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There has been an economic boom in bill payment self-service technology in certain countries around the world, according to a recent report.
GWD Media, a supplier of Genkiosk kiosk software, has stated that there is a new drive in regions such as Indonesia, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, for bill payment units.
According to the report, there is an increasing need by citizens in Southeast Asia, Oceania and the Pacific for Kiosks that provides services like bill payment, Internet access and money transfer.
This concurs with consumer trends from around the globe, including the UK, where there is a thriving must for flexible and easy-to-use facilities without the need for credit cards and bank accounts.
Statistical analysis worldwide and local market research suggests that in the Middle East, bill payment kiosks have seen a huge success, especially for potions of the population that is under banked because they can pay cash straight into a kiosk without standing in line.
So why are bill payment kiosks so beneficial?
A bill payment kiosk can help consumers in many countries and the touch screen technology is used across a wide array of industry sectors. Whether it is to aid the retail industry and replace over the counter transactions to free up staff’s time, or help the transport sector in taxis and airports, payment systems are very useful.
The featured kiosks are becoming so popular that units have even been deployed in some American prisons to enable the jailed inmates to process their own bail charges. What is more, they can help outdoor and indoor car parks to improve customer experience.
So if the latest report is anything to go by, 2012 will see a rising trend of bill payment kiosks and your business can get involved with the help of Protouch UK!
Pic Credit: McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas
The issue of blind people accessing kiosks in airports is very much a heated and unresolved one.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has tried to sue multiple airports including the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, alleging that the ticket kiosks are not accessible to the visually impaired.
They claimed that the airports violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing equal services to blind passengers.
But the McCarran operators have now said that if anything their blind passengers get preferential treatment.
The operators say the NFB and several blind passengers are “trying play on court sympathy by claiming ticketing kiosks deny them convenience and privacy when they are actually given preferential treatment.”
A deployed kiosk in an airport enables passengers to; check-in, check flight information, print tickets and boarding passes, select seats and upgrade tickets and pay for transaction.
According to the complaint, the kiosks include a visual touch screen that lacks any auxiliary aids such as voice guidance programs. The plaintiffs say they have to wait extended periods of time for assistance from airline employees and must give strangers sensitive private information.
Now the airport’s counter argument is that the kiosks provide sighted air travellers numerous, unique benefits, including convenience, privacy and independence.
They maintain that the “plaintiffs do not dispute that they are provided with curb-to-gate assistance, including … preferential assistance from airline employees in the course of the check-in and ticketing process.”
Install a Touch screen kiosk in your business today to ensure everyone has equal access, with Protouch.
Pic Credit: George Nikitin/AP Photo
There are many things that can go wrong with computers these days as it is normal and everyday life.
As with a washing machine, tumble dryer or laptop continued use can cause technical faults which are not anyone’s fault but just happen.
This is the same for touch screen kiosks after a computer glitch left planes nationwide grounded and passengers experiencing delays for the whole weekend in a chaos-filled nightmare.
United Airlines suffered a computer break on 18th June 2011 which resulted in flights being delayed for hours or cancelled altogether, stranding thousands of travellers.
The airline officials said the computer issue began at about 7:10pm causing many holidaymakers to sleep overnight at the airport’s various terminals across America over Father’s Day weekend.
The flight mess was blamed on a network connectivity issue for knocking out its computers for at least five hours.
Alexandria Marren, Senior Vice President of system operations control for United Airlines, said in a statement: “While we will be experiencing some residual effect on our flight operations throughout the weekend, United is committed to restoring normal operations as soon as possible.”
The carrier apologised for the disruption and rebooked passengers.
Major airports affected included Chicago, San Francisco and Denver where long queues of passengers were pictured. Just in Los Angeles International Airport alone the kiosk fault disrupted flights for some 3,000 travellers.
Hundreds of touch screen units were closed and so boarding passed couldn’t be issued and bags couldn’t be checked.
Protouch helped Birmingham Airport fast track its passengers without any technical glitches with our express lane kiosks. Its new kiosk features a 19” touch screen, chip and pin, coin and note acceptor, change dispenser and receipt printer with a branded laminate; and give passengers the choice whether to be processed as per normal or to buy a priority pass from the kiosk.
Trust Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor of touch screen technology to deploy kiosks that are fully efficient; and if something should go wrong our dedicated in-house IT Support department and network of field engineers offer support services for our entire range of kiosks and touch screen solutions. This includes a first class helpdesk, return to base repairs and flexible on-site support agreements.
Click here to find out more about installing a kiosk in your airport.
Many airlines globally are deploying touch screen technology to check-in its passengers more efficiently.
