PFU Systems Kiosk Blog

Kiosks and Mobile Devices

noreply@blogger.com (joseph.pierce) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:44:00 +0000

How can Kiosks stay viable in a mobile world? Well, we probably could have asked the same question years ago concerning ticket agents and cashiers when Interactive Kiosks were becoming more prevalent. Despite these advances in technology, a majority of consumers still prefer to utilize traditional methods. As an example, airport check-in Kiosks have been available for many years, yet 59% of travelers still check in using the main airline counter.

Why have newer, more efficient technologies not been adopted faster and by more people? We can learn by looking at the Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC). This sociological model places consumers into five 'adopter groups.' Those groups follow a bell shaped curve in the adoption cycle of a particular technology. Geoffrey Moore also speaks of a 'chasm' that technologies must cross in order to be assimilated into the culture. According to Moore, the chasm occurs between the Early Adopter and Early Majority groups of the TALC.

Dovetailing with the above theories, there is also an acceleration over time of the creation and availability of new technologies.

"Not only are new technologies being created faster than ever before; they are also becoming accessible to the broader population much more rapidly than at earlier points in history."

Although the TALC is helpful, it doesn't speak on the amount of adoption time involved with each new technology. With the accelerated availability and development of newer technologies, it could in turn be inferred that the TALC is accelerated as well. Each technology moves through this adoption process, but the cycle itself may take less time.

Back to the question we first posed, how do Kiosks stay viable in a world that is being proliferated with mobile devices? Two words, physical location. Kiosks are placed in highly trafficked locations and offer a physical means for both vending and advertising. Vending of a physical item in real-time: whether you want to print a paper ticket/coupon, rent a DVD, purchase a product/good or check in at a location, those tasks can all be accomplished seamlessly using a Kiosk. There is also a physical presence a Kiosk provides, consumers can see and use it 'in the wild' so to speak. This way Kiosks can work as a bridge to the mobile experience, either by signage on the physical Kiosk or advertisements via the interface. You can inform consumers about mobile functionality that can be coupled with a Kiosk, functionality that they may not have known of otherwise.

Kiosks are still an important piece in this emerging mobile world. It will be very interesting to see how both the mobile and Kiosk experiences intertwine and evolve in the years ahead.

Digiboo - A New Way to Watch Movies in Flight

noreply@blogger.com (joseph.pierce) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:42:00 +0000

With the advent of Redbox, Kiosk based movie rental has become a viable option. The convenience of being able to rent a movie while visiting your most frequented locations has really caught on.

Joining the fray is Digiboo, a Kiosk based instant download service. As an introduction to the Digiboo service, let’s play out a scenario:

You have a business flight in 5 hours and just remembered that you wanted to rent a movie to view in flight. What are your options?

Instant Download (Digiboo)
The advantage of using Digiboo in this type of scenario is that their Kiosks are located in the boarding area of airports. Typically, many travelers have some time to spare prior to their flight, why not use that time to rent a movie?

You can obtain a Digiboo movie via a USB storage device or the Kiosk provided Wi-Fi connection. Using USB 3.0 flash memory it can take as little as 30 seconds to download a movie (2 to 5 minutes for USB 2.0 and 4 to 10 minutes over Wi-Fi 802.11n). There are several advantages over other rental services:
• New releases are available every week (coinciding with DVD retail release dates)
• 30 day rental period, 48 hour viewing window
• No need to return a physical disc (the movie is automatically removed from your system upon either meeting the 30 day or 48 hour thresholds)
• Less PC power is drained when watching a DVD

New releases are $3.99 and classic titles are $2.99 (you have the option to purchase a rented title as well). Currently, you can find Digiboo kiosks in Seattle, Portland and Minnesota. The service will be expanding to many more major airports soon.
Supported Devices: PC (support for Android expected fall 2012)

Physical Disc (Redbox)
Most Redbox kiosks can be found at gas stations, grocery stores and fast food restaurants. The rental period is 1 day (ends at 9:00 p.m. the day after you rent). The cost for a movie is typically $1.20 (+ tax) for a DVD. You may hold onto the disc past the rental period, but will be charged an additional rental fee for each day the disc is overdue. You may return the disc to any Redbox kiosk in the U.S. once you are finished with the disc (since Redbox kiosks are exclusive to the U.S., returning the disc would not be an option on an international flight).
Supported Devices: Any device with an Optical Drive

Digital Download Service (iTunes, Amazon Instant View, Google Play)
This option requires advanced planning since it is the most time consuming in regards to actual download time. Depending on your internet connection, it could take anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours to download a movie. Cost is $3.99 for a standard definition movie. You are allotted a 30 day rental and 24 hour viewing period. Like the instant download service, once either of those thresholds is met, the movie will be automatically removed from your system.
Supported Devices: PC, Mac, iOS, Android

Streaming (Netflix)
The main requirement here will be an in flight Wi-Fi connection, which can typically run anywhere from $5-$20. A Netflix streaming subscription is $7.99 a month. With that subscription you are able to view all of the streaming content provided. Unfortunately, if you are looking for new releases, titles are limited with this option.
Supported Devices: PC, Mac, iOS, Android

There you have it. As for the Digiboo service, it is still only in the initial stages. But, with time, could be a major challenger to other Kiosk based movie rental services like Redbox. Why not give them a try.

Will the new iPhone have NFC?

noreply@blogger.com (joseph.pierce) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:11:00 +0000

With the announcement of the new iPhone set for next Wednesday, rumors are swirling about the expected features. One of those features is NFC. Some have said it will not be included (here and here), while others are saying it is a possibility (here and here).

In conclusion:

confirmed: new iphone either will or will not have NFC
— Chris Ziegler (@zpower) August 28, 2012

Let's just say for the sake of this blog that NFC will be included in the hardware of the new iPhone. What could that do for NFC technology?

In our blog written in January entitled NFC Kiosks in Japan, we discussed how NFC adaptation in the US had been very slow in comparison. 60 percent of all cell phones in Japan were NFC enabled. Meanwhile, only 23 percent of users in the US were willing to use their mobile phone for payment.

According to a survey by techbargains.com, it is expected that 70 percent of current iPhone owners (38 percent of Blackberry and 22 percent of Android) will buy the new iPhone. It will be by far the most popular smart phone to date in the US.

If Apple were to place emphasis on the adaptation of NFC with this new device, there's no telling what that could do for the technology both in public awareness and overall acceptance.

Back in 2011, Frost and Sullivan asked "NFC: When will be the Real Start?" With the release of the newest iPhone, they may have their answer.

Complexity and Risks of a Kiosk Project -3

noreply@blogger.com (joseph.pierce) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Why Penn's wine kiosk failed: Part 3

In this series, we have been discussing why the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's Wine Kiosk project failed. In this post, we will continue to focus on the kiosk malfunctions – over 1,000 reported issues - that served as a critical blow to the project.

The table below is the excerpt of the number and type of malfunctions at wine kiosks from June 21, 2010, through December 31, 2010, published in the special performance audit conducted by Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General.

