A little over ten years ago self service check in units began popping up across retail and supermarket stores. Firstly greeted with a sense of suspicion and an arrogance to why the work shouldn’t be done by staff, self check in systems have become a beloved friend to us all and often the first port of call before a manned self check out service.

Paul Denimarck, who handles strategic marketing for the self checkout division at Honeywell Scanning and Mobility, the data connections and wireless communications solutions company has suggested that self service systems can be divided into one of two types; stationary and portable.

“Stationary self checkout platforms are located at the front of the store,” he said. “A customer using a stationary self checkout platform brings their merchandise to the lane, identifies the items they are purchasing with the scanners and tenders payment at the same location.

“Portable self checkout platforms disperse the transaction process at different points – the customer identifies individual items using a bar code scanner at the point of selection, and then the customer takes the items to a separate location to tender payment.”

There are a variety of different types of self service kiosks available and all work for different types of stores.

Modular Kiosk: Most commonly seen in a supermarket store. They are stand alone units most often deployed next to a few more kiosks at a fixed station.

Carousel Kiosk: Often a lay-aside area for scanned items and a larger bagging area, which is usually situated on a rotating carousel which makes the bagging process easier.

Cashier Optional: This option allows the retailer to change from a self service option to a manned kiosk instantly.

Countertop/In counter: Ideal for retailers with a single cash counter, such as convenience stores, deli’s and food areas.

Kiosk/Mobile checkout: This are versatile units that can be placed anywhere in a store. Smaller than self checkout terminals and are ideal for grab and go services and products.

Behind every successful company and innovative product, there are always the people who work on the back of a company’s success re-creating, copying and conning their products and customers into thinking that their business is the real deal.

And as kiosk deployment has become just as common as having a television in the home, more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon to try and con consumers and business owners about their dodgy kiosk systems.

Just last week, the city of Washington DC reached an settlement with a kiosk leasing firm that agreed to stop harassing five African American churches for payment after they latched onto a deal that proved too good to be true.

Although this is the first case the city has filed against three equipment leasing firms and two kiosk salesmen and their companies, it is alleged to be involved in a complicated and incriminating  deal combining kiosks, con men and black churches. The con has spread from coast to coast with a number of churches hit by the scam including ones in California and Michigan, as well as the nations capital.

Kiosk Con Artist Michael J Morris

Press reports showed that Morris and Perkins embarked on their criminal business around ten years ago. Their plan was to visit African American churches around the country as executives of Urban Interfaith Network and Television Broadcasting Online (TVBO), companies based either in Washington or suburban Maryland. Morris and Perkins lived in suburban Maryland.

Mike Cox, Michigan attorney general, stated that both Morris and Perkins offered churches free kiosks that would be placed on site to provide outreach, education as well as Internet services to parishioners. In return, the kiosks would carry a advertising from a national sponsor that sought to reach the parishioners.

As an added inducement, Morris and Perkins told some of the churches that they would earn revenue of their own from the sponsor’s advertising. Churches were told that no contract was needed and all the legality stuff was simply a formality that didn’t need to be addressed but insisted that it still needed to be signed. So as pen went to paper church parishioners signed their contract without realising they had agreed to pay the full price for the kiosk.

Kiosk Con Artist Number 2 William T.Perkins

From the contracts, Morris and Perkins contacted equipment leasing firms and asked for loans to purchase the kiosks, using the church contracts as collateral. Once they received the loans – valued at as much as $27,000 per kiosk – the pair used money to get bare bones equipment from the churches and further made initial monthly leasing payments to the equipment  providers.

Peter Nickles, the city’s attorney general said, “The churches either did not get the equipment, or if they did, it wasn’t working, and if it was, the sponsorship deals never materialised.”

On another side of town, the leasing firms were led to believe they would be seeing monthly checks from the churches for the kiosk systems. There was usually little money to pay the lease fee already, and there was no sponsor for the kiosk advertising.

The deals continued to come in and leasing firms billed the churches for the kiosks with some of the contracts having full access to the churches finances.

“The firm could draw down from the bank account of the church. They charged the lease payments. In one case the firm took $60,000,” said Nickles.

After a while the churches contacted the authorities and Michigan arraigned Perkins and Morris in October 2009. Michigan plan to begin its case against them in Detroit’s 3rd Circuit Court at the end of September, a spokesperson for AG Cox said.

