This technical document provides an overview of the process/data flow for the NowSignage Proof of Play application.
Step 1: Activate Proof of Play (POP) in the NowSignage CMS by adding the screen to the POP app located in the “Settings” section.
- Important: This setup must be completed before entering the PIN into the application. If the screen is already activated before this step, the NowSignage application must be rebooted to enable POP. This is a one-time process.
Step 2: As the NowSignage application operates, it generates a temporary record in memory each time an asset, whether an image or a video, starts playing. This record captures essential information, including:
- Asset ID: File name of the asset.
- Asset Type: Specifies whether it is an image or video.
- Screen ID: Name of the screen in the NowSignage system.
- Profile ID: Associated NowSignage project.
- Start Time: The date and time when the asset began playing (based on the device’s local date and time settings; incorrect settings on the device will result in inaccurate timestamps).
Step 3: The NowSignage app tracks the duration of the currently playing asset by incrementally updating a "seconds played" counter every second.
Step 4: When an asset finishes playing and a new one begins (e.g., transitioning from Image #1 to Image #2), the completed record is added to an in-memory CSV file on the device.
Step 5: When the CSV file accumulates a total of 10 records, it is saved to the device's internal storage for archival purposes.
Step 6: Every two hours, provided that the device is connected to the internet and the NowSignage app is active, the application establishes a connection with the server at pop.nowsignage.com. This process occurs through secure outbound communication on port 443, allowing the app to upload the POP CSV file to the NowSignage servers.
Step 7: Upon uploading, the NowSignage system processes the CSV file by organising the records into five-minute intervals. This structured data is subsequently sent to the NowSignage API for further handling.
Step 8: The NowSignage API stores the processed data in DynamoDB (an AWS database). Once the collation is complete, the data becomes accessible within the user’s POP application account.
- Device Offline: The device may have been offline during that period. While there may not have been any reported network outages, we recommend checking if there’s an audit log available to confirm that the media player was consistently connected throughout the day.
- Network Restrictions: It’s possible that requests to pop.nowsignage.com are being blocked, preventing files from reaching our servers. We suggest checking network logs to confirm whether these requests are being made every two hours. If the file size is large, there may be network restrictions in place that block or limit larger file transfers
- Incorrect date or time on device: The data is recorded based on the date and time settings configured on the device. If the device was installed with an incorrect date or time—potentially set in the future—this could explain the issue. Furthermore, incorrect date/time settings can cause the device to appear offline due to false online/offline status readings. We recommend reviewing and adjusting the device's date and time settings to ensure accurate data reporting.