Category	Number	Examples of error messages (excerpt)
Kiosk not functioning	281	· Kiosk is not responding · Out of order messages on the screen
Door and dispensing issues	179	· Door did not unlock to dispense product · Product not dispensed once door is open · Door does not close tightly after sale
ID issues	144	· Out-of-state license not recognized · ID scanner not functioning
Receipt issues	97	· Not printing receipts
BrAC (breathanalyzer) issues	70	· BrAC hardware failure / not functioning
Audio/Visual issues	67	· No audio / Volume too loud · Overhead camera problem
Payment card issues	35	· Signature pad not working · Not processing credit card
Out of stock error message	18	· False " Out of stock" message on screen
Other	28	· Shelf doesn't stop blinking
Total	919

Source: A special Performance Audit – Wine Kiosk Program of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (August 2011) by Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General

As you can see, almost every single major device had a number of errors.

Here are the lessons we can learn from the list of errors:

There more devices you have, the more challenging integration becomes

As we mentioned in our previous post, the kiosk system was extremely complex, requiring numerous I/O devices.

As we wrote in our post What are the hidden challenges of kiosk application development?, device control is one of the greatest challenges in kiosk software development. Based on our experience, as the number of devices increases, the difficulty of software development increases almost exponentially.

Why?

Insuring that each of these devices interacts with each other in the right sequence and all out-of-bound cases are handled properly is imperative. Each device should be put through a rigorous testing process both on their own and in combination with other devices.

It is not known whether their policy and contract would have allowed, but if they had reduced the number of devices by using the resources of the grocery store there would have been a higher chance for the project succeed. (For example, if a cashier could confirm that the customer passed the breath analysis and proved their age, he/she could have handled the checkout process. In this way, the kiosk would not have required a special display case and payment mechanism.)

Moving parts are more prone to error

As we can see in the table above, the door and dispensing mechanism was one of the most problematic devices they had. The display doors and metal shields are opened, closed, locked, and unlocked many times a day. Not only is it difficult to coordinate each move, they easily wear out over time particularly if they are left in a harsh public environment.

It is risky to adopt new technologies

Commonly used devices from known companies tend to be more reliable because they have been field tested and all major technical issues have been solved. Alternatively, new/relatively new technologies such as the wine display and breathe analyzer are more prone to encounter unexpected errors because they haven’t been thoroughly tested in the field.

In Summary

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board undertook a very ambitious project. Due to a lack of experience and planning, they sort of met the perfect storm of issues. Overall, anyone planning future kiosk projects of great complexity can learn from the Penn Wine Kiosk and be better prepared for the challenges they will face before, during and after deployment.

Complexity and Risks of a Kiosk Project -2

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:56:00 +0000

Why Penn's wine kiosk failed: Part 2

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com. http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/8377/Why-Penn-s-wine-kiosk-failed-Part-2

In this series, we have been discussing why the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's Wine Kiosk project failed. In this post, we will focus on the more than 1,000 kiosk malfunctions that served as a critical blow to the project.

Complex kiosk system
First, let's discuss the process of the wine kiosks. As we mentioned in the previous post, the kiosk system was extremely complex requiring numerous I/O devices.

Here is how each kiosk was intended to work:
To purchase wine from a kiosk, customers were required to insert a driver's license into a scanner and pass a breath alcohol test. In addition, each wine kiosk was equipped with two cameras so that a Board employee at the call center could observe customers as they made their purchases.

After the customers swiped the credit card and signed the signature pad, a Board employee at the center would unlock the wine display case door. Within the display case itself, there were metal shields surrounding each bottle to prevent product theft. Once customers took the purchased wine from the case and closed the door, it was then to be re-locked immediately.

Continued malfunctions
During the first seven months of operation, customers reported nearly 1,000 malfunctions, which eventually forced the Board to shut down the kiosks during the 2010 holiday season for longer than a month.

According to the report, the vendor, Simple Brands, found "the cause deep within its kiosks in the operating system and in the interactions with the hardware, including the dispensing mechanisms". During the shutdown period, the vendor attempted to fix the problems by rewriting the software related to four components of the kiosks: The touchscreens, the identification scanners, the card readers, and the printers, and "modifying the power distribution to the dispensing system to remedy the non-dispensing issues related to the kiosk doors and the shields".

Unfortunately, the kiosks began to malfunction again almost immediately after they reopened, and the issues were essentially the same as the ones that occurred before conducting the repair. Overall, the Auditor General estimated that as many as 1 in every 21 transactions was problematic.

The box was nice, but...
A common misunderstanding is that a kiosk system can be built by simply placing off-the-shelf hardware and software components together like Lego blocks. Afterward, cover them with a handsome enclosure, attach a nice application interface, and it is done!

The manufacturer of the wine kiosk might have allocated its development resources based on this misunderstanding. Indeed, they seem to have put a lot of effort into the look of the kiosk. As we can see here, the designs of the enclosure, wine display and touchscreen were beautiful and sophisticated.

We agree that aesthetics are very important, but with better planning they could have anticipated the difficulty and risk of development upfront, and focused more resources on the integration of components, development of a reliable and fault-tolerant kiosk system and testing.

In our next post, we will continue discussing technical issues and lessons learned from this kiosk project.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Complexity and Risks of a Kiosk Project -1

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 22:04:00 +0000

Why Penn's wine kiosk failed: Part 1

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com. http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/8293/Why-Penn-s-wine-kiosk-failed-Part-1

After reading fellow blogger Michael Ionescu's post "Bad execution: Why good kiosk ideas fail", I did some research to learn more about what was behind the failure of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's Wine Kiosk project.

I found that the 102 page report of a special Performance Audit conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General provided a lot of information regarding the entire project including the contract between the Liquor Control Board and Simple Brands (the kiosk vendor), revenue and loss, mechanical and technological malfunctions, and other operational issues.

What went wrong?
The report lists poor sales, high operating costs, erosion of customer confidence due to continued malfunctions, and shortfall in convenience as the reason for the project failure. Those reasons, as well as 1,000 reported kiosk malfunctions were definitely key issues (I will discuss this in detail in my next post). However, I feel the report did not address the fundamental problem: A huge underestimation of the complexity and risk of such a project.

When I first heard about this project in 2009, as much as I wanted them to succeed, I was really pessimistic about the results because of three primary reasons: First, this kiosk system was extremely complex requiring numerous I/O devices including wine dispenser, touch panel, ID reader, receipt printer, breath analyzer, camera, speaker, and credit card reader. Second, it was such a high-risk/low-return deal for the kiosk vendor. The vendor was to provide service and maintain kiosks at no cost to the Board while collecting small fees – a $1 convenience fee per transaction and a $0.50 advertising fee per bottle. In addition, the vendor agreed to compensate the Board with more than $2 million per year if the Board's expense in operation exceeded its revenue. Lastly, Simple Brand was a new company with no previous kiosk experience.

I strongly disagree with the report that the contract was advantageous to the kiosk vendor. The report also doubts the fairness of the procurement process because Simple Brands was the only company that submitted a bid. In my opinion, other kiosk companies viewed this project as far too risky to undertake.