Perkin’s and Morris’s attorney, LaRene & Kriger of Detroit, didn’t return calls.

The case caught the attention of Nickles and California attorney general Edmund G. Brown Jr who found that after the churches learnt of the alleged scam, there was still a continual attack on the parishes by equipment leasers enforcing the terms of the leases, filing lawsuits against the churches to collect payment, interest and late fees.

These equipment leasers in April 2009 were charged with defrauding the churches. One of the companies – Balboa Capital Corp settled their case in Washington just last week, agreeing to stop collecting on the leases with several of the churches and to pay two of the churches $4,000 in total. Balboa wrote in their legal filings that it was “not complicity in the alleged scheme” and agreed to the settlement to avoid litigation costs.

Nickles said he will continue to pursue the other two lessors and as the cases go on, the churches have worthless equipment situated in their parishes that have completely gone to waste.

Going to the airport is never a relaxing and stress-free experience. From the arrangements of getting there to the baggage allowance, there is so much to consider and the whole drama from the airport is enough for you to need a holiday for three weeks.

Airports and airlines are continually searching for new ways to improve their customer service to ensure that their passengers have a safe, enjoyable and stress-free trip.

The introduction of self service kiosks over the years has increasingly helped improve efficiency, reduce costs and simplifyed a customers journey as well as improving passenger satisfaction and loyalty.

For passengers, their primary goal is a quick and hassle-free journey avoiding crowded check-in areas and long check-in queues – not to mention slow security screening and inefficient boarding processes. Passenger satisfaction at this stage purely relies on how quickly and easily they can get their boarding passes, how simple it is to check their baggage and how much control they have had over the process.

An empowered passenger is a happy passenger and letting them take control of their whole travelling experience will truly benefit you as an airport or airline.

If you have deployed a kiosk system into your airport don’t just expect that it will work miracles. It is all about where it should be installed, how many you need to install and how the kiosk connects to the airport infrastructure.

With a kiosk system you can expect to see;

For Airports

• Reduced costs per passenger,
• Less airport congestion,
• Increased passenger flow without the need to invest in new buildings,
• New service opportunities – for example, shared or managed infrastructure,
• The chance to help passengers better manage disruptions,
• An opportunity to measure the landside/airside space needs and create a customer-friendly landside dwell area, delivering new revenue opportunities,
• The potential to delay capital expansion.

For Airlines

• A reduced and flexible cost structure,
• Competitiveness in commodity factors,
• Improved customer service,
• New service opportunities – e.g mobile check-in

For Passengers

• Empowerment,
• Reduced stress levels,
• Hassle free journey,
• Less queueing
• Better value for money.

For more information on how a kiosk system can benefit your business visit Protouch today, the leading distributor and manufacturer of touch screen equipment.

Protouch Kiddicare Kiosk Collection

Well maybe not 1000 but it can sure seem that way if a kiosk is deployed professionally. There are a great many ways in which you can deploy a kiosk system you just have to ensure you have the correct equipment and software as well as a company that you can trust to help you along the way.

To give you an idea of the different ways in which a kiosk can work for you, here are a few different ways a kiosk can be deployed and beneficial towards your needs and requirements.

Payment System

If your kiosk is deployed in strategic locations such as shopping stores, entrances to shops, supermarkets as well as train stations and air port terminals then you can provide your customers with a convenient, instant access bill payment system. 

Internet Kiosk

An Internet kiosk is an ideal way to entice customers into your store. If they can receive free access to the Internet the more likely they are to come in and further browse in your store. 

Information Kiosk

If you are providing information, help or advice through your kiosk, such as a way finder then you need to make sure it is positioned in the right places which is of use to the user. For example, if you have developed a kiosk system which allows users to learn about a product then there is really no point having the kiosk on the other side of the store away from where the product is being sold. A successful kiosk is always placed in a prime position for the customer.

Checking In/Update of Information

These types of kiosks are great for doctors surgeries or hospitals whereby the patient can update their information or check in for their appointment. This type of kiosk frees up staff members time and allows you to reduce the administration costs which can be time consuming and more costly than what they need to be.

IKEA kiosk by Protouch.

More and more business are moving into the self service industry to reduce staff costs, expand their revenue and improve their customer service. They may set companies back a little bit of money when it comes to the manufacturing and deployment, but once this has been organised and the budgets have been set, kiosk systems are sure to improve the way your business is run.