A traveller can check themself in, including their baggage, and print out their tickets all without the need of airport staff. Instead, it can all be done via a ticketing kiosk.
And this is exactly what celebrity Lily Allen should have known, before she forked out money to print off important documentation.
The “Smile” singer, who recently announced that she is expecting a baby on her wedding day to partner Sam Cooper, tweeted her upset and wrath online after an altercation with Ryanair.
The 26 year-old was left disgruntled when she was forced to hand over £40 to print off a boarding pass ahead of her flight to Dublin, in Ireland last week.
She furiously sent a message on the social networking site Twitter, saying: “Ryan Air have just charged me 40 quid to print out my boarding pass. Unbelievable.”
“Oh, and now they’ve taken it off of me. 40 pounds for a piece of paper that was mine for approx. 7 mins, wow….”
Many self-service units are deployed at airports so the passenger can print off their documentation beforehand. In some kiosks there are additional fees and extra charges but not to the extent of £40. The technology has been proven to improve customer satisfaction and better queuing times.
Frontier Airlines claims that almost 70% of its passenger check-ins nowadays take place at a kiosk or online. The functions like the printer enable holidaymakers to print off the receipt which is hugely beneficial for those who do not have a printer at home. The touch screen interface also helps customers allocate their own seat selections. Furthermore, the kiosks reduce labour costs and streamline the process for passengers.
In the General Conditions section of the airline website, it states that there is a £40 or 40 euro ‘Airport Boarding Card Re-issue Fee’.
The English recording artist- turned-designer was travelling to Ireland to launch her Lucy In Disguise collection with her sister Sarah Owen.
Save billions of pounds a year and let Protouch help your passengers print tickets off and check-in quicker. Simply click here to find out more…
We wrote a blog post previously regarding airlines deploying kiosks in airports to improve customer satisfaction and better waiting queues. And now further companies nationwide are jumping on board the new trend and rolling out units to check travellers in.
Frontier Airlines has unveiled more high-tech kiosks across an additional 14 airports in America. Installed in Omaha, Orlando, New York, Grand Rapids, Philadelphia, Dayton, Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Austin, Newark, Nashville and Seattle, the machines include all functionalities for passengers who haven’t already checked-in online at home, to use the kiosks at the airport.
The airline said that almost 70% of its passenger check-ins nowadays take place at a kiosk or online; so it makes sense to reap the advantages of the technology as is other airports.
Functions such as a touch screen interface and printer enables the holidaymaker to print off the receipt which is hugely beneficial for consumers who do not have a printer at home; as well as allowing the customer to allocate seat selections.
Frontier says the kiosks reduce labour costs and streamline the process and waiting times for passengers.
This is why Birmingham Airport, in England introduced an express lane too using our kiosks.
The units will improve the processing of its nine million travellers per year and give passengers a choice whether to be processed as per normal or to buy a priority pass from the machine.
The supplied kiosks will enable the nine million travellers that pass through the airport every year, to take advantage of a premium express lane and priority processing.
Similarly, the Kiosks had a touch screen and printer, as well as a chip and pin, coin and note acceptor, and change dispenser.
Let Protouch help your passengers print tickets off and check-in quicker; as well as check-in bags with tag-printing capabilities. It will save the industry billions of pounds a year and cut staff figure costs by a considerable amount.
In November last year we reported that The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) had sued United Airlines on the claim that their airport kiosks, which use touch screen technology, cannot be used by blind passengers.
Around the same, we also recounted how Italian banks had installed ATMs that are accessible for the blind and visually impaired in Rome.
However, it seems that the issue of blind people accessing Kiosks in airports is still unresolved as the NFB is suing again. This time they have filed a lawsuit against McCarran International Airport, alleging that the Las Vegas transportation hub has refused to make its ticket kiosks accessible to the visually impaired.
The claim is on behalf of four blind travellers who accuse the airport owner Clark County, of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and s federal rehabilitation act, by not providing equal services to visually impaired passengers.
Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the federation, said: “It limits the ability of blind people to get done what they need to get done at the airport.
“Everyone else can just run up to one of these kiosks and get their stuff taken care of and blind people are still confined to consulting with airline or airport employees.”
Presently worldwide, Touch screen kiosk is used in airports as a quick and easy time-saving option for travellers to check-in to flights, print tickets and boarding passes, and select seats.
In the lawsuit, the NFB say they asked the airport officials in September 2010 to modify the kiosks so blind people could benefit from the services. The group say they never received a response.
The McCarran airport officials declined to comment on the allegations.
