Protouch are proud to announce the merge with and Data Vision Europe (DVE), a leading supplier of hardware and software for public access digital media. The combined business will operate from Protouch’s existing modern manufacturing facility in Camberley, Surrey and use the Protouch brand.

All of the key employees of DVE will relocate to the new location and join the rapidly expanding sales, marketing and technical teams at Protouch. The merger is expected to be completed during July 2010.

 The merger will combine DVE’s cutting edge software services and product design capability; including its acclaimed “Gorilla Media” software and the extensive experience in multi location roll outs of public facing  IT solutions  for global brands such as McDonalds, BT and Virgin with the high volume hardware manufacturing, design, sales and marketing capability of Protouch .

Protouch feel that DVE have entirely complementary skills which when combined will be undoubtably provide the most comprehensive range of solutions for public access software, interactive terminals, kiosks and digital media.

Protouch’s Managing Director Tom Quarry says, “DVE’s capability fits seamlessly with Protouch’s existing multi functional kiosk approach. It’s vital that both our hardware and software services meet with our clients’ needs to deploy a wide range of public access kiosk applications across all industries.

“We’re confident that with the addition of Mike Kellond and his team plus the tools available within Gorilla Media we will greatly improve our offering to give our clients cost effective, customised, touch screen solutions.“

 Mike Kellond, DVE founder and 15 year industry veteran, will assume responsibility for the software services activity at Protouch. Gorilla Media, developed by DVE, is a multi functional software package providing remote monitoring and management, secure and locked down browsing for public access, broadcast advertising management and scheduling, payment and ticketing options.

Gorilla Media has been tested and approved by a number of major corporations including BT and several major banks. Mike will drive the integration of Gorilla Media in to the Protouch product offering and be responsible for the strategic evolution of all software services at Protouch going forward. He expressed his delight with the merger with Protouch “I see this as a major opportunity for DVE and our customers. The relative strengths and weaknesses of the two companies are a perfect match and the combined company will be capable of providing forward looking improved service to its customers “.

Most things that Barack Obama touches turns to gold, and now the US President is setting his sights on revamping the American medical sector via touch-screen technology.

The winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has had his hands full in the last twelve months in attempting to solve the issues that plagued George W Bush’s administration but now, President Obama sees huge scope to improve his country’s health industry by embracing technological advancements.

He has pledged to ensure that all medical records in the United States will be electronic within five years, synced through the touch-screen kiosks that are present in most US health centres – a plan sure to positively affect the healthcare industry as a whole and create opportunities for technology providers.

Patient check-in kiosks have existed in doctors’ surgeries for years, but their advantages have not always been fully utilised, as described by one industry exec:

“Healthcare has always been thought of as being sort of behind on IT technology,” Napua said. “But obviously with the infusion of the Obama initiative for electronic medical records, I think there’s a growing interest, to say the least, in trying to figure out a lot of these solutions in healthcare.”

Whitbread, the leisure group which includes Costa Coffee shops, Premier Inn hotels and the Beefeater restaurants, has recently announced that they are to focus on improving self service enquiries and bookings as the hotel chain faces a financial struggle.

Premier Inn is the largest division of Whitbread in number of sales and saw a 10 per cent drop in the first half of 2009 and a drop in like-for-like sales.

“We have widened our online booking distribution channels, bringing in new revenue streams and introducing new leisure customers to the brand,” Whitbread said in its first half results.

And long-standing Whitbread CIO Ben Wishart has been focussing on improving productivity and processes across the group including self service kiosks and increasing web services.

Now this story is nothing new in the world of business as many companies are cutting back costs in order to keep expenditure low.

However, the budget hotel chain has picked up increased business traveller custom as all companies rein in costs, but has seen overall business decline.

Now it may be a long shot but earlier this year the hotel chain launched a trial of self check-in at five hotels across the UK. The innovative technology reduced waiting time for guests to under a minute and was a great asset to business travellers who wanted a quick and easy check-in.

Paul Canavan, Project Manager for Premier Inn commented earlier this year, “Premier Inn checks in over 23,000 guests every day across the UK, and as the UK’s leading hotel brand we continually innovate to meet the changing needs of our guests.

“Feedback has shown that business travellers like the time saving benefits that the kiosks provide, whilst leisure guests benefit not only from this but also from the increased accessibility, interaction and level of good service they have with team members at the guest workstation.”

Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association commented, “It’s great to see Premier Inn investing in innovative technology. These kiosks will undoubtedly increase the level of service offered by Premier Inn – delivering a fast, efficient and speedier experience at check-in.”

