This week’s entrepreneur of the week is Niall Sallam, founder of Elevision, an elevator content broadcasting company in Dubai.

Sallam discusses his initial idea for Elevision, after seeing elevator screen technology in Canada and the US and wondering why it hadn’t made its way to Dubai. Capitalizing on the absence of any such technology in the UAE, Sallam founded Elevision and has seen steady growth since their launch in mid-2011.

The company offers digital screens customizable for businesses and building managers to target the building’s tenants. With a screen split between advertisements, news, and announcements, the content takes advantage of what Sallam describes as “dwell time,” a very unique space existent really only in elevators, where the audience must wait in a lift with nothing to do but view their content. This, combined with the repetitive nature of elevator use, makes in-elevator messaging particularly effective. Their technology even allows advertisers and building managers to change content on a daily or hourly basis depending on their needs and strategy.

In this interview, Sallam explains how he founded the company and how Elevision monetizes through ad revenues, offering free installation for buildings. He also discusses their next plans for expansion to the rest of the UAE and the Gulf.