Patent ID: 7228341

Claim:
A method of scheduling a distribution of content to a plurality of remote output devices utilizing a network, comprising the steps of: (a) accessing a present content in a database; (b) generating schedule data by inputting preferences to a scheduling algorithm, the scheduling algorithm being based on predetermined methods of processing input preferences relating to parameters comprising frequency of play, interval, time of play, trigger events, and category filtering, said frequency of play being assigned as a relative weight to be used by an output device to determine how often the present content is to be displayed relative to the play of other content in order to vary the play of the present content after the present content is deployed to each of the output devices individually; (c) distributing the present content and the schedule data to the plurality of output devices that can dynamically display the present content; and (d) causing the output devices to communicate the present content to an audience based on the frequency of play weight associated with the present content as it relates to the frequency of play weight assigned to the other content; wherein a remote communication device that is coupled to the network can receive and respond to the schedule data to communicate the present content to one of the output devices, said remote communicative device including a mirror of said scheduling algorithm so that said remote communicative device can continue to function in an event of a loss of the network communication.