The results
The results of the wine kiosk program were disastrous – revenues below expectations, costs far exceeding estimates, and continued malfunctions forced the Board to terminate the program in September 2011.

The revenue Simple Brands collected between October 2010 and March 2011, was less than $62,500 – about $36,389 for the transaction fee and $26,091 for the advertising fee. Meanwhile, as of March 2011, the vendor had spent approximately $5 million for development and $9 million for manufacturing. The manufacturing cost per kiosk was $93,000 and installation cost was $3,700 each.

The Board also suffered a loss. As of March 2011, the net income it earned from sales was $206,060, while costs were $1,131,375, ending with a net loss from sales of $925,315.

Not a sustainable business model
Since the report does not talk about the vendor's initial sales and cost projections, we really don't know what business model they had for this project. But even if the kiosks were fully functioning from the start of the project and sales were as projected, it still might not have been a sustainable business model for the kiosk vendor.

Let's assume the sales per kiosk are 210 bottles each week (their minimum sales threshold) and customers buy 1 bottle per transaction. Since it was contracted to run 100 kiosks, the annual revenue for the vendor would have been:

210 (bottles) x 52 (weeks) x 100 (kiosks) x $1.5 (transaction + advertising fee per bottle) = approx $1.6 million

Meanwhile, based on our experience, their development costs ($5 million) and the manufacturing and installation costs per unit ($93,000 + $3,700) don't seem to be too high considering the complexity of the kiosk system and the risk factors in using the new technologies.

$5 million + ($93,000 + $3,700) x 100 (kiosks) = approx $15 million

This $15 million covers only the initial costs and does not include various operating costs. In addition, based on the contract, the vendor was supposed to "bear any and all costs associated with improvements, upgrades, enhancements or other features, providing any and all maintenance services related to each wine kiosk at no cost". In our view, $1.6 million of annual revenue does not seem to be enough to collect the $15 million in initial costs within 10 years of the contracted term and generate a healthy profit.

Unfortunately, both Simple Brands and the Liquor Control Board seem to have underestimated the complexity and risk of the kiosk project, which lead to two devastating outcomes: an unfeasible and unsustainable business model as well as an abyss of technical issues.

In our next blog post, we will discuss what technical issues the wine kiosk faced and the lesson we can learn from them.

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How to minimize the effect of kiosk errors

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 22:40:00 +0000

Kiosk Error Management

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com. http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/8041/What-are-the-hidden-challenges-of-kiosk-application-development

Let's examine the following scenario to find out how things could go wrong with an in-store kiosk that is not designed to handle errors properly.

In a retail store, a customer is trying to order a shirt using an in-store kiosk because she couldn't find her size in the store. The kiosk is designed to enable her to order any product in the catalog, make a payment and ship the item to her home. She chooses the shirt from the catalog, selects the correct color and size. She then enters her shipping and billing address. Finally, she swipes her credit card through the card reader and waits for her receipt to print... Nothing! The screen seems to be frozen and the receipt was never printed.

She doesn't know if the order went through, and in the worst-case scenario, she may never receive the product even though her credit card was charged! Being frustrated, she talks to one of the floor assistants, but he has no idea what went wrong either. After searching for the store manager, he finally finds a phone number that he can call for assistance. The customer will have to wait for at least a few days to find out what happened with the transaction. Most likely she will not use the kiosk ever again. The kiosk will be kept unplugged until a service engineer comes to fix the problem...

What went wrong?
In this scenario, there seems to be a problem with the kiosk printer or the network, but device errors are inevitable, particularly in a harsh operating environment with public usage. Even if we choose the most durable and reliable devices in the market, we can still expect various issues to arise.

The biggest mistake in this scenario was that the kiosk left the customer and employee confused and upset without giving them any insight into what went wrong or a method to recover from the error.

So, how should the kiosk have been designed to handle the issue differently?

Monitoring and early detection
Continuous monitoring of kiosk devices and software enables early detection of problems. If potential issues are detected early, it can reduce the chance that a customer will actually face a problem like the one depicted in the above scenario. Also with automatic email/SNS notification, a kiosk administrator can be aware of the problem and quickly start taking action, which will greatly reduce the downtime of the kiosk.

Out-of-service mode
Ideally, all problems should be solved before they can actually affect any customer. At the very least, the kiosk should hold in out-of-service mode until the kiosk starts functioning again.

Although it might sound strange, out-of-service mode is actually a powerful tool to prevent the worst-case scenario. Of course, customers won't be happy seeing an out-of-service message, but it is much better than encountering an error while using a kiosk. If they know that the kiosk is out-of-service ahead of time, they can find another kiosk in the store or choose a different course of action.

In addition, an out-of-service message can hide errors that may appear on the kiosk screen – such as a pop-up error message, browser error (such as 404 Page Not Found), or a non-responding screen. Exposing errors is not only embarrassing, but also could pose a threat to kiosk security. For example, a user might be able to access the operating system of the kiosk by tapping a button on a pop-up error window. (For more about kiosk security please see our previous post.)

Problem diagnosis/remote management
Knowing the exact cause of a problem greatly helps to reduce down time and service costs. If problem diagnosis and remote management capabilities are in place, a kiosk administrator can remotely identify, troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve most problems. A service engineer will be dispatched only when kiosk parts need to be fixed or replaced.

Implementing these capabilities might increase the up-front development costs, but in the long term, it will save more money on service and maintenance costs.

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What are the hidden challenges of kiosk application development?

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:34:00 +0000

Kiosk Application - Device Control

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/8041/What-are-the-hidden-challenges-of-kiosk-application-development

You are half way through your kiosk project. You have secured the budget and organizational buy-in, and have even selected kiosk hardware and devices. Now, you are trying to build a kiosk application with the capability to increase revenue and enhance the customer experience. Great! You are on the right track.

But at the same time, kiosk managers need to make sure not to overlook the hidden challenges of kiosk application development – the device management. In many cases, a kiosk system needs to control various kiosk I/O devices such as printers, magnetic card readers and barcode readers. Here is why it is so challenging:

Device control

Let's take a thermal printer as an example. There are many kiosk printer vendors that offer a diverse product lineup. Depending on the manufacturer and the model, each printer has different specifications. A kiosk application developer needs to thoroughly understand the selected printer's functionalities and API (application programming interface) defining the behaviors, sequence, control, events, exceptions and status of the device.

Complying with the API could be a tedious process but critical in kiosk application development to avoid unexpected device errors. For example, the program has to "initialize" each device by sending commands such as open, claim, check version and "finalize" by release and close commands. Without these steps, the kiosk application will not be able to function properly, which will lead to errors and malfunctions.

Monitoring and error handling

Each device needs to be monitored and any errors and exceptions have to be handled properly to minimize the impact on the kiosk performance. For example, if the printer ran out of paper, the kiosk should hold in out-of-service mode until the kiosk operator fills paper. We will discuss this area in more detail in future posts.

Qualification of the developers
The engineers who have the capabilities and experience in POS programming are much more scarce compared with the large pool of web application developers and designers. Even if you can luckily find qualifying engineers who are experienced in this field, they may not necessarily excel at designing and implementing a user friendly application interface.

