.
¹²⁾ The Agenda supports the simultaneous connection to 2 up a maximum of 16 Schedulers.
¹³⁾ Prices are excluding VAT for Swiss customers.
Prices and features are subject to change.

System Requirements for PowerPoint Scheduler

All product editions are based on following installation requirements. Be aware that in use of the network version Microsoft PowerPoint^® need to be installed on all PCs.

Software

Microsoft PowerPoint^® 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 with newest service packs
Windows^® 11, 10

Hardware

CPU and memory correspond to the requirements of the operating system
Graphic card: On Schedulers side a dual monitor system is recommended but not mandatory
Network connection for Scheduler and Agenda and for access to internet pages (required for Network edition and higher)
RS232 interface for display remote control option (not required for Light edition)

Get your Trial License

Testing PowerPoint Scheduler

Whichever product edition you choose, we recommend starting with our Trial License, which allows you to test the system extensively in your application. The trial license works with full functionality limited to 30 days. You can order a trial license for USD 15.00. This amount will be credited by ordering the first license. You can download the trial license easily from this website.

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