Power BI User Guide

By default, only the creator of a Power BI app can share its reports and dashboards.

If NoviSign is the owner of the Power BI app deployed in its environment, then that owner account can use the Power BI app directly from within NoviSign’s Studio CMS.

NoviSign also aims to allow external users (e.g., partners, resellers, or NoviSign customers) to use their own Power BI accounts and display their dashboards via NoviSign’s Dashboard widget in an embedded manner.

According to Microsoft’s official documentation,  using Power BI with embedded analytics (like NoviSign’s dashboard widget) requires:

• Power BI embedded analytics requires a capacity (A, EM, P, or F SKU) in order to publish embedded Power BI content.
• PowerBI Pro license (not Trial, but actual Pro).
• Capacity is a dedicated set of resources reserved for exclusive use. It offers dependable, consistent performance for your content.

📌 Note:

• You need a Power BI Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) account to publish content.
• You can publish content without a Pro or PPU license by using a service principal executing the REST API, Post Import In Group.

Here are the main types of Power BI capacities used for embedding:

1. Power BI Embedded

Power BI Embedded is for ISVs and developers who want to embed visuals into their applications.
Applications using Power BI Embedded allow users to consume content stored on Power BI Embedded capacity.

Power BI Embedded is shipped with an A SKU.

2. Power BI Premium

Power BI Premium is geared toward enterprises who want a complete BI solution that provides a single view of its organization, partners, customers, and suppliers.

Power BI Premium is a SaaS product that allows users to consume content through mobile apps, internally developed apps, or at the Power BI portal (Power BI service). This service enables Power BI Premium to provide a solution for both internal and external customer facing applications.

Power BI premium offers two SKUs, P and EM.

• Understand the differences between the P and EM SKUs
• Buy a Premium SKU

3. Microsoft Fabric (New Option)

•  New platform offering Power BI and additional analytical capabilities
• Also supports embedding content but follows different licensing requirements

📌 Capacity Considerations:

For development testing, use Microsoft’s free embed trial tokens with a Pro license. In production, you’ll need a real capacity (like A or P SKUs).

To use Power BI with NoviSign, you need a Pro or PPU license.

To identify your account type:

• Log in to the Power BI service

• Click your profile picture (top right)

• If it says Pro or PPU, you’re eligible to share content

• If it says Free, you can only create content in “My Workspace” and consume content hosted in Premium workspaces

• Click View account to learn more about your license

Power BI Pro is a per-user license allowing you to:

• Create dashboards

• Share content

• Collaborate with other Pro users

• Consume content hosted in Premium workspaces

To start using Power BI with NoviSign:

1. Sign up for a free Microsoft 365 Business trial at:
   https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-business-standard-one-month-trial

2. Follow the setup steps

3. Once completed, register for Power BI and activate your Pro license

• Log in to your NoviSign Studio CMS account

• Click “Create from Template” to start a new creative

• Drag the Webpage widget from the widget panel into your canvas

• Resize and position the widget

• In the left property panel, paste the Power BI dashboard/report URL into the “URL” field ((you should get/generate that URL within the PowerBI application).

• Save the creative, add it to a playlist, and assign it to a screen and then run that screen/key on a real physical player (since you cannot watch the content of the webpage widget within the Studio).

Important: The Webpage widget content is only visible on a physical device, not in the Studio preview

This option is currently available only for NoviSign end users.
If you’re a partner and would like us to integrate your Power BI account, please contact your NoviSign account manager or email info@novisign.com

Steps:

1. Drag the Dashboard widget from the widget gallery to your creative canvas

2. In the popup, select Power BI

3. Click Login and sign in with your Microsoft credentials

4. Choose between Dashboard or Report

5. Select your Workspace, pick the desired dashboard/report

6. Click Add Dashboard

7. Adjust Reload Interval (default is every 15 minutes)

8. Configure other parameters on the right panel as needed

9. Click Save

✅ Your creative is now connected and ready to display your Power BI dashboard.

Report data changes will be reflected at the next report reload interval, which is by default every 15 minutes.

The Microsoft account you paired does not have access to display the Dashboard or Report that you pasted in the URL field. Contact your Power BI administrator to gain access.

Power BI uses Azure Active Directory to authenticate users who sign in to the Power BI service. Sign in credentials are required whenever a user attempts to access secure resources. Users sign in to the Power BI service using the email address with which they established their Power BI account.

To make Dashboard or Reports sharing on your info screen, use the file picker to share reports from any Power BI workspace you have access to.

Be Aware! Using PowerBI widgets on NoviSign studio requires creating dashboards and reports on workspaces you own or have access to.