Use Cases
Real-world applications and use cases for building on TelemetryOS
Application Use Cases for Building on TelemetryOS
TelemetryOS applications transform screens into intelligent endpoints that connect physical spaces to digital systems. Whether it's a restaurant menu board, a factory floor display, or a hospital wayfinding kiosk, TelemetryOS enables developers to build custom screen applications that integrate deeply with existing infrastructure while maintaining centralized management across entire device fleets.
The Power of Programmable Screens
Traditional digital signage treats screens as passive displays for static content. TelemetryOS applications go further—they're fully interactive web applications with access to hardware sensors, real-time data feeds, and bidirectional API integrations. Built with familiar web technologies (React, TypeScript, HTML/CSS), these applications run reliably on devices across thousands of locations while maintaining the flexibility of custom software development.
The platform's Git-to-Screen deployment model means updates propagate across entire fleets in minutes, not weeks. Change a menu price, update a wayfinding map, or roll out new features instantly. Version control, rollback capabilities, and branch-based deployment enable development teams to iterate quickly while maintaining production stability.
Industry Applications
Retail and Quick Service Restaurants
The retail environment demands real-time responsiveness. Dynamic menu boards automatically adjust based on time of day, weather conditions, and inventory availability. A breakfast menu transitions to lunch precisely at 10:30 AM across 500 locations. When a supplier shortage removes an item from inventory systems, it disappears from all menu boards automatically. Prices update centrally, eliminating the manual coordination that plagues traditional signage systems.
Self-service ordering kiosks provide branded ordering flows with full payment integration and upsell logic. These applications connect directly to point-of-sale systems, syncing orders in real time while collecting customer data for loyalty programs. Touch-driven interfaces guide customers through complex ordering processes, increasing ticket sizes while reducing counter staff workload.
Inventory and planogram intelligence applications use camera and RFID integrations to monitor shelf conditions. When stock levels drop below thresholds, the system triggers alerts and can automatically swap promotional content. Visual shelf audits happen continuously without manual scanning, catching out-of-stock situations before customers notice.
Industrial and Manufacturing
Factory floors need real-time visibility into operations. Machine monitoring and IoT integration applications connect to PLCs, SCADA systems, and MQTT brokers to display equipment status, production metrics, and threshold alerts. When a machine parameter exceeds safe limits, visual alarms appear instantly across relevant displays. Local edge processing ensures these systems remain operational even during network interruptions.
Quality control terminals provide touchscreen-driven QA workflows where operators scan barcodes, log observations, and record measurements. Data flows bidirectionally—inspection results feed into manufacturing execution systems while work instructions and specifications display on-screen. Audit trails capture every interaction with timestamps and operator identification.
Order fulfillment displays in warehouses show real-time pick and pack queues with priorities updated dynamically. Integration with warehouse management systems ensures workers always see current task lists, reducing the coordination overhead that slows operations. Build status dashboards keep teams aligned on production schedules and highlight bottlenecks as they emerge.
Healthcare
Patient experience begins with navigation. Interactive wayfinding kiosks provide searchable directories and campus maps with turn-by-turn directions. Touch-driven navigation lets patients find departments, physicians, or services quickly. QR codes enable "send to phone" functionality, guiding patients even after they leave the kiosk.
Patient check-in systems streamline registration with HIPAA-compliant workflows. Integration with electronic health record systems pre-populates forms, reducing data entry while maintaining security. Wait-time displays keep patients informed, automatically updating as appointment schedules shift.
Patient room information boards display personalized content including care team names, medication schedules, and discharge instructions. These displays integrate securely with clinical systems while presenting information in patient-friendly formats. Updates propagate automatically as care plans evolve throughout the patient stay.
Corporate and Enterprise
Modern offices need flexible communication systems. Employee information kiosks consolidate room schedules, shuttle information, amenity availability, and HR self-service into unified touchscreen experiences. These applications connect to calendar systems, transportation tracking, and HR platforms, presenting real-time information across campus locations.
Real-time dashboards and wallboards visualize KPIs, sales leaderboards, and operational metrics. Development teams display build and deployment status. Security operations centers monitor network health and incident queues. Sales floors track individual and team performance against quotas. Each dashboard pulls from relevant data sources with refresh rates matching the urgency of the information displayed.
Emergency notification systems override normal content instantly across entire fleets. When evacuation procedures activate, all screens switch to emergency instructions coordinated with alarm systems. Drill coordination and testing happen with the same infrastructure, ensuring systems work when needed. Central management means compliance teams can verify notification capabilities across every location.
Specialized Applications
Drive-thru and outdoor signage faces unique challenges. Vehicle detection triggers content changes as cars approach. Weather-aware logic adjusts promotions based on temperature and conditions. Offline resilience ensures displays continue functioning during network interruptions, critical for locations with inconsistent connectivity.
Training and compliance terminals deliver interactive learning modules with built-in assessment. Employees complete required courses directly on-screen with quiz functionality validating comprehension. Time-stamped completion records flow automatically to learning management systems, simplifying compliance reporting.
Edge machine learning applications run inference locally for privacy-sensitive use cases. People counting, demographic estimation, and anomaly detection happen on-device without sending video streams to cloud services. Results inform content targeting and space utilization analytics while maintaining visitor privacy.
Technical Capabilities
Every use case above leverages core TelemetryOS capabilities: hardware sensor access (cameras, GPIO, serial connections), multi-scope storage for configuration and state management, API integration for external system connectivity, and real-time subscriptions for live updates. Applications handle offline scenarios gracefully with intelligent caching and local storage, ensuring reliability even in challenging network environments.
The platform's container support enables applications to run backend services directly on devices. A kiosk application might deploy a local database container for offline-first operation, syncing with central systems when connectivity returns. Manufacturing displays run inference containers for machine learning without cloud dependencies.
Development and Deployment
Each application is built as a standard web application using familiar tools (Vite, Webpack, npm), developed locally with hot reload, then deployed via Git push. The platform handles building, packaging, and distribution automatically. Testing happens locally before deployment; staging environments validate changes before production rollout; version control enables instant rollback if issues arise.
Applications are reusable across locations with instance-specific configuration. The same wayfinding application deploys to 50 locations, each with its own building layout and directory data. Instance storage holds location-specific settings while application logic remains shared. Updates to navigation algorithms propagate everywhere while preserving unique configurations.
Conclusion
TelemetryOS transforms screens from passive displays into active participants in operational workflows. Whether improving customer experience, increasing operational efficiency, or enabling new capabilities, custom applications built on TelemetryOS deliver value that generic signage systems cannot match. The combination of web-standard development, fleet-wide deployment, and deep platform integration creates opportunities to solve real business problems with software that scales across entire organizations.
Updated 21 days ago