As a kiosk vendor, our approach is to provide a middleware platform that takes care of these device related challenges. When kiosk vendors provide the means to integrate kiosk applications with kiosk hardware and devices, kiosk application developers can focus on the application user interface instead of struggling with technical problems. This will increase the chance of successful kiosk rollout while reducing the costs of application development and support services.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

How to protect your kiosk

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:12:00 +0000

Kiosk Software Security

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7669/How-kiosk-applications-differ-from-websites

As we discussed in the previous post, kiosk security is one of the greatest challenges organizations need to deal with during kiosk application development.

Self-service kiosks are often in unsupervised locations, and thus vulnerable to threats such as information theft, virus and malware, and unauthorized access to the kiosk system. Organizations must have rock-solid security measures in place to protect their kiosks from any security breach.

The following are some of the most common threats and countermeasures related to kiosk software:

Unauthorized access to the kiosk software and operating system
If users can access the operating system of the kiosk, they could do pretty much anything they want to cause damage -- display unauthorized websites, steal/alter sensitive data stored in the file system, download and install malicious applications or a virus, use the kiosk to attack other computers or access the organization's system, to list a few.

Therefore, limiting access to the operating system is one of the most important countermeasures to any security threats. Using kiosk platform software that allows a lockdown of the OS and browser is the most common method. This kind of software ensures that any and all kiosk usage is restricted to its intended purpose by concealing Windows and browser menus, controlling URL access, disabling key combinations such as Ctrl+Alt+Del, and blocking pop-ups and dialogs.

Information theft
Theft of sensitive data such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, and medical records can result in tremendous damage to the business and reputation.

Although it sounds pretty simple, the best countermeasure is not to store any customer information on the local disk of the individual kiosks. Instead, data should be sent to the central host server via an encrypted connection.

In order to protect each user's private information, it is also important to delete all cookies and cache at the end of every session. In addition, in the case that a user leaves before their session completes, delete the customer information and reset to the top page after a certain period of inactivity. Most kiosk platform software has the capability to automatically handle this.

Virus and malware
Virus and malware can seriously impair the performance of a kiosk system. In a worst case scenario, the affected kiosk might be used to attack other computers or lead to a data breach.

For regular computers, the most effective measures are Automatic Windows Updates and antivirus software. However, they may not work the best for a kiosk particularly when it is a complex system equipped with I/O devices. Although keeping the system updated with the most recent patches and antivirus definitions sound great, automatic updates of the system could cause unexpected results. For example, a major Windows update could lead to incompatibility with a device driver which is used in the kiosk system. Also, it often makes troubleshooting of kiosk problems much more difficult. Therefore, all changes to the system should be tested in a testing environment before implemented at every single kiosk in production.

Actually, as long as unauthorized access to the kiosk is blocked, the chance of a kiosk system being infected with virus or malware is very low, unless it is used to browse various websites. So focusing on locking down the kiosk software and operating system is much more effective.

If you are considering deploying security software, we recommend "white-list" based solutions that are widely used in embedded systems. When white-list based security software is deployed, only pre-configured and authorized applications become executable and no virus or malware can run on the system.

Since this post is a part of a series discussing kiosk software development, here we focused on the software aspects of kiosk security. But needless to say, kiosk hardware protection is equally (or even more) important when considering kiosk security measures. In a future post, we will come back to the security topic again to discuss kiosk hardware protection. Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Kiosk application V.S. Web Site

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:45:00 +0000

How kiosk applications differ from websites?

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7569/2-key-factors-in-kiosk-software-development-Part-2

In the previous two posts, we discussed the two key factors of kiosk software development - an attractive user interface and a seamless integration process. Ideally, an organization should allot most of the software development resources to those factors in order to maximize a return on its kiosk investment.

However, in reality there are several challenges organizations have to deal with during kiosk application development. To understand these challenges, we need to explain how a kiosk application and a regular website differ.

The user experience
When browsing a website, customers can sit comfortably in front of a computer at home or in the office and have a mouse to navigate through the pages.

Users have a very different experience at a kiosk. When browsing a kiosk application, users are standing with the screen at eye level. Sometimes users may feel pressure if there are other people lining up behind them, so they move quickly. Instead of a mouse, users are using their fingers to navigate through the various touchscreen panels.

To address these factors, the kiosk user interface should be simple and easy to navigate. For more detail, see our previous post which details how this can be done.

Security issues

For a website, the responsibility of protection comes down to the corresponding web system and the data transaction process. If the server and the transactions are protected then the entire system should be secure.

When a kiosk system is deployed, in addition to the central server and data transaction, each kiosk must also be protected. Kiosks are often in unsupervised locations, requiring more security measures for sufficient protection. We will discuss kiosk security in more detail in a future blog post here, so stay tuned!

Content
A kiosk manager needs to be sure that customers have access to the most up-to-date content from any kiosk. The easiest solution for this is to make the kiosk application Web-based and manage all the content from a central system. Another option for managing content is to develop a content distribution system or purchase one from a third party.

Device settings
Unlike a Web system that involves only the customer's Web browser, a kiosk system has to control various kiosk I/O devices such as printer, magnetic card reader, and barcode reader. This can be very challenging because a kiosk’s I/O device control requires experience and expertise. We will be discussing this further in a post coming soon.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

noreply@blogger.com (joseph.pierce) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Join PFU Systems Inc. in San Francisco at Customer Engagement Technology World 2012, March 28-29!

Experience the excitement of the latest movie download kiosk – Stop by booth #311 with your USB memory stick to get a free movie rental download!

PFU Systems will be showcasing the NEW Digiboo Movie Download Kiosk Solutions, which were recently deployed throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Anyone that visits the PFU kiosk with a USB 3.0 or 2.0 flash drive (with 2GB of free space) will receive a free movie download of his or her choice from Digiboo’s vast collection.

Also on display, will be innovative software and digital content from Roundtree Visuals’ Zoetic Media, which synchronizes beautiful imagery with branding messages.

What’s more? PFU will also showcase its world-class turn-key kiosk solutions, including:

Custom and Standard Kiosk Hardware – Versatile wall mount model and stand model
An enhanced Remote Management System now offering remote desktop capabilities
Sophisticated kiosk platform software that reduce the costs of the development and operations of kiosk systems

A Visitor Management Kiosk application that touts state-of-the-art kiosk integration with the Salesforce platform

We look forward to seeing you at:
Customer Engagement Technology World, Booth #311
March 28-29, 2012
Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, CA
Registration: http://www.cetworld.com/register.asp
Your VIP code: CEX40
To learn more about PFU kiosks, visit our website:
http://www.pfusystems.com/kiosk/overview/index.html

Contacts:
Please call 408-451-2987 to schedule a demo session

Media:
Fusion PR for PFU Systems
Victoria Yarnish
(310) 481-1431, Ext. 18
victoria.yarnish@fusionpr.com

More About Digiboo
Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Digiboo is expanding consumer access to fast, higher quality digital downloading through its digital movie kiosks to be located in airports and other high traffic public spaces. Consumers will be able to purchase or rent more than 1,000 movie titles via download in less than 30 seconds to any USB 3.0 flash drive or other faster generation memory device. Viewers can then enjoy the movie of their choice on a variety of devices including PCs, TVs, Laptops and netbooks.
http://www.digiboo.com/

More About Roundtree Visuals
Roundtree Visuals is a digital signage firm that produces and licenses high-quality interactive digital content to end-users, to OEMs and to other digital signage firms. Zoetic Media is a SaaS turnkey Digital Content Solution. It provides content creation, editing, scheduling, publishing and reporting using the cloud for global access and content delivery.
http://roundtreevisuals.com/

2 key factors in kiosk software development - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:00:00 +0000

How to integrate the new kiosk application?

