Core Media/Software API
Frankie & Benny’s operate in excess of 200 restaurants across the UK, each of which have media playback systems installed on-premises. These systems contain a media library, alongside playlist and scheduling data, plus the core media playback software.
Replacing Sneakernet Updates
The existing method for upgrading the core software and media library relied on updates by post. There were numerous problems with this system; the manual process of producing the disks and performing the updates were particular issues.
Our solution was to design a secure API which facilitates automatic remote updating of media libraries and the system’s core playback software.
To achieve this goal, we leveraged Django’s rich feature set, and persisted all data using a PostgreSQL database. AWS S3 was used for software and media library storage/retrieval.
Results
Our solution alleviates the following pain points:
- Labour intensive procedure of duplicating, packaging, and posting updates
- Update procedure required manual intervention from staff on site
- Packages had the risk of being lost en-route, or discarded on site
- Resolving issues with updates was time consuming and had high communication overhead
- Installed version of the software and media library could not be queried off-site
In conclusion: the new system provides an automated, efficient, secure method for updating, maintaining and introspecting devices at remote sites. This saves time, introduces new capabilities, and provides a stable platform for future enhancements and features.
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Are manual processes eating away at your staff’s time? Ask us to automate them!