Subscriptions / Passes
This page / section pertains to BrightSign Network (often abbreviated BSN), our legacy cloud platform. Our latest cloud platform is BSN.Cloud. Development of BSN has largely ceased and the platform will eventually be deprecated and replaced with BSN.Cloud.
Each player configured to use BrightSign Network (BSN) must have an active internet connection and a paid subscription/pass. BSN configured players without active subscriptions / passes will not report a status, receive content updates, or be controlled from BSN. The Advanced tab of the player BSN Web UI status will also report a 403 error.
You do not need to pay extra to use the BSN WebUI or BrightPlates, and you can add unlimited users to your BSN if you have at least one active subscription/pass.
Activate a Pass Key
A key code, which must be activated within 60 days of purchase, will be emailed to you when you buy a pass. If you receive the code on a sales order or invoice, it may be in the Tracking Number field. The key code contains 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 (for example, ABCDEFGHIJ-KLMNOPQRS-TUVWXYZ01-23456789AB).
- If you are adding passes to an existing network:
- Select 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 emailed link for new users. Enter your user credentials on the Registration page.
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 Reassign BSN Subscription.
Subscription Status
BSN subscriptions can be defined in terms of system or player usage:
System Status describes how a pass is being used/assigned within the BSN system. You can see this status in Subscriptions Information and in Current Usage > Add Subscription.
- Available: The subscription/pass is available to be assigned to a player. It 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.
Player Status is the status of a subscription that has 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 BSN servers or conduct operations that require a BSN subscription but the subscription is still tied to the player.
Enable Automatic Subscriptions Management
The Enable Automatic Subscriptions Management option (in Current Usage > Subscriptions Information) affects how subscriptions are activated on players:
- Enabled: By default, Automatic Subscriptions Management is enabled in a BSN account, so an activated yearly subscription will be automatically added to a player once its current subscription/pass expires. Inactive subscriptions/passes are automatically assigned to a player if it requires a subscription/pass to stay connected to BSN. You can still choose to queue subscriptions/passes for a player, if desired. If Automatic Subscriptions Management is enabled, you do not need to manually assign passes to players and should avoid doing so - just make sure there are passes in the Available queue.
- Disabled: Inactive subscriptions/passes must be manually assigned to players. This means that, if a subscription/pass has expired, and the player currently has no queued subscriptions/passes, it cannot use BSN services until you manually activate a subscription/pass on the player. If you have disabled Automatic Subscriptions Management and would like to manually add passes to players, follow these steps:
- Go to the Current Usage tab in the WebUI.
- Select the arrow to the left of the player’s Health Status.
- 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 selecting Search.
- Once you’ve selected the desired pass, click Add.
You must be an Administrator (or be part of the General Manager or Network Manager roles) to activate subscriptions. If you created the network, you are the Administrator by default.
Subscriptions vs Passes
- Passes: Are typically added to your network using a key and expire after a specified amount of time.
- Subscriptions: Are added automatically to your network as part of the fulfillment process. They auto-renew on a regular basis.
- 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/passes for them.