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7569/2-key-factors-in-kiosk-software-development-Part-2

There are two key factors in kiosk software development that maximize the return on an organization's kiosk and IT investment – an effective user interface and a seamless integration process. In the previous post, we discussed the criteria for the kiosk user interface in order to enhance the user or customer's experience. In part 2 of this series, we will discuss the second key factor: integration of the new kiosk application into the organization's existing system.

Kiosks rarely operate independent of the rest of the other systems within an organization. In most cases, kiosks and other systems such as CRM system and product database, transact with each other and share information such as customer and product data. A kiosk manager needs to make sure that the integration is successful by ensuring that it is seamless, secure and timely.

The most crucial component to success is communication. First, a project manager will need to identify all of the stakeholders such as IT department, marketing, software service vendors of the existing systems, hosting company, etc. Starting conversations with each stakeholder early in the project will help to facilitate a seamless integration.

The following items should be discussed among all stakeholders:

Schedule

It is impossible for an IT manager to handle kiosk integration when the IT team is occupied with a major project, such as migrating the corporate system to a new server. Make sure to reach an agreement with the IT department on the timing of the integration and oversee the process with the IT manager.

IT policies
It is important that a kiosk system is aligned with an organization's IT strategy and compliant with the policy and standards in place. Keeping the kiosk secure and reliable is particularly important because any security related issues such as a data breach or frequent system failures could result in serious damage to the business and reputation.

Data Management

The kiosk architect needs to determine what data will be exchanged between the kiosk and the backend systems. For example, if kiosks need to access the company's customer database, the following questions should be answered:

· What customer information (e.g. name, address, age, and so on) needs to be accessed?

· What is the data format?

· Which level of data access permission is required?

Cross-channel integration
More and more companies are aware of the importance of a well-executed cross-channel strategy. Providing a kiosk user interface that is consistent with the brand image - the look, feel, and experience of company's existing channels such as website and mobile site - helps to reduce confusion and increase customer loyalty.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

2 key factors in kiosk software development - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:17:00 +0000

How to develop user-friendly kiosk user interface?

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7505/2-key-factors-in-kiosk-software-development

In our next couple blog posts, we will focus on the software side of a kiosk project.

There are two key factors in kiosk software development that maximize the return on the organization's kiosk and IT investment. The first is the development of an attractive and user-friendly kiosk application and user interface. A good kiosk user interface ensures that the kiosks are fully utilized and enhances user/customer experience. The second is a seamless integration of the new kiosk application to the organization's existing systems.

Part one of this blog will delve into the user interface of kiosk applications. Based on our kiosk application development, we believe the following four major criteria should be considered in developing an excellent user interface.

Easy to browse

Use large fonts.
Keep high contrast between text and background.
Choose background colors that make fingerprints and reflection less obvious.

Easy to understand

Keep it simple.
Provide clear instructions.
Provide multi-language support.
Use consistent page layout and color (e.g. Next button at the right-bottom of every page).

Easy to operate

Use large buttons.
Avoid complicated operations such as double-clicking, scrolling or dragging.
Optimize touch screen configuration (e.g. sensitivity, point/stream mode).
Make it obvious when a button is pressed (e.g. beeps, 3D buttons).

Attractive

Make the design attractive and user-friendly.
Incorporate the brand image.

Once the kiosk application is developed, it is really important to conduct through testing to verify the following:

Are all the steps and instructions clear to users?
Can non-technically savvy people use the application without difficulties?
Are there any pages that have a higher abandon rate?

Continuous monitoring of the kiosk application usage will also help organizations to optimize the user interface and maximize the ROI.

Check back in a couple weeks for part two of this blog, which will explain the integration of a kiosk application to the organization's existing systems.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

How long does it take to roll out a kiosk system?

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:30:00 +0000

A kiosk project's timeline ranges anywhere from a few months to several years depending on the scope of the project – how large the project is, how complicated the application is and whether the kiosk system is independent or needs to be integrated into an existing system.

It takes much more time to roll out thousands of custom kiosks with complicated applications than it does to deploy a few off-the-shelf kiosks that simply display standard information.

Based on our experience, a typical mid- to large-scale kiosk implementation takes 12 to 24 months.

Kiosk project phases

There are three especially important phases for kiosk projects – the scoping and planning phase and development and implementation for both the pilot and production kiosks.

Scoping & planning

The first phase involves scoping, planning and vendor selection. As we discussed in our first post Overcoming the challenges of kiosk deployments: Part 1, the internal decision making process in this phase could take some time because a kiosk project usually involves many stakeholders such as executives, marketing managers, the customer relationship, office management, etc.

Development & implementation for pilot kiosks

Organizations usually develop and implement pilot kiosks for proof of concept in the first 6 to 12 months. This process greatly reduces the risk of the investment because it allows organizations to validate the concept, hardware and software and make adjustments to them before they invest significantly for the large-scale rollout.

Development & implementation for production kiosks

After the development of the pilot kiosks is completed or close to completion, it is the time to start to build the production kiosks for large-scale rollout.

As mentioned in the previous blog post, Is your kiosk following regulations?, complying with regulations requires extra time management therefore starting the development of the production kiosks early on helps to save time. Don't wait for the pilot program to be completed before starting this process. Try to incorporate as much feedback as possible from the pilot kiosks to improve the production system.

By planning for each phase of your kiosk project, you are helping to ensure the delivery of the best possible product and an overall successful program.

Is your kiosk following regulations?

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:10:00 +0000

Kiosk Related Regulations

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7313/Is-your-kiosk-following-regulations

Because kiosks are products available at public facilities, they are subject to various types of regulations and must meet federal standards. Not all of these regulations are mandatory, and many depend on the configuration and application of the kiosk. It’s certainly recommended, however, to comply with all regulations to avoid additional hassles in the deployment process (not to mention legal considerations).

Here is a list of regulations that should be considered for compliance:

Hardware Safety & Communications

· UL (Underwriters Laboratories) http://www.ul.com

· RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) http://www.rohs.eu/english/index.html

· FCC (Federal Communications Commission) http://www.fcc.gov/

Accessibility

· ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) http://www.ada.gov/

Credit Card Payment

· PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/

Healthcare

· HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/

The Challenges

Cost and Time: Complying with federal regulations requires extra budget checks and time management. For example, if you order custom kiosks, the UL certificate process could take several weeks to several months depending on the configuration and the availability of the various lab facilities for testing. It is recommended to develop and deploy pilot units and then begin the development, production and the UL process for production models intended for large-scale rollouts. Don’t wait for the pilot program to be completed before starting this, kick start the process early on while the prototype units are still being evaluated in the test market so you aren’t wasting precious time and resources.