Now with business traveller custom picking up and kiosks proving a success for business guests then it doesn’t take a genius to put them both together.

We can’t completely say that this is the whole reason why the company has received profit in business traveller sales, but it must of made an impact if they keep coming back and using the hotel services again.

The health care industry has come on leaps and bounds of the past few years with the implementation of kiosks and hi-tech systems to improve the efficiency and quality of service the health system provides.

Doctor’s surgeries have installed touch screen kiosks to reduce the waiting time at the reception desk so staff can concentrate on other tasks in and around the surgery.

And in Boston an electronic ‘doctor kiosk’ is under development at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to improve the way the health care system works in America.

The self service kiosk promises to increase efficiency both inside and outside the physician office setting by gathering basic information from patients, such as the patients medical history, weight, pulse, blood pressure, and blood tests for glucose and cholesterol, and directing that information to a physician prior to an office visit. 

It will also be able to function as a virtual health concierge for managing chronic illness, prompting the patient to answer a series of important health questions such as ‘did you take your meds today.’

The whole process of investing money into health care technology is to increase the efficiency of the health care system and the patient health care process.

Many patients, however fret about the lack of doctor-patient time they will receive if a lot of their time in doctor’s surgeries and hospitals is spent in front of a screen.

One of the consistent problems with the continuity of care is the lack of resources and time that doctors spend with their patients after being diagnosed.

So although kiosks may ease the weight off staff when it comes to the mundane tasks of obtaining information and filing data, the care of patients should not be replaced by kiosk systems unless they receive offer better after care than what they have now.

Kiosks in the healthcare industry must make patients feel more connected to their health information-not less so. If patients feel that the increase of technology replaces their time with their GP rather than supplementing it, they will most likely reject it outright.

Yet these kiosks are designed to reduce the amount of paperwork a GP has to go through allowing them to be more efficient with their patient and spend more time talking than writing notes.

Nurses are there to assist the doctor and many often take up the mundane tasks the doctor does not have the time to fulfill.

However nurses are often overburdened with a whole host of work and their valuable skills are not used enough. They are trained in the medical profession and spend most of their time doing paperwork, which could be easily sorted with the help of a kiosk.

The kiosk can help collect patient data and allow the nurse to assist the doctor in anyway possible so the patient feels fully catered for and looked after while in their local surgery.

For a kiosk to work in the health care industry, it needs to do the job intended and try and not take over the initial job of doctors and nurses, and instead assist them in doing their job with ease and efficiency.

Visit any airport worldwide and you are guaranteed to find self service kiosks situated at entrance, front desk, car parks, terminals, food counters etc.

The deployment of kiosks in the airports has enabled people to have more control of their travelling to save time waiting in long queues to check-in.

Before the installation of the kiosks, the Government and airport staff were keen to ensure that the usage of kiosks would still ensure the safety of passengers and staff travelling around the world.

A lot of time and energy went into making sure that the kiosks were safe to use and equipped with hi-tech security when people were checking in.

And now the airports have gone kiosk mad. 

“You can do everything with ticketing kiosks, from upgrading your seat, changing your flight, checking your bags or adding an infant on your boarding record-all of which you may have done with an (airline) agent in the past,” said Tania Ladic, spokesman for NCR Corp, the manufacturer of ticketing kiosks for 21 airlines, including American United, Delta, Northwest and Continental.

And according to studies led by NCR checking in at the counter with a ticket agent takes an average of four-six minutes for domestic and international flights, respectively and less than one minute for both when using a kiosk.

“The advantage for passengers is the speed at which you can check in, whether from home or at the airport,” Ladic said.

“The airlines are looking for hassle-free experience for customers. The kiosk automates the check-in process and makes it a faster experience because the customer clicks in what they want. The kiosk doesn’t forget to ask you if you want to upgrade your seat.”

And the more they continue to grow, the more companies jump on the bandwagon offering efficient services to travellers.

Rental cars, accommodation booking and insurance companies are implementing kiosks into airports so travellers have a wide range of services at their beck and call.

Many people have worried about the implementation of kiosks and how they will affect people’s jobs now they are no longer required. However Ladic sees this differently and instead a new way of staff adapting to a change in lifestyle.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean fewer agents,” Ladic said. “Agents are assigned to watch the kiosks and provide assistance when needed.”

Lisa Montoya, American Airlines customer service agent at Tulsa International, said that the younger generation are able to use the kiosks with ease as they are so computer savvy.