To give you an idea of why kiosk deployment is successful, here are a few tips in how to go about deploying the kiosk and what you need to do to ensure that it is successful.

When deploying a kiosk it should cover these seven steps to ensure it is a successful business move.

Engage

The first stage is to grab the customers attention. Use digital signage, kiosk enclosures, banners and staff to help promote the kiosk. Large screens in stores directly grab the customers attention and engage passengers to look to see what services or products they are offering. Make sure the kiosk cover is designed to your branding and stands out in store. Don’t just put it in the corner, make sure it is in a prime postion for everyone to see.

Inform

Consumers will only be interested in information if it is to the point, clear and concise. Reams of writing and no illustration will instantly deter them away from your kiosk. A kiosk is meant to speed things up so make sure that you get to the point so customers can get on with their day and feel happy with the customer service they have received.

Xen X5 kiosk from Protouch for Kiddicare stores.

Interact

Interact with your customer throughout the process. Make sure that they can follow a step by step guide and don’t feel stuck along the way. It is highly important that you make sure the whole process is simple and that your customers feel engaged with the whole process and not left to feel confused by how the system works.

Transact

If your kiosk allows customers to purchase products and services, then a good technique is to provide related services and products that they may be interested in when it comes to purchasing their items. This is a great way of selling without harassing the customer.

Fulfill

The fulfillment of the order needs to quick and precise. Don’t leave the customer hanging around for their receipt. They have made their purchase and wish to leave as soon as possible. Once the transaction is processed don’t make them click through thousands of pages to sign off. The quicker the service is the more likely they are to use it again.

Maintain

Don’t just leave your kiosk to rot away. Make sure you update it regularly and keep it in tip top shape. Add additional products and services and make sure that it is always running smoothly and keep the software updated.

Customers

The customer knows best so make sure that you listen to their feed back about the kiosk and whether you need to make changes to suit their needs and requirements. They are are the end user at the end of the day so you need to make sure it is directed to the type of information and services they want.

We are proud to announce the launch of our brand new German website, www.protouch-kiosks.de.

The new site will promote our top kiosks and touch screen equipment in a bid to expand our already reputable brand across Germany and other European countries.

As the UK’s leading supplier of touch screen and kiosk systems, we are keen to broaden our presence in the industry to show how our services can create a faster, better and more economical way to do business around the globe.

The new German website focuses on our Geode touch screen monitors and award winning Xen kiosk series while replicating the innovative sales tools used on our current English website.

These include interactive videos that demonstrate the key functions, features and benefits of the highly successful Xen kiosks. Plus the kiosk configuration tool created to allow visitors to personally customise and design their own kiosks online to suit their needs.

Once customers know what they’re looking for our in-house design department is also able to create bespoke laminate designs for customers’ kiosks as well as providing a 3D rendered kiosk image to provide the best possible insight on how the kiosk will work.

Thomas Borck, the leading sales figure who is heading the German and European leads from the new site, said, “The launch of the new German Protouch website is very exciting and will be a great support in expanding business across Germany and Europe. Our sales tools and support are invaluable in establishing successful customer relationships and in supporting our reseller network.”

Thomas has worked as an International Sales Manager of Kiosks and Digital Signage Systems for more than 6 years. During this time he has spotted and worked with companies that want to expand their product range with new products in order to fulfil customer requests and offer a more competitive portfolio.

To view our new site visit www.protouch-kiosks.de or alternatively visit our English website on www.protouch.co.uk for all the information you need about installing a kiosk system into your business.

University of Scarborough touch screen kiosk

As young adults take the next step of heading to university, the whole experience can be fun, exciting and sometimes daunting.

The idea of being independent, finding your own way and making new friends can be a tough challenge for first years.

One of the biggest struggles people have during their first time at university is being sensible with their funds. A huge loan comes into their bank account at the beginning of the term and in a month or two it’s already being spent.

Many campuses these days offer their students a university campus card which they can use to store credit on and use in and around the student bar, cafe and shop as well as purchasing equipment and stationary for their studies. These types of campus cards are a great way for students to spread their money and know they have funds to get them their lunch and all their books for their time at university.

However, the development of these top up university cards come with a challenge. It’s midnight, all of the administration offices are closed and a student is working late in the library. They need to print off some documents via their student card but they have no credit left on their student card. What do they do and how do they top up?

