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Show emphasizes the big picture of self-service (cont.)

The name change was telling: The Self-Service & Kiosk Show (formerly The Kiosk Show) took a much broader view of self-service as a business strategy. Kiosks were certainly in attendance, but just a large part of a larger picture.

October 24, 2005

Brisk traffic at the IBM booth.

Traffic was heavy at the IBM booth, which displayed a number of applications, notably the Mix & Burn music kiosk. Vice president of operations Dan Kobylarz demonstrated the shopping cart-based music store, which not only offers songs and albums for purchase but boasts sophisticated marketing functionality, like suggesting new songs and artists based on the user's perceived tastes. The finished disc can be labeled, and the printer can also dispense a full-color tray card and front cover.

ICM LLC showcased several of its digital signage offerings, including the "Video Poster," a combination static/digital display that can be mounted on a wall or attached to a base for free-standing floor use. All of the models sport multiple Flash and USB ports, making it easy to update content. According to president Volkan Keskinoglu, a wireless version will be available by the end of the year, enabling content update and management from a single location.

At the show, Infonox introduced its latest turnkey solution, ActiveKiosk, a suite designed to simplify the transition from clerk, teller and cashier-managed processes to self-service terminals.

The ActiveKiosk Suite includes a library of financial products for retail and bank lobbies, and offers workflow solutions for browsing, selecting and making payments for retail services. Financial products include money transfer, check cashing, bill payment, card issuance, loan and insurance application processing, and remote deposit/capture of checks. The customer-facing workflows include hotel or casino check-in/out, car rental, auto and personal insurance purchases, credit application and credit card activation.

KING Products & Solutions had several of its multi-display enclosure models on the show floor, which combine a traditional kiosk with a dynamic digital display mounted above the touchscreen. Vice president of North American sales and marketing Robert Giblett demonstrated the new Web administration interface, which allows kiosk operators to upload, schedule and manage content from any Internet-enabled computer.

Kiosk Logix demonstrated its BizCenterLOGIX solution, an integrated package featuring software, touchscreen interface and a backend powered by a Lexmark print/copy center. Vice president of technology Kevin Mathison said the package makes it easy for hotels to set up revenue-generating business centers offering self-service printing, copying and other tasks.

La Gard Inc. has been in the safe lock business for 30 years and is well established in the ATM industry. As more and more kiosks become cash acceptors, the company recognized the growing need for secure, managed access to the vaults. "We came to see if we fit in the kiosk industry," said Orlando Consalvi, national product manager. "We're already the dominant supplier in ATMs, and this is just the next right place to go."

In partnership with Travelex and Tranax, Livewire International Inc. showcased its embossed-card dispensing kiosk that's currently part of a pilot program in 15 AAA locations. Livewire's end-to-end solution allows AAA members to purchase embossed Gift Cards or Travel Money cards, which are replacing traditional travelers checks.

MAX International Converters Inc. had on display a wide range of its paper products for nearly any kiosk application need.

Software company Nanonation, which took home Kiosk Awards for best entertainment kiosk and best digital display application, displayed its full battery of recent deployments. Vice president of business development Brian Ardinger hinted that several deals were in the works for his company, but it was too early to give details. "We're going to have a lot of things to talk about in the next two months," he said.

Software developer Netkey showcased the latest version of its flagship kiosk operating system, as well as its Informer kiosk for Swift Transportation. The Informer, which won the Kiosk Award for best general kiosk, gives the 20,000 employees of Swift Transportation easy access to payroll, benefit, permit, training and safety information, as well as email access and ability to view internal documents like truck repair manuals. "It's a good example of using self-service technology to improve the work environment, and at the same time save the company a lot of money," said Bob Ventresca, marketing director for Netkey.

Noritsu demonstrated several photo kiosk solutions.

Noritsu America Corporation was on hand with its dDP series of digital dry minilabs, which can print sizes up to 12"x18". The dDP comes with a touchscreen interface, but can also be used as the backend for any number of countertop photo kiosk units, like the company's CT