“About 75 per cent of people require assistance,” Montoya said.

“If you print your boarding pass from home, scan the bar code (at the airport) recapture your itinerary and pay by credit card you are in and out within 15 seconds.”

For more information about how a kiosk solution can improve the efficiency of your business visit Protouch, the leading distributor and manufacturer of touch screen equipment in Europe.

Cineworld touch screen by Protouch

FILM producers spend millions each year to draw audiences to their movies. And ADVERTISERS take advantage of the pre-cinema screening of ads and promos to promote their products. But now advertisers are moving their commercials to the entrances of cinemas as well, introducing kiosks and advertising boards to appeal to customer’s cinema experience.

Over the past two years, cinemas have been installing touch screen kiosks so cinema-goers can book and buy their tickets with ease and efficiency without having to wait in the queue.

However, kiosks are not just about ticket collection anymore. Cinema-goers want a more enhanced and rewarding experience when they visit the cinema and kiosk systems are the new and exciting way to do this.

Cineword, the UK’s second largest multiplex cinema chain, rolled out Protouch’s Xen X5 and Xen X4 kiosks into a number of its UK cinemas. The kiosk systems were installed to allow users to pick up tickets as well as support Cineworld’s Unlimited Film programme.

Cineworld plan to install the X5 kiosk into all of its cinemas selling the Unlimited programme. John Anderson Cineworld’s Marketing Co-ordinator said, “The Unlimited programme is a large and important part of our business and distinguishes us from every other cinema company in the UK and Protouch’s X5 kiosk is helping us to advance this programme.”

And the latest new promo is telecommuncations firm Sprint, is sponsoring the new marketing effort of placing 500 self service kiosks in movie theatres so that customers can scan in a code from their phones and get coupons for snacks.

The coupons will vary in discount and price with some allowing a free upgrade to a bigger popcorn or large drink.

Companies have been expanding their products and services into cinema advertising, as they noticed that cinemas are a good place to reach audiences that don’t have too many distractions.

“People with high mobile phone usage do tend to go to the cinema more than people with lower mobile phone usage,” he said. “Years back, when cinema advertising was just launching, people were a little skeptical on how it would be received.

“It has only been around for a relatively short amount of time, but all the research that came back said, despite initial skepticism, people feel that the advertisements are not intruding-in fact, many ways are complementing-the overall event.”

The coupons being introduced via the self service kiosks will definitely encourage more people to visit the cinema and make use of the deals on offer.

“The first was a reward for their own customers, building that loyalty, and the other was the envy factor,” said Christine Martino, national account director for Screen Vision who suggested the idea to Sprint.

The kiosk works by instructing Sprint customers to text a certain world (like Sprint) to a certain phone number. The cinema-goer then receives a text message that includes a string of letters and numbers. The kiosk features a computer screen next to the scanning device, and people hold up their cellphones, scan that code and can browse through a few offers on the screen.

The customer then selects their chosen offer, to which a receipt will be printed that people can take to the concession stand for a free upgrade, such as a larger drink.

Margaret Clerkin, the head of the invention group at Mindshare, Sprint’s media agency and a unit of WPP, said that offering something to Sprint customers was a necessary element. “There is entertainment value provided by cinema advertising, but there is also an exchange of value-can you enhance their experience?” she said.

In time, ScreenVision would like to see other companies like Burger King offer discounts on a post-show hamburger for instance.

“It is a direct reward for the consumer,” said Andrew L.Blacker, senior vice president for marketing at ScreenVision.

A recent study by founder of Summit Research Associates, Francie Mendelsohn, says that the kiosk industry will see a massive growth in 2010, after recent reports stating that the installation of kiosks has languished.

Kiosk installation is no longer about getting the users to understand the technology as millions of proven that they understand how they work and even prefer self service.

The main area of focus is keeping the consumer confident that they can do better than the shop assistant and that the applications the kiosks have installed give consumers more and different options.

In her detailed analysis of the DVD kiosks industry, Mendelsohn warns that the application will be eclipsed by the digital delivery of films in upcoming years. While the whole Hollywood/DVD saga is going on, consumers are looking into the future and wondering whether digital distribution will ever overtake the rental market.

Video Business recently reported that Sony Home Entertainment and Universal Studios both already offer video-on-demand service in the home through cable pay-per-view provider iN Demand, and both studios are working with others in Hollywood to provide a Web-based VOD service soon.