The answer to this problem is the deployment of top up kiosks around campus which can allows students to easily add money to their card without having to wait around for the administration office to open.

For example, Washington State University deployed a kiosk to allow students to add money to their flex cards without having to visit the office, calling home or speaking to university employees.

The payment systems allows a simple credit/debit card transaction to reload student accounts.

“The kiosks are there when they need them and are generally problem free,” wrote Ben Aichele of WSU.

The kiosk not only allows students to add money to their cards, they also act as a daily bulletin for students during their busy day.

Advertisements are on rotate via the screen display featuring daily campus events which sometimes go unnoticed around the campus. The kiosk has been deployed in areas where there is high volumes of traffic such as outside the dorm rooms, dining areas and library.

And it’s not just top up kiosks that work well in university campuses too. Way finding kiosks are a great way for visitors to find the department or person they need to see rather than taking a whole host of confusing directions from the receptionist which you never remember anyway.

You can display your campus map via the kiosks so that families and guests visiting the university can easily navigate around the area.

The University of Scarborough deployed Internet-based kiosk which provided access to information such as timetables, events and maps of the campus.

The hi-tech kiosks were deployed around the campus and were well received by students.

“The kiosks around campus have gone down really well with students, so the next step was to roll out that service to mobile devices such as mobile phones and laptops. Every student has a mobile phone these days and they are increasingly using them not just to communicate, but also to organise their lives. The Pocket Campus is a great way to make sure they are accessing the kind of information they need, wherever they are.”

The mobile service complements the existing touch screen kiosk on campus.

Third year student Ben Kay said, “This new technology will make it much easier for me and the other students to access information and keep in touch with what is going on at the University, wherever we are on campus.”

The University of Nottingham deployed a kiosks to provide students with extra music not found through the school’s library services. This allowed music students access to more materials crucial to their education and repertoire.

“I am told that the students much appreciate the availability of the Naxos recording library as an adjunct to the extensive numbers of CDs,” stated Nicholas Sackman of the University of Nottingham.

The computers are locked down to only display the online music library, eliminating the need for supervision or help navigation around the music site.

Both of the universities listed have conformed with the growing need for self service and have adapted to modern trends in technology.

Students are able to interact with other students, get their work done effectively and efficiently without having to wait for office hours to be open.

It was always the case that when you visited your local doctor you have to sit and fill out a stack of forms before you get into the doctors office. And if you are only arriving with a few minutes to spare, you doctors appointment would be later than originally booked leaving you late for the rest of your day.

And if you are needing to visit several doctors over the course of one day across different medical areas, then the process could be repeated each time which can make the doctors more of a chore and stressful situation than it already is.

In most cases, the filling out of medical forms is more time consuming than anything else and far exceeds the time spent talking with a doctor or health professional.

It is also a long and drawn out process for the doctor and can prove costly, as once the patient has left the administrative staff have to sit down and log all the information into the computer which can sometimes result in incorrect information being included in the patients file.

Nowadays kiosks are quickly becoming a convenient solution to the problem.

“When people are coming in for an appointment, generally the last thing they want to do is stand in line at the window waiting to announce themselves,” said Robert Giblett, vice president, channel sales, at Aberdeen N.C based Meridian Kiosks, a kiosk solutions provider. “There is a higher level of customer satisfaction if they use a kiosk.”

If you look at the reality of running a doctors surgery and the amount of patients that come in and out every day, you can begin to weigh up how much paperwork there is to file and log in every day. This process can take up staff members time when they could be doing other important things that may often get left on the back burner until their time is freed up.

With a kiosk system, staff time dealing with administration is greatly reduced and the cost of paying extra staff to do the admin work is no longer needed.

However, a kiosk system is just about a cost effective solution.

“Way-finding is a fairly simple application, but a very popular one,” said Jared Rhoads, senior research analyst with Falls Church, Va based CSC, a global provider of technology abled business solutions and services.

“Patients walk into a big medical centre and they have no idea where to go,” Rhoads said. “Using the kiosk, they can type in the name of the person they are to see, and it will print out a map for them.”

Combine patient check-in and wayfinding kiosks and you can reduce costs, waiting time and stress for patients who already find coming to the doctors a struggle anyway.

And to make sure that the patient is who they say they are, they could be required to swipe their driving licence or special hospital ID which can cover security issues too.