Working with a kiosk manufacturer that has experience and knowledge about the process definitely helps to determine exact cost and time estimates before you undergo any premature deployments. The costs of testing fees and overhead may be included or added to the price of the hardware depending on the agreements stated at the beginning of the process.

Accessibility for everyone: Additional steps need to be taken as a kiosk provider in order to be in compliance with various regulations. For example, the ADA ensures accessibility to users with disabilities, and there are processes to be implemented and standards that need to be met to fulfill ADA requirements.

The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design take effect on March 15, 2012. This new set of specifications establishes a user’s “unobstructed high reach to be set at 48 inches” which means that any operable parts of your unit have to be located within 48 inches from the ground, making kiosks more difficult for users standing at 6 feet tall.

Organizations have a choice to deploy multiple kiosks at one location – one unit that complies with ADA and others that do not to accommodate everybody’s needs.

Multiple stakeholders: While hardware and communication regulations such as UL, RoHS and FCC are more or less satisfied with the purchase of compliant products, some regulations require ongoing commitment in product development as well as in operations.

For example, purchasing PCI-compliant card readers is not enough to fully comply with PCI regulations. Kiosk owners must maintain a secure network, secure software, and need to implement and manage strong access control measures as well.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

NFC Kiosks in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Kiosks Helped NFC Adoption in Japan

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7263/NFC-kiosks-in-Japan-have-helped-mobile-payment-adoption

I recently read several articles about the slow adoption of mobile and NFC payment in the U.S. including the following - Hold onto your wallets: Mobile payments seeing slow adoption.

In Japan, NFC (more precisely NFC-F which is different from NFC-A and -B used in the U.S.) has been enthusiastically adopted nationwide over the last 10 years. Virtually all commuters in the major metropolitan areas of Japan use NFC to pay their fares. Consumers can make payments using their NFC enabled phones or NFC cards at many locations including convenience stores, newsstands, restaurants, various retailers and vending machines. Almost 60 percent of cell phones – more than 70 million units[*] in the market including recent Android smartphones - are NFC-enabled.

While functionalities of NFC are not limited to payment, NFC point-of-sale (POS) devices usually handle merchant transactions only by reading the balance, deducting the price of items purchased, and then writing the new balance onto the NFC chip. The demand for kiosks that can offer more NFC capabilities is high. In the last couple of years, we have deployed more than 10,000 kiosks equipped with NFC readers or writers in many different applications throughout Japan.

The following are examples of the capabilities NFC-enabled kiosks can provide:

e-Money Replenishment

· In Japan, there are six major prepaid e-Money currencies used nationwide and in the greater metropolitan areas.

· NFC Kiosks allow consumers to add money values to their cards with cash or credit cards.

· The kiosk accepts the payment and writes the new balance to the NFC chip in the cards or cell phones.

Royalty point management

· A number of retailers and restaurants use NFC for their royalty programs. For example, All Nippon Airways (ANA) mileage points can be exchanged to Edy – the most-used prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card or e-Money.

· Kiosks allow users to manage their royalty points; they can check the current point balance and exchange them into e-Money.

· Kiosks communicate with servers to retrieve the point information, handle the exchange transactions and write the new value to NFC chips.

Visitor points

· Some retailers encourage customers to visit their stores by offering customer reward points even without any purchases.

· Customers can simply walk in the store and use a kiosk to receive points.

Airport Check-in

· The two major Japanese Airlines – ANA and Japan AirLines (JAL) use NFC for their mileage membership cards. Flyers can use kiosks in the airports or hotels to check-in with their cell phones or membership NFC cards.

· After checking in, they can use the same cell phones or cards to go through custom and boarding gates, which makes the entire process efficient and paperless.

Source: Felica Networks --- http://www.felicanetworks.co.jp/news/news/20120227.html

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Cost or Quality?

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:11:00 +0000

Implementing consumer vs. industrial grade components

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7079/Cost-or-Quality-Implementing-consumer-vs-industrial-grade-components

In our post on Nov. 14, we wrote about the importance of selecting industrial-quality I/O (input/output) components to ensure the reliability of a kiosk system.

In an ideal scenario, industrial-quality components are available at affordable prices, but in the real world, organizations often face a dilemma between cost and quality.

As a kiosk manufacturer, we face the same dilemma all the time. PFU is a Japanese company that has extremely strict standards when selecting outside components. The selection criteria we follow consider multiple elements of these components including features, quality, durability, environmental conditions, toxic chemical usage and availability. We often visit vendors' factories to make sure that they have good manufacturing practices in place. Given our strict standards, we have a history of selecting the very best components largely from well-known and established Japanese manufactures, which help make our product premium.

Over the last few years we have learned that this approach does not always work in the U.S. market. First, it does not make sense for us to bring kiosks made in Japan to sell in the U.S. given high fuel prices and the strong Yen against the U.S. dollar in recent years.

As we worked with U.S. component suppliers, we quickly realized that as a component buyer, we are following a more demanding selection process than what our vendors are accustomed to. For example, our tolerance (allowed variation from specified dimensions) was much tighter than those that they usually comply with, and after the series of tests that we typically conduct, hidden defects unknown to suppliers are often revealed. We believe in being meticulous as the little things do matter in order to build up high quality kiosks, however we have to find a balance with our vendors to avoid being counter-productive.

Also, when we develop custom kiosks, some U.S. customers request us to use off-the-shelf components in order to lower the unit cost. It is understandable – they do value quality, but they also have to stick within limited budgets.

Generally speaking, combining consumer- and industry-grade items is the most realistic and cost effective way to move forward. When do you use and not use consumer-grade components? We recommend selecting industry-grade components if they fall into one of the following two categories.

The quality of the component directly affects the performance of the kiosk

Certain components could play critical roles in overall performance of a kiosk system. For example, if your kiosk needs to handle important online transactions, selecting industry-grade network devices is recommended as there are usually much higher security settings required for Internet connections in the business environment rather than a less reliable home network.

The availability does matter

Since consumer products tend to undergo frequent model changes, there is a higher risk that selected components will reach end-of-life (EOL) and no longer be available for order. After EOL, it becomes difficult to purchase the same model and obtain repair parts, which will force you to use new or different models for a kiosk project. If the EOL of a component could affect the performance of the kiosk, consider selecting an industry-grade one instead. Industry-grade component suppliers usually offer a longer product lifetime and better product support, so even if it reaches EOL you will still be able to receive advance notice allowing you to evaluate new and different models ahead of time.

Similarly, firmware updates could also affect the performance of the kiosk system. Again, industry-grade component vendors will give you better support with advance notice of updates and assurance of compatibility.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Overcoming the Challenges of Kiosk Deployments: Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:55:00 +0000

What can an organization do to reduce unscheduled downtime?