MOD Systems got their foot in the door on the digital download front with an upcoming pilot deployment of kiosks that allow users to download movies to an SD card, which they then plug into their televisions. While this is a step in the right direction for the industry, however not everyone owns a TV with SD slot cars and built in media players which may make the solution totally impractical on a larger scale.  

Although companies are working in the right direction, the process of installing self service systems needs to fit naturally into a consumers shopping experience.

The Summit report also states that airline self service will continue to grow, moving closer to the idea of mobile capabilities. Already, Canada and Asia are offering the technology and one US carrier is testing it at present.

Recent data from SITA, a provider of communication and IT solutions for the air-transport industry, 44 per cent of passengers indicated positive feelings towards mobile self check-in, and 66 per cent of self service check-in users said they would prefer an electronic boarding pass over a paper version.

Here, airlines are trying to figure out where they can charge a fee in this self service process, while travellers are wondering when they will finally be able to head to security with their boarding passes on their smart phones.

However, us consumers don’t have to worry as kiosk manufacturers have landed on something big so to provide an easier way of travelling, shopping, etc on a daily basis.

Dominique El Bez, SITA’s director of portfolio marketing, said, “It is not about doing the same thing from a different channel, it is about doing things differently.

“Kiosk providers have to adapt rapidly and must consider the kiosk as a component of a holistic self-service transformation.”

Airlines and airports around the globe are jet setting into the world of self service to enhance customer experience when travelling the world.

And the move to implement self service kiosks has proved a massive hit with passengers after a recent survey revealed that six leading airport hubs across five continents has seen a 20 per cent growth in adoption of self service check-in options over the last year.

This change in passenger habits has also seen more passengers demanding improvements in security procedures and airport dwell times as they check-in less baggage.

The survey conducted by SITA, also found that convenience as much as price is driving online booking which is now close to 100 per cent availability in mature markets, 63.7 per cent of those questioned in the survey booked online.

On top of this consumer habit, passengers are spending more though the airline websites in ancillary services such as hotels and car hire and their numbers are expected to double.

Airlines are now clocking onto this and have designed their websites to become a channel of choice for pre-flight and post-flight customers services. 50 per cent of passengers interviewed, for example, are using airline websites to modify reservations or update frequent flyer information.

The 4th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self Service (PSS) survey is a detailed look at the attitudes and trends of a representative sample of the 232 million passengers who use these six leading international airports: Harsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Mumbai International; Charles de Gaulle, Paris; Moscow Domodedovo; Sao Paulo, Guarulhos, Brazil; and OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg.

The data is extracted from interviews with 2,193 passengers who conducted the survey at the departure gate earlier this year.

The top four steps that passengers would most likely change about their journey was the: security screening, 18.2 per cent, dwell time at the airport before flight departure, 14.8 per cent; in-flight experience, 14.5 per cent and waiting for checked baggage on arrival, 9.3 per cent.

Dominique El Bez, SITA Director, Portfolio Marketing, said, “The survey does provide a good news for the air transport industry, and airlines in particular, because it proves that self-service has passed a tipping point in the last 12 months.

“We have seen a 20 per cent increase in adoption of self service check in options across all these hubs. It is also significant that this holds true among transit passengers who exercised the self service check in option at over 200 other airports.

“The main obstacles to the further rise of self service are check in baggage which is being addressed by the industry through revised bag-drop processes, and the necessity to have access to a printer to acquire a boarding pass through web check-in.

“This last issue is being addressed by the industry through adoption of the mobile Bar Code Boarding Pass (BCBP) which will allow a BCBP to be sent from the web check-in interface to the passenger’s mobile phone. In fact, 66 per cent of the self service check-in users would prefer an electronic boarding pass.”

In 2009, the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta, found that self service check-in reached a record 83.9 per cent in 2009, up from 64 per cent in 2008.

Web check-in was used by 25.6 per cent of departing passengers at Mumbai International Airport making it by far the most popular self service option for Indian passengers. Kiosk check in is still the most popular self service user option at Atlanta (45.8 per cent) Paris (18.9 per cent) and Johannesburg (8.1 per cent) while web check-in proved the most popular option with passengers in Moscow (9.2 per cent) and Sao Paulo (6.4 per cent).

There has been a very positive attitude among passengers when it comes to checking in with kiosks, with 75 per cent preferring this option to 62.5 per cent opting for website check-in and 44 per cent of passengers more positive towards mobile check in.

Passengers flying on more than 100 different airlines and representing over 80 different nationalities were interviewed during April/June 2009 in this independent survey.

