Visible Data For The Win: How Displaying Power BI on TVs Is A Gamechanger for Businesses

In many cases, simplicity is a critical ingredient for success and this definitely applies to the roll-out of Power BI across a multi-site, multi-department organisation.

Businesses of all shapes and sizes have been trying to push Power BI ‘out to the floor,’ for the purpose of showing the right people, the right information at the right time for years now.

This is based on the concept that you should be showing the numbers where the work happens, whether it be on a warehouse floor, a manufacturing line, offices, staff break rooms or at company headquarters.

What actually happens is that businesses make accessing data far more difficult than it has any right to be.

Think about all the ways that information is currently distributed…a report link in a browser, a laptop permanently hooked up to the boardroom TV, remote desktop sessions that logout. Tab rotation tools that freeze, Wi-Fi dropping in and out, cache issues and auto-refresh breaks - all of these minor things at the time create real business performance issues.

If people can’t access information in a consistent, clear and coherent manner, they get frustrated and don’t engage - they will stop using the dashboard as a ‘single-point-of-truth’ and find workarounds, if issues accessing it become the norm, not the exception.

One of the first questions we ask at Vision BI is who are the team members who need access to critical information the most? The next question is, what is stopping these employees accessing the information. Often, the problem isn’t Power BI, it’s the way the information is being delivered and displayed.

This starts a conversation around roadblocks, how the information is currently being distributed across the business. What we have quickly discovered is that the relatively ‘simple’ solution of using TV displays as the distribution point of information is a fantastic turnkey approach to resolving this issue.

At Vision BI, we’ve now implemented these screens across manufacturing, logistics, education, hospitality, healthcare, retail and professional services. From this experience we’ve gained a number of learnings based on the simple premise; the problem isn’t Power BI it’s the delivery mechanism

A Real Australian Example: Multi-State Live Operations on Wall-Mounted TVs

One of our clients; a national distributor with warehouses in every Australian state, came to Vision BI with a specific requirement. It needed live tonnage shipped, order throughput and productivity KPIs visible on every single warehouse floor across the country.

Their data lived in a mix of their Warehouse Management System and NetSuite.

Their requirements were simple:

Live metrics, always on
Zero user interaction: no logins, no browser tabs
No downtime: staff must have trust in the screen
Consistent across multiple states
Core KPIs on a dedicated screen in Head Office

We built the pipelines, data model, and Power BI visual layer, but the key outcome came from how we broadcast the reports.

Today, every warehouse manager can glance up at a screen and instantly know if they’re ahead or behind target.

And most importantly, it never drops out. It never needs to be restarted providing their employees across the country with a high-level of trust in the platform.

Why the Usual Methods Fail

Most organisations try at least one of these before giving up:

1. Browser Tab on a Media PC / NUC / Laptop

Needs constant logins
Auto-refresh inconsistencies
Windows updates reboot randomly
Cached credentials expire
Someone closes the tab to check their email

2. Remote Desktop or Virtual Machine Streaming

Session timeouts
Lag
RDP disconnects
Major performance issues for high-density visuals

3. Browser Extensions to Auto-Rotate Tabs

Break often
Don’t handle session expiry
Don’t auto-recover well after network drops

4. Casting from a User’s Laptop

The worst option
Nothing is automated
If that person isn’t in the office, the TV goes blank

These setups can technically work, but they’re fragile. The simple fact is that fragile systems never survive real workplace conditions

How Vision BI Does It (Using the Same Technology as Global Brands)

We implement enterprise grade digital signage delivery, leveraging the same underlying platform used by:

Siemens
Coca-Cola
Marriott
UCLA
Global retailers & manufacturers

These devices are purpose built digital signage displays. They are small, secure, ultra-reliable units designed to run 24/7.

They authenticate automatically, keep Power BI sessions alive, recover instantly from network drops, and can be fully managed remotely by Vision BI. Compared to old "PC behind the TV" setups, these players are faster, more stable and built for real operational environments.

What this solution gives you:

Seamless Power BI broadcast
Automatic secure authentication
Resilient media players designed for 24/7 operation
Remote management across all sites
Auto-recover from drops
Scheduled content changes
Offline fallback mode
Multi-screen consistency across states or sites

And yes, you can display much more than Power BI….(which can be handy for when events like The Ashes are on…)

More Than a Dashboard: BI Is Actually a Communications Channel

Once this infrastructure is in place, your TVs become strategic communication assets, not just “dashboards on walls”.

You can broadcast:

Safety alerts
Staff achievements
Production updates
Internal company announcements
Roster information
Training reminders
Marketing content for internal events
Real-time social feeds
HR notices
Live Power BI reports (seamlessly, without breakage)

Many of our clients end up rotating between Power BI and other content throughout the day.

This transforms TVs from” screens into live operational infrastructure that is integral for day-to-day operations.

The Business Benefits Are Significant

Live Tracking for Everyone: No Logins, No Training
Even the most computer-averse staff can understand a KPI when it's on a screen. This gets information into the hands of people who never open Power BI.
Increased Accountability and Fewer Mistakes
Once teams see that metrics are monitored in real time, behaviours change. People are more careful, more accurate, and more aligned.
Healthy Competition Between Sites, Warehouses or Teams
Handled well, open performance visibility can drive higher output. Top performers push harder when they can see they’re leading.
Faster Decision-Making
A screen showing live backlogs, failures, throughput, or WIP in red forces immediate action. No waiting for someone to “run the report”.
Significant License Cost Relief
Wall displays count as public viewers, not named users. This lets businesses show Power BI to hundreds of staff without buying hundreds of licenses.
Culture Shift Toward Transparency
When the business lives by the numbers, so do the teams.
7. Reduced Meetings and Reporting Admin
“If it matters, it’s on the screen” becomes the mantra. Less email, less exporting, less explaining and importantly, much more doing.

Where Vision BI Has Implemented These Solutions

We’ve deployed TV-based Power BI displays across:

Manufacturing plants
Logistics and transport operations
Multi-state distribution networks
Education providers
Hospitality groups
Healthcare organisations
Retail chains
Professional services offices
Construction & engineering
Community organisations

Every implementation is customised with no templates orgeneric dashboards. We build around the real KPIs that matter to your business.

Why This Matters for the Future of Business Intelligence

The companies winning right now are the ones who:

Make data visible
Reduce friction
Empower staff
Get the right numbers in front of the right people instantly
Treat BI as an operational engine, not just a reporting tool

Power BI dashboards on TVs sound simple, but when they are done correctly; they are a high-ROI operational transformation tool.

Want This for Your Business?

Vision BI specialises in end-to-end Power BI and analytics delivery, including:

Data extraction & pipelines
Azure warehousing
Data modelling
KPI design
Dashboard development
Enterprise-grade digital signage implementation
National multi-site rollouts
Ongoing vCFO analytics support

Importantly we are able to integrate this across a number of platforms that your business may use.

Put simply, if you want to display your Power BI reports reliably on TVs across warehouses, offices or branches - without fragile workarounds - we can help.

If you’re exploring how to deliver Power BI internally or want to build a scalable Power BI as a Service model, we can help you design and implement the right solution architecture.

👉 Click here to book a consultation or demo to see how Vision BI can help you securely deliver Power BI to your clients and partners.

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