Seasons Greetings from the team at Papercast
Wishing you, your teams and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic…
James Sirmon, Chief Engineer at Papercast, based in the UK
James directs the development of our product portfolio to ensure we exceed customer expectations, in terms of design, usability and specification. The secret to his success is the perfect combination of front facing customer support, with behind the scenes product development.
1. What three words would you use to describe your role?
Oversee, Debug, Systems
2. What is the best thing about your job?
I’m sure many people say this but there is never a dull moment. There’s always a new challenge or new way that a customer wants to implement Papercast products.
3. What is the best thing about Papercast technology?
This is a hard one, but I think it’s the flexibility in how the display can be used and the content management system behind it all – nothing is impossible.
4. What are you currently working on?
A variety of UK local council deployments, each with their own idiosyncrasies, where we are trying to squeeze the absolute limits of live system uptime from the British winter sun! Also, an exciting and top-secret project for a high-profile boat race (ssshhh).
5. What three things do you want to achieve this year?
- Get our systems deployed into the first UK airports
- Turn the many trials we have running into full blown roll outs
- Start testing the 3-year battery only systems, that’s right, no solar or mains power!
6. What passenger information trends do we need to look out for in the next 12 months?
Larger roll out of interactive, solar powered Papercast systems to rural and more remote non-powered locations.
7. What single thing do you believe will shape or shift the market most in the next 12 months?
Budgets define everything!! I believe Papercast will lead the way due to its plug-and-play nature and the fact that you don’t need to install a mains power source.
8. What is your view on how e-paper is disrupting the digital bus stop display market?
What’s really exciting (for us) is that the market is now asking their suppliers (our potential competitors) to sell their solutions with the Papercast e-paper displays instead of their own e-paper technology… for obvious reasons ?
9. What question do customers ask you most and what is your response?
“Does the Papercast display work in direct sunlight?”
Most users of outdoor display systems are using older and much more power-hungry technologies to display their information, such as LCD or LED. The brighter the ambient light, more energy is needed to make the information clear enough to read. Conversely, the Papercast displays are easier to read the brighter the ambient light levels, which is the direct opposite.
10. What five words of advice would you give to our customers/prospects right now?
- Trial… Our Papercast system
- Ask… What do you need to know?
- Look… Investigate hundreds of live Papercast displays around the world
- Cost… Compare our system to alternative technologies that need a power cable installing
- Maintenance… Our displays produce zero heat so do not require any service items
Thank you, James.
Please look out for future articles in this ongoing series as we introduce you to more of the Papercast team!
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