Shoppers are embracing the world of self service kiosks. Many have incorporated the clever systems into their every day lives to make things faster, easier and suited to their needs and requirements.

In recent news, DallasNews.com interviewed several shoppers asking them about their usage of self service kiosks.

One man, Bryon Wiebold, said, “Anything I can automate, I do for the sake of time. It is not that I want people totally eliminated, but I appreciate the option if I am in a hurry or in a bad mood.”

And DIY services are continuing to edge into our every day life, via kiosks, smart-phone applications and the Internet. Already people are doing most of their shopping online or visiting their local supermarket for a sandwich using the touch screen checkouts to process their purchase.

Many hospitals and doctors surgeries have implemented touch screen kiosks to reduce the waiting time for patients when checking in for their appointment.

And taking it that one step further some customers even have machines that give vision exams and scan feet to produce customer insoles.

And the proof is really in the pudding. Kiosk transactions are expected to surpass $775 billions this year, up from $607 billion in 2008. These figures releases by IHL Group, who track the self service industry believe the total could hit $1.6 trillion by 2013.

And businesses are cottoning on to how big this industry is and how it can potential affect sales in their company. The movie rental business are currently in a DVD rental war with Redbox taking the firing line against Blockbuster taking 30 per cent of the US market to continue through to 2010. Blockbuster, on the other hand, are closing 960 of its unprofibable stores and installing 10,000 kiosks in their place.

The turning point for kiosks came in 2001 when Kroger and Home Depot installed self checkouts. Lee Holman, lead retail analyst for IHL Group, said, “After some hand-holding, consumers have embraced it. Now their’s a perception that ‘I can do this quicker.’”

According to an IHL survey, almost 90 per cent of consumers said they used self-checkout ‘even if they didn’t like it,’ Holman said.

And now they are situated across every retail part, supermarket store, airport, train station, in fact any busy place you can think of you will probably find a kiosk or touch screen system.

If you think that a kiosk is the way forward for your business and would like to actively speak to a company that purely deals with kiosks and touch screen systems, then contact Europe’s leading distributor and manufacturer Protouch today.

Many reports and documentaries state that our health system is not moving with the times.

The general public are continuously urging the Government to look into the health service and find where improvements can be made.

One very grey area, which is overlooked by many Government departments, is the use of technologies in coordination with patients’ medical records, and how it can further improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care.

And it’s not just patient medical records that new self service systems can help. If implemented into the health system correctly, health care providers can overcome longstanding hurdles to the successful exchange of health information and meet the challenges of an increasingly complex environment through self service kiosks.

One of the prime examples and problems that the health care industry faces when going digital is determining what to do with all the paper forms that contain vital patient information.

Patient check-in processes creates numerous forms for each patients, including consent and privacy documents which can easily be avoided if kiosks are implemented in their place.

Many medical companies have managed to deluge of paper by scanning or re-entering the data into the medical record, but this practice increases the potential for error and minimises the cost and efficiency that kiosks provide.

If patients are able to register though kiosks and online applications, health care providers are able to capture patient information electronically from the very beginning of an encounter.

This instantly eliminates the need for duplicate data entry and creates a seamless flow of patient information from check-in through treatment and beyond.

In the US alone, more than 200 health care organisations are using self service to eliminate paper forms. One health system estimates that it will save 30 million sheets of paper in 2009 alone though the deployment and use of self service systems and kiosks.

Making the patient registration process automatic can also have a significant impact on efficiency. Self service systems can facilitate the use and exchange of patient information and reduce wait times, which are shown to be 75 per cent shorter when self service technology is in use.

According to a recent survey conducted by Buzzback Research, patients are ready for the change to self service. 72 per cent of US consumers said they are more likely to select a health care provider that offers the ability to interact via online, mobile and kiosk self service channels.

Giving patients the ability to enter and verify their own health information electronically results in fewer errors, improved data quality and ultimately, better care. For example, reviewing and signing consent documents via a kiosk leads to a more comprehensive, consistent informed consent process that better educates patients about procedures and enhances overall safety.

And as the health care industry begins to embrace patients use of IT and self service systems, the more the benefits will start to show for both the health care industry and the patients.

Already, the growth of self service in other industries such as retail, banking and travel further reinforces the productivity and cost gains that self-service delivers and creates a model for how the technology can improve efficiency, lower costs and improve patient experience.

For more information about implementing a kiosk into your business, visit www.protouch.co.uk