Touch screen technology in the business industry is ever-growing and the supply and need for them is expanding, for all passengers. Protouch are Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor of touch screen equipment.
Birmingham Airport is introducing an express lane for its passengers using our kiosks!
The supplied kiosks will enable the nine million travellers that pass through the airport every year, to take advantage of a premium express lane and priority processing.
The airport has chosen our Xen X6 kiosks for its new venture featuring a 19” touch screen, chip and pin, coin and note acceptor, change dispenser and receipt printer with a branded laminate.
The units will give passengers the choice whether to be processed as per normal or to buy a priority pass from the kiosk.
If you too want to reap the benefits of installing a Touch screen kiosk in your business, contact Protouch today on 0845 004 7953 or email info@protouch.co.uk.
The airport industry is ever-growing and as technologies advance and develop it is changing the way consumers travel.
Kiosks are already installed in airports to help passengers print tickets off and check-in quicker and whilst self-tagging is common in many airports in Canada and Europe etc. it is now allowed to do so in the United States.
Fliers can check-in their own bags with tag-printing capabilities; after printing their tags from kiosks, passengers can then place the tags on their luggage without staff’s supervision.
American Airlines is now the first US airline to allow travellers to use the “tag your own bag” system; cutting costs and reducing waiting time.
It is estimated implementing such a program can save the sector as much as $2billion a year and according the Los Angeles Times, the kiosks can handle 55 customers per hour as opposed to 21 per hour with live attendants.
This will dramatically change the way airlines interact with their customers, as it will;
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Reduce waiting time
- Better customer service
- Cut costs.
However, experts have warned that for the new technology to take off it is vital it works properly every single time. The printer in the device needs to be reliable and dependable.
Visit Protouch today; Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor of Touch screen technology.
We all know how stressful and tiresome it can be when sitting and waiting in the lounge at an airport, desperately wanting to board the plane and start your holiday.
With the kids running round yapping because they are excited about flying and your other half moaning at how tired they are from the early morning wake-up call, it can be a taxing ordeal.
It doesn’t help the fact that there isn’t really much to do other than shop for duty free which let’s be honest, children aren’t too keen on.
A company has come up with a solution to this problem however, with the goal to try and tackle boredom; airport movie kiosks.
Digiboo, a firm who deal with flash storage technology, are planning to combat entertainment by deploying a massive 7,000 movie rental kiosks to airports across the country.
Similar kiosks, such as Redbox and Blockbuster Express, already exist however none so far are available in the airport industry.
The consumer can download thousands of films onto a USB to watch on their portable PC, laptop or mobile device, either in the waiting lounge or on the flight.
The Kiosk installation, which is to take place over the next three years, will ensure that each movie download with only take 30 seconds.
Talk about lifesaver to keep the youngsters quiet!
If you want to deploy a Touch screen kiosk in your business, visit Protouch today; Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor of Touch screen technology.
Digital signage is enhancing many industry sectors and business but now it seems it is being used to benefit editorial advertising…in bathrooms.
Ads in toilets are nothing new; most advertising appears above the toilet or on the back of the door when you walk into the cubicle.
However, a fresh new marketing tool is being developed which features the promotion in the bathroom mirrors using digital signage.
The company Mirrus, in Huntersville, North Carolina, America are finalising the analysis of its’ mirror-based digital advertising platform in restrooms.
They will feature in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, following successful installs in sporting venues around the country.
In the Mirrus Digital Advertising Mirror and the Mirror Image Digital Network, toilet mirrors display digital advertising until the system’s sensors detect someone approaching the mirror, which causes the ad to shrink into the corner of the mirror.
Consumers are then free to look the mirror without obstruction while washing their hands or if they want to, continue viewing the ad in the corner of the mirror.
Mirrus is testing the effectiveness of the advertising proposal, using consumer questionnaires and surveys to measure its efficiency and rates of performance alongside global media research agency Millward Brown.
Big-name brands like Microsoft, Geico, Zappos.com, Unilever, SC Johnson and Coca-Cola are participating in the final round of study.
The digital ad mirrors are currently installed in college football stadiums in North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, as well as in Dallas’ American Airlines Center.
The company hopes to install the kiosks
in dressing rooms and at the point-of-purchase in the near future.
John Moyer, Executive Vice President of Airport Development and Relations for Clear Channel Airports, said: “It is something that is attractive, is kind of fun and interactive to a degree, and just makes the experience of moving through one of these facilities ever so slightly more entertaining and cutting edge, elevating airports as a media to be a bit cooler, for lack of a better word.”
Install digital signage in your business with www.protouch.co.uk, Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor in Touch screen technology.
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