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/7023/Overcoming-the-challenges-of-kiosk-deployments-Part-3

In our last two blog posts, we listed the three greatest challenges that organizations often face in kiosk projects, and discussed the first two: stakeholders and technical components.

In Part 3 of this series, we'll discuss the challenges of post-deployment technical and operational issues.

As we mentioned in Part 2 of this series, there are a number of technical components in a kiosk system, including the hardware components, enclosures, computer system, I/O devices, software components and integration. Let's see how the reliability of the each component affects the overall reliability of the kiosk system.

To make it simple, we'll assume that each of the following kiosk components has 99.9 pecent availability.

· CPU, Memory, Hard disk, Cooling fans, Power

· Touch panel, Printer, Card reader, Barcode reader

· Internet connection, OS, Kiosk middleware, Kiosk application, Backend system

In most cases, if even one of the components has a problem, the kiosk system cannot provide a thorough service. For example, if the card reader cannot read the customer's card, he/she won't be able to finish the transaction.

Since there are 14 components in this example, the entire kiosk system availability drops to 98.61 percent (99.9 percent raised to the power of 14), which translates into 5.07 days of downtime per year.

Kiosk downtime has a tremendously negative impact on your business - lost revenue, damage to the brand image, stalled operations, costs of repairing, and customer dissatisfaction - just to name a few.

What can an organization do to reduce unscheduled downtime?

Reliable kiosk system

Primarily, we recommend ensuring the quality of the kiosk hardware and software before the implementation. Please see the Part 2 of this series for more details.

Early detection

You want to avoid a situation in which a kiosk malfunction is not addressed for days, weeks, or even months. (Sadly, most of us have seen this in the real life.)

The earlier a problem is detected, the earlier an action can be taken to solve it. The most common, and probably most effective, solution to this is to install remote management software that allows a kiosk manager/administrator to view the status of kiosks remotely and in real time.

Remote diagnosis

The more details you know about the problem, the more quickly you can solve it. If a kiosk's remote monitoring system can identify, troubleshoot and diagnose problems, a kiosk service engineer can prepare and bring necessary parts and tools to address the identified issues. Without this capability, the service engineer has to go to the kiosk site to diagnose the problem, and come back again with right parts and tools, which results in higher repair costs and longer downtime.

Multiple kiosks

Installing more than one kiosk at one location also increases the availability of kiosk service. The chance of two kiosks being out service at the same time is very low assuming that the network and central server are reliable.

Proactive maintenance

One more way to reduce unscheduled downtime is to conduct maintenance and replace the component before they cause problems. The examples of proactive maintenance include:

· Clean card reader regularly.

· Change roll paper when it is near the end.

· Replace components such as printer paper cutter and hard disk before they reach their life cycle

It is challenging to know exactly when to conduct these maintenance steps for organizations. Having a mechanism to keep track of the component usage and send notification (such as an email alert) for recommended maintenance certainly helps.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Overcoming the Challenges of Kiosk Deployments: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:07:00 +0000

Technical components within a kiosk system

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/6880/Overcoming-the-challenges-of-kiosk-deployments-Part-2

In our first blog post, we listed the three greatest challenges that organizations often face in kiosk projects – dealing with many stakeholders, the technical components of kiosk deployment and the post-deployment technical and operational issues.

In Part 2 of this series, we'll discuss the challenges that the various technical components of a kiosk system impose.

There are a number of technical components within a kiosk system. If you are implementing a system, you will first need to know what kinds of components need to be integrated into a system. Then, the next question is how to select, integrate and manage those components.

Hardware components

A typical kiosk consists of the following hardware components.

Enclosure

Kiosk enclosure houses, mounts and secures other kiosk components. When choosing a kiosk enclosure, the key considerations include the following:

· Do the quality, durability and ergonomics meet the standards of kiosk usage?

· Does the design align with your organization's branding?

· Is it compliant with safety-related and ADA regulations?

· Does it meet maintenance requirements?

Computer system

A kiosk computer is the engine that runs a kiosk system. It consists of various components such as CPU, RAM, hard disk, power supply, fan, speaker and an external interface that connects other devices to the computer.

The choice is between a commercial grade personal consumer such as Dell or HP PCs or integrated units of industrial computer boards and components. While the former is less expensive, the latter is generally better in terms of reliability, longevity and availability of replacement parts.

The required machine specs depend on which application you are running on the kiosk. For example, if the kiosk plays high-definition videos, it needs more graphic power than the one that shows only static images.

Input and output devices

Among wide variety of I/O devices, the commonly used ones include:

· LCD Display +touch panel

· Printer (thermal or laser)

· Magnetic card reader

· Digital signage display (second display)

· PIN pad, keyboard, track ball

· Signature pad

· Cash accepter

· Proximity sensor

· 2-D barcode reader

· Web camera

NFC/RFID reader

Careful consideration will be required in selecting I/O devices. Unlike kiosk applications, which you can easily add features to and modify or improve over time, adding or changing devices after implementation can be a major hassle. Make sure to incorporate I/O devices that facilitate the long-term goal of your kiosk implementation.

Also, it is important to select industrial-quality I/O devices to ensure the availability of your kiosk system. Please note that the quality of individual components directly affects the quality of the kiosk as a whole.

Software components

Major software components include:

· OS (Windows OS)

· Kiosk application (such as a retail loyalty program application or a healthcare patient check-in system)

· Kiosk platform middleware/software

· Remote management system

We will discuss the software components in detail in one of our future blog posts.

Integration

In order to ensure the reliability of the kiosk system, it is critical to select and integrate all of these components in an optimized way. Since this requires expertise and experience, it is best to choose an experienced kiosk vendor to work with.

One of the common mistakes of an unsuccessful kiosk project is to choose a kiosk vendor that offers the lowest price, but has limited integration capabilities. The results of such are generally poor quality kiosks, high maintenance costs, and low customer satisfaction.

Once you choose the right kiosk company, make sure that it selects and tightly integrates industrial quality hardware components. Conducting a thermal analysis and a series of tests including design verification tests, performance tests, component tests and system tests will also significantly increase the reliability of the kiosk system.

Check back in a couple weeks for part three of this blog, which will explain how to manage the kiosk system and minimize technical and operational issues after kiosk implementation.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Overcoming the Challenges of Kiosk Deployments: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Who are the stakeholders? How to work with them?

This article was originally written for and published at KioskMarketPlace.com.

We are excited to announce that we are now one of the featured blog contributors!

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/blog/6796/Overcoming-the-challenges-of-kiosk-deployments-Part-1

More and more organizations are counting on self-service solutions to achieve their business goals. While successfully implemented kiosks give tremendous benefits to the organization - generate revenue, reduce costs and provide convenience to customers - it is no easy task to get there. Organizations deploying kiosks usually face a series of issues and challenges including the following:

• A kiosk project has many stakeholders

• There are a number of technical components involved in kiosk deployment

• Even after a successful deployment, technical and operational issues often arise

Part 1 of this blog will delve into how to deal with stakeholders.

A kiosk project involves many stakeholders, including customers, multiple divisions in the organization, employees at the kiosk site and vendors. It's the job of a project manager to figure out what each party needs from the project.