For more information about self service kiosksand how they can benefit your business visit Protouch today.

Back in the day, a mobile phone was exactly what it says on the tin. Not everyone had one, and when you did it was rarely used other than to make calls. Many people would leave the phone off for days and turn it on to use it when needed.

Nowadays the mobile phone has become integral to our every day lives. Everyone has one and we would be totally lost without it. Smartphones have taken over the globe offering new features and applications that twenty years ago, many of us would’ve never imagined.

However, with these cool, trendy and fun-filled Smartphones, there comes a price. And that price can often put you in rather difficult situations and stressful moments if you are stuck of a solution.

The problem comes in a small little box known as the phone battery which can be totally drained in one day if the phone is incessantly used to make phone calls, send text messages, connect to the Internet, playing games, taking photographs and films etc.

Despite mobile phone manufacturers desperately trying to improve the battery life of their phones, they still haven’t found a quick fix solution for batteries to handle the large amounts of applications and features that these new Smartphones bring.

Fortunately there is a solution to this problem and it could be coming to a town near you very soon. Yes, a new kiosk is due to be deployed that can offer rapid phone charging for little or no money as well as a great way for business owners to get people through their doors and possibly increase their revenue.

Already a big hit in Asia, the US are looking to deploy the kiosks which will feature a set of connectors for various phone types, a monitor, touch screen options, a payment system as well as connectivity for the processing of transactions, remote management and the download of new content for the monitors.

Samsungs introduction to mobile phone charging at airports

Like the ATM, the mobile phone kiosk will provide customers with a unique solution to help ensure the mobile communication of voice and data is not restricted by the death of the battery.

And there are many businesses that can truly benefit from deploying these kiosks systems including, hotels, convention centres, airports, hospitals, bars and clubs.

For example, if you are in an airport and your flight is delayed or cancelled you may find yourself having to sit around in the airport longer than you expected. These scenarios can leave you frustrated especially if your battery is on its last legs and your charger is in your main luggage. With the mobile phone charger kiosk system your prayers are answered and you can get in touch with home to let them know that you will be late so they are not stood waiting for you at the airport.

The new mobile phone kiosk is a fantastic idea and is sure to be a big hit once deployed in shops and stores across the US. Lets just hope it hits the UK very soon.

Paying for bills, cashing in cheques were all at one point time consuming tasks that many people could never find the time to do.

It often meant that many people would have to nip out on their lunch break to stand in a queue at the local post office or their bank to cash in a cheque or pay their bills, leaving them no time for rest and recuperation on their much needed lunch break.

And then on a Saturday the banks tend to close at midday or some are not open at all, which can be a nightmare for people who work 9-5 and have no time to get to do daily necessary tasks.

Nowadays there are a growing number of ways in which people can make payments in and out of their account on a daily basis. Customers can pay via Internet banking, via phone or mail, post office and payment centres as well as payment kiosks designed to make life a whole lot easier.

Payment kiosks enable customers to make payments at a kiosk in their own time when is most convenient for them. These types of kiosks not only give customers a new way to bank but also cuts down the cost of opening payment centres and extra staff to process the bills.

“To use skilled employees to count change may not be the most efficient use of their time,” said Jim Bennett CEO of Tulsa, Oklahoma based US Payment Systems company. “It may appear to be a good service, but most agree dealing with more complex customer service issues is the best application of (those employees) talents.”

From a customer service point of view a bill payment kiosk delivers consistent, valuable service 24 hours a day, 265 days a year. These types of kiosks offer extended business services which many customers need.

Payment systems can also reduce personnel and overhead costs if further deployed in convenience stores which can function as a satellite office but without the overheads.

Reconciliation costs are also greatly reduced as there is no longer a need to manually count deposits and reconcile them to accounts paid.

It can also further reduce the amount of thefts as well as the miscounting of money as fewer hands actually touch the funds.

Bridget Debus, Senior Accountant of Administration for Kansas Gas Service, said, “Payment kiosks offer uses the convenience to conduct business transactions on demand. Payment kiosks are user friendly and convenient.”

And by partnering with other brands such as convenience stores or petrol stations, you are able to establish your brand further than your current company locations.

There is so much that can be gained from deploying self service kiosks as payment systems for your customers that missing out on this new and exciting opportunity limits you and your business and the services you offer to your clients.