Fujitsu says the new TELentice version 6.3 - developed at the company’s software development centre in Australia and primarily designed for the retail sector - will incorporate facial detection technology to enable organisations to create a deeper and more interactive level of communication with their customers.

The new functionality, which incorporates Near Field Communications (NFC) capability and Bluetooth connectivity, will allow targeted messages and personalised content to be directed to consumers as they approach or pass media screens, with an optional demographic recognition capability allowing marketers to personalise content of advertising based on estimated age and gender to improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

The latest version is currently being trialed by a number of TELentice customers in Australia including financial institutions, telecommunication providers and the government.

Stewart Cathie, Director of Digital Media at Fujitsu, Stewart Cathie says TELentice is designed for the global retail sector, centre management organisations, the transit market (airports, train stations) and healthcare, and is ideally suited to implementations of multiple-screen complex display networks in dispersed locations due to its ability to be scaled with little addition to the management effort.

“Marketers will benefit from the new Operations Dashboards, which offer the ability to gain insight into customer profiles and to calculate returns on communications investment.”

Cathie says Fujitsu’s strategy includes attracting high end advertising and media operations as it looks to partner in the development of a wider range of content creation services.

“TELentice is an excellent example of how Fujitsu is expanding beyond the delivery of IT products and services and on how heavily we are focussing on the importance of our customers’ customers. This is a great example of human centric innovation that is fully aligned with the Fujitsu Technology & Service Vision.”

TELentice Version 6.3 introduces:

•    An optional interface to the face detection functionality that enables gender and age estimation. This data can trigger content based on the demographics of the person facing the screen. Face detection provides a new way to interact with customers in a range of situations including retail, banks, transit and healthcare.

•    An integrated social media dashboard to monitor campaign performance and customer sentiment toward brands and products

•    Streamlined management of widely distributed display networks via an operations dashboard that cuts down administration time by enabling operators to see schedules at a glance and detect gaps, or to save time by simply extending existing bookings

•    Wifi Hotspot integration with mobile devices to create another channel for two-way content interaction

•    Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) enable targeted content to establish a deeper and more interactive conversation with clients via their smart devices.