The most important stakeholders in a kiosk project would be the customers/users of the kiosk. Defining the right target users and understanding and addressing their needs will be one of the keys to the success of the project.

Getting organizational buy-in is also critical in order to receive necessary support to carry out the kiosk project. Examples of stakeholders within an organization and discussion agenda are:

• Executives, who are responsible for kiosk strategy and budget approval

• Sales/Customer Support department, which will cultivate the customer relationship

• Marketing department, which will create buzz for the kiosk program

• IT department, which will ensure IT compliance, integration with the existing system and kiosk system management

• Office/Store/Utility management, which is responsible for safety compliance, electricity an Internet connections at the installation sites

• Training department, which will provide employee education

Kiosk project managers also need to select and work with kiosk product and service suppliers including:

• Kiosk manufacturers

• I/O suppliers

• Software developers

• Support / implementation service providers

(Selecting a turn-key kiosk provider will probably reduce the number of parties you have to deal with.)

Once you understand the stakeholders and their needs, start communicating with them early on in the project. Engaging key stakeholders will help you set the right goals, specify the scope and create an achievable schedule.

If the majority of the stakeholders – particularly the customers and the key stakeholders in the organization – are happy with the implemented kiosk, the project will most likely be called a success. Set the right expectations and manage those expectations throughout the project and you will see the benefits of having a well-planned kiosk implementation process.

Check back in a couple weeks for parts two and three of this blog, which will explain how to best deal with the technical components of a kiosk project.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.5 Kiosk Management

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:19:00 +0000

What can you do to effectively manage your kiosk system?

Download Kiosk Quick Guide 5

As we mentioned in the first blog entry, one of the challenges of a kiosk project is that technical and operational issues often arise even after a successful deployment. Ongoing efforts are required to make sure the kiosks are used and maintained in the way that they continuously benefit the customers and meet their goals.

The most common, and probably most effective, solution to this is to install remote management software that allows a kiosk manager/administrator to view the status of kiosks and diagnose problems remotely and in real time. This helps organizations reduce unscheduled downtime and support service costs. Some remote management software also provides various statistics data that facilitates organization's decision making and application improvement.

In this volume, we also discuss how the reliability of the each component affects the overall reliability of the kiosk system and how local kiosk management software and proactive maintenance help benefit the availability of the kiosk system.

“Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.5 - Kiosk Management” summarizes the following topics:

• Kiosk Reliability
• Remote Kiosk Management Software

• Local Kiosk Management Software

• Proactive Maintenance

• Statistics

This is the final volume of our Kiosk Quick Guide. Starting with our next blog post, we will revisit the topics of Kiosk Quick Guide Vol. 1 – exploring the ins and outs of a kiosk project – in greater detail.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Download “Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.5 - Kiosk Management”

Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.4: Kiosk Deployment

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Time to Deploy! How to Plan Successful Kiosk Deployment

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In Kiosk Quick Guide Vol. 3, we provided the essential information describing kiosk software development. Kiosk deployment is the next step in the overall kiosk implementation process. Upon successful development of the kiosk hardware and software, detailed planning for the kiosk deployment is the exciting next step. While some businesses are tempted to delay the planning, we recommend spending the appropriate time to plan in order to have a seamless and successful kiosk deployment.

Large and small scale rollouts alike require careful planning and coordination throughout all stages of the kiosk project. An important element of the deployment process is the support of both the customers as well as employees, who are equally important in the acceptance of the kiosks. Customers will find that kiosks satisfy their needs and employees will be crucial in supporting the operations of the kiosks. The last important step in kiosk deployment is having a solid support scheme in place before launching the kiosks, in order to resolve any issues in a timely manner.

“Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.4 - Kiosk Deployment” summarizes the following topics:

• Installation Sites
• Planning & Scheduling

• Customer Acceptance

• Employee Education

• Tamperproofing

• Support Services

We have one more issue of our Kiosk Quick Guide in the works, after that we will revisit these topics and discuss them in greater detail.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Download “Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.4 - Kiosk Deployment”

Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.3 Kiosk Software Development

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:48:00 +0000

Technical Challenges that Block Your Kiosk Software Development

Download Kiosk Quick Guide 3

There are two key factors in kiosk software development that maximize the return on the organization's kiosk and IT investment. The first is the development of an attractive and user-friendly kiosk application and user interface. A good kiosk user interface ensures that the kiosks are fully utilized and enhances users/customer experience. The second is a seamless integration of the new kiosk application to the organization's existing systems.

These are the two most important parts of the software development process and oftentimes the most challenging aspects. In reality, organizations spend so much of the time and resources on technical issues such as device control or error handling that they have little dedicated to these crucial components of the software development process - software integration and user interface.

“Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.3 - Kiosk Software Development” helps you understand these challenges and explains the solutions.

The summarized topics are:

• Selection of Kiosk Middleware/Platform Software

• Kiosk System Architecture (PC-based System vs. Web-based System)
• User Interface

• Device Control

• Error Handling

• Security

• Integration with Existing Systems

• Testing

Again, we will revisit these topics in the future and discuss them in even greater detail. Also, please note that some of the kiosk software related topics such as monitoring and maintenance capabilities are not included here. Those topics will be discussed in the next posts in Kiosk Quick Guide Vol.4 and 5.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Download “Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.3 - Kiosk Software Development”

Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.2 Kiosk Hardware Development

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:11:00 +0000

Download Kiosk Quick Guide 2

How to select and integrate kiosk hardware?

Choosing the right kiosk hardware for a kiosk system is one of the key components to any successful kiosk project. In this edition of the Kiosk Quick Guide, PFU Systems provides the essential steps to kiosk hardware development and integration for all business’ needs.

“Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.2 - Kiosk Hardware Development” summarizes the following topics:

•   Selection of Kiosk Hardware
•   Selection of I/O Devices
•   Kiosk Hardware Integration

This post briefly covers the key considerations, kiosk components, I/Os, integrations, major reasons for device failure and our recommendations for the entire process. Please remember that this is just a summary and in a few weeks we will revisit these topics and discuss them in greater detail.

Subscribe to the PFU Systems’ blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest insight into the kiosk industry.

Download “Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.2 - Kiosk Hardware Development”

Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.1 Kiosk Project

noreply@blogger.com (Natsumi Nakamura) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:31:00 +0000

Download Kiosk Quick Guide 1

What is a kiosk project like?

As mentioned in the previous post, over the next couple of weeks we will provide "Kiosk Quick Guides" that summarize the topics we are going to cover. Again, the quick guides will help you get a better understanding of an entire kiosk implementation, and serve as a reminder of what to expect throughout the duration of a project.

"Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.1 - Kiosk Project" includes the following topics:
•   Kiosk Project Stakeholders
•   Kiosk Project Phases & Schedule
•   Vendor Selection
•   Related Regulations

After posting all the guides from Vol.1 to 5, we will start discussing each topic in detail.
Meanwhile, please write us if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about this blog or kiosk projects in general. We look forward to hearing from you!

Download “Kiosk Quick Guides Vol.1 - Kiosk Project”