eSense is a comprehensive content management system, but what does that mean? Basically if you want to have a dynamic website, where the content is changed often, or you want the same dynamic data to be displayed on multiple media types like web site, touch screens, plasma screens, etc, then you NEED a content management system.

Ease of use

To the uninitiated, managing dynamic content sounds scary, and the way some systems ask you to control the content, it is scary. MobileWorks has made huge effort to reduce its complexity, and if you can drive Microsoft Word, you will easily be able to drive eSense.

Example:

You have plasma screens, touch screens and a web site, and you want to add a news item that is to be displayed on the touch screen and web site only. Easy. The entire eSense application is icon based, you select the appropriate icon for page, and then using the editing tool (that looks remarkably like Microsoft Word) you create the article. You now save it, and select the media you wish to display it on – in this case the touch screens and the web site. Now press the publish button, and look at the chosen media – the article s already published and on display

Advertising

The eSense platform can manage and control advertising campaigns. Users can define how often the advert should be shown on almost any matrix, and eSense will control and manage the campaign on any appropriate media. This can include text messages, plasmas screens, web sites, etc.

Example:

A retailer using Sentinel Help Desk creates a campaign and advert, and submits it for management acceptance. It is presented to centre management via the Sentinel control panel, and if accepted, it is passed to eSense. eSense now takes the information, and the advert itself, and automatically creates the schedule and media types based on the information provided. Adverts can be text, video, flash, in fact virtually any media can be supported.

eShopping

Centres are having to face additional competition from the Internet, with the increasing acceptance of on-line shopping, but how to address this particular phenomenon as centres want consumers through the doors. eSense helps address these issues by providing an on-line browse and pick-up feature.

Example:

Consumers access the on-line mall, where retailers within the mall can display their products. Consumers pick the items they require, and can even pay for them on-line. The major difference is that they then need to come into the centre to pick up these goods. Why would the consumer do it? Because if there is an issue it can be addressed straight away by the store, rather than having to return by post, etc. Why would the stores do it? Because any online sale would be allocated to the store, and not the central warehouse, and also the client is through the door, which gives the store the opportunity to cross sell.

Data collection

A major task for any centre is to be able to collect demographic information from its consumers, to allow it to better target the market, and to understand its market. Web sites can make excellent collection tools, especially if combined with loyalty programs, etc.

Example:

eSense has a comprehensive range of tools it can use to collect demographic and personal information. One example might be a “youth zone” that is membership only. The act of accessing the particular zone means certain information needs to be provided by the applicant.