How do I use BrightSign Network subscriptions or passes?

See below for answers to common questions about BrightSign Network Subscriptions/Pass.

What are BrightSign Network Subscriptions/Passes for?

Each BrightSign player configured to use BrightSign Network must have an active Internet connection and a paid Subscription or Pass in order to be managed and receive content updates from the BrightSign Network service. A Subscription or Pass represents a single player’s ability to connect with the BrightSign Network for a fixed amount of time (typically, one year).

You do not need to pay extra to use the BrightSign Network WebUI or BrightPlates, and you can add as many users as you wish to your BrightSign Network—you just need to have at least one active Subscription or Pass.

How many Subscriptions/Passes do I need?

Each player connected to the BrightSign Network account needs to have an active Subscription or Pass.

If a player configured to use BrightSign Network does not have an active Subscription or Pass, it will not report a status (gray question mark), receive content updates, or be able to be controlled from the BrightSign Network.

In the Advanced tab of the player's status on the BrightSign Network Web UI, it will report a 403 error and the player will not be report a status or receive content/schedule updates.

How do I activate a Pass key?

Important: You must activate a purchased Pass key within 60 days of the date of purchase. After this time period, purchased Pass keys that have not been activated may be deleted as part of regular BrightSign Network maintenance.

Once you purchase a Pass, a key code will be emailed to you. If you receive the code on a sales order or invoice, it may be in the Tracking Number field.

The key code is in the format
ABCDEFGHIJ-KLMNOPQRS-TUVWXYZ01-23456789AB
meaning 10 letters/numbers, dash, 9 letters/numbers, dash, another 9 letters/numbers, dash, and another 10 letters/numbers.  All letters are UPPERCASE and there are no spaces in the code.

This key code is used to activate the Pass on your network:

• If you are adding Passes to an existing network, visit http://www.brightsignnetwork.com and log in to your network. Once logged in, click the Settings button in the top right corner of the page. Enter the code in the Add Subscriptions text field to activate the Pass.
  If you have trouble entering the code, make sure there are no spaces, the dashes are present, and you haven't mixed 0 (zero) with the letter O.
• If you are creating a new network, follow the link for new users contained in the Email. Enter your desired user credentials on the Registration page.

By default, Automatic Subscriptions Management is enabled in a BrightSign Network account, so an activated yearly Pass will be automatically added to a player once its current Pass expires.  If Automatic Subscriptions Management is enabled, you do not need to manually assign Passes to players and generally should avoid doing so - just make sure there are Passes in the Available queue.

However, if you have disabled Automatic Subscriptions Management and would like to manually add Passes to players, you can follow these steps:

Note: You need to be an Administrator (or be part of the General Manager or Network Manager roles) to activate Passes. If you created the BrightSign Network, you are the Administrator by default.

1. Navigate to the Current Usage tab in the WebUI.
2. Click the arrow to the left of the player’s Health Status.
3. Select an available subscription to activate on the player. You can find a specific Pass to use by entering the I.N. (invoice number) and clicking Search.
4. Once you’ve selected the desired Pass, click Add.

You can add multiple Passes to a single player. When the player needs a Pass, the first assigned Pass will be activated, and the other subscriptions will be marked as “queued”. A queued Pass will not be activated until the current subscription expires.
If you need to reassign queued Passes, see this article:
--> How do I reassign a subscription to another player?

 What does the subscription status mean?

There are two ways to discuss the status of a BrightSign Network subscription: in terms of their system usage and in terms of their device usage:

System

This status details how a Pass is being used/assigned within the BrightSign Network system. You can see this status in the Subscriptions Information section and the Add Subscription window in the Current Usage tab.

• Available: The Subscription or Pass is available to be assigned to a player. The Subscription or Pass does not have an expiration date yet unless it was previously assigned to a different player.
• Activated: The subscription has been assigned to a player and activated. The subscription has a defined expiration date.
• Queued: The subscription has been assigned to a player, but has not been activated yet.

Device

This status describes a subscription that has already been activated on a player. You can see this status reflected in the Status column in the Current Usage tab.

• Active: The activated subscription is currently in use on the player.
• Suspended: The player has no active subscription, or the activated subscription has been suspended by the Administrator or the System Administrator. With a suspended subscription, the player cannot connect to the BSN servers or conduct any operations that require a BSN subscription. However, the subscription is still tied to the player.

What happens when I disable Enable Automatic Subscriptions Management?

The Enable Automatic Subscriptions Management option (located in the Subscriptions Information section of the Current Usage tab) is enabled by default. This option affects how Subscriptions or Passes are activated on players:

• Enabled: Inactive Subscriptions or Passes are automatically assigned to a player if it requires a Subscription or Pass to stay connected to BrightSign Network. You can still choose to queue Subscriptions or Passes for a player, if desired.
• Disabled: Inactive Subscriptions or Passes must be manually assigned to players. This means that, if a Subscription or Pass has expired, and the player currently has no queued Subscriptions or Pass, it cannot use BSN services until you manually activate a Subscription or Pass on the player.

How are Subscriptions and Passes different?

• Grace Subscription: If you already have a BSN network, you can connect a new player to the network for 30 days for free, regardless of the subscription status of other players on your network. This gives you time to configure, install, and test new players on your network before going through the process of buying Subscriptions or Passes for them.
• Subscriptions: Are added automatically to your network as part of the fulfillment process. They auto-renew on a regular basis.
• Passes: Are typically added to your network using a key. They expire after a specified amount of time.