The Dutch company LeftClick is one of the leading providers of digital signage products in its country of origin. The company produces and develops its own hardware and software, enabling it to offer complete solutions. It has also been very successful in the rapidly growing market for digital room signage systems with its RoomGuide brand, which it has been offering since 2011. One of the things that sets it apart on the market is its numerous hardware and software certifications, including the ISO 27001 certification, which is important for IT security.
One of the foundations of success is the sophisticated software functions. They enable LeftClick products to transmit information to the right recipients in a simple, intuitive and customised way. The software also offers a wide range of customisation options for application scenarios that are currently in high demand. The spectrum ranges from the targeted management of guests, customers or visitors to everyday organisation in modern offices with a “shared desk” concept and orientation in hospitals. However, projects have also already been implemented to call up applicants in public authorities, display changing services or offer information and show the progress of certain processes.
THE OPTIMAL HARDWARE AS A BASIS
The second pillar of LeftClick’s success is the approach chosen for the hardware. The Qseven and µQseven modules from SECO installed in the room signage systems guarantee a particularly high level of flexibility. They also help LeftClick to keep production costs low and to differentiate itself from the competition.
The specific customisation of the baseboard and BIOS required for LeftClick’s applications was significantly supported by Aaronn Electronic. The company from Puchheim near Munich has also been a distributor for Qseven and µQseven modules from the Italian manufacturer SECO since 2016. As a system integrator, Aaronn Electronic also helps its customers to formulate requirements for the manufacturer and find the optimum solution together. LeftClick has also benefited from this.
KEY CRITERIA FOR QSEVEN
LeftClick used to use single board computers for its products. However, these were not flexible enough for the further development and expansion of the portfolio to include digital room signage systems. The effort required for product maintenance would also have been too great. LeftClick therefore explored the market to find a supplier with extensive experience in industrial solutions who could also provide support for customised firmware and BIOS adaptations. After careful consideration, the choice fell on Qseven modules from SECO and Aaronn Electronic as a partner for system integration.
In addition to its compact design, the fundamental advantages of µQseven for LeftClick are its long-term availability, IT security functions and x86 support. Overall, the standard offers the high level of flexibility required by LeftClick as well as great scalability in terms of costs and performance. In addition, it is possible to utilise the properties of the respective processor architectures and to switch easily between them. LeftClick also opted for SECO because its µQseven module µQ7-A76-J supports models from the Intel Atom E3800 and Celeron (Bay Trail) processor families. These SoCs offer maximum computing and graphics performance with outstanding power management functions. This makes them ideal for efficient image workflows, digital signage with secure content provision and visually appealing, interactive clients.
Qseven also scores points with its diverse, easy-to-use interfaces and upgrade capability: the modular design means that the latest CPU generations can always be used. The baseboard does not need to be changed at all or hardly at all. This reduces the effort and time required for the market launch of new variants or product generations. In addition, development and production are easier to plan and larger quantities can be purchased, which in turn leads to more favourable prices.
Figure 2: SECO µQseven module µQ7-A76-J with Intel Atom E3800 and Celeron family (“Bay Trail”)
Qseven modules are available in a 70 × 70 mm format, while the µQseven modules are about the size of a credit card at 40 × 70 mm and have a low overall height. This makes them ideal not only for integration in flat displays, but also for applications in the automotive sector, traffic control systems, ticket machines, kiosk systems, medical technology and numerous scenarios in the IoT environment.
COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT BY AARONN ELECTRONIC
“We have helped developers of LeftClick so that they can use their baseboard on both Qseven and µQseven modules. It saves them a lot of work and still ensures a high degree of flexibility,” explains Gerhard Fragner, Business Development Manager at Aaron Electronic. The BIOS was also customised by LeftClick in collaboration with Aaron Electronic. A “secure boot” mode ensures that only customised software can be installed, but no third-party software.
Together with other security functions, this is an important criterion for banks, municipal authorities and healthcare organisations, many of which are LeftClick customers in the Netherlands. LeftClick chose Aaronn Electronic very early on. Aaronn Electronic was already involved in the deliberations that led to the selection of QSeven modules from SECO. “After we realised during these discussions that we got on well together, that Aaronn understood our requirements and was committed to us at SECO, it was immediately clear to us that we also wanted to work with them on further development,” explain Johan and Leon Smits, Managing Directors of LeftClick. “Together, we have created the basis for our new RoomGuide product range, which is already successful in the Netherlands and we now want to expand into the German market.”
In addition to providing technical support as a system integrator, Aaronn Electronic also takes on logistics tasks for LeftClick. In its role as a SECO distributor, for example, the company keeps the required goods ready for call-off. This means that they are quickly available exactly when they are needed. This enables LeftClick to respond to rising demand at short notice without having to operate an extensive warehouse itself, which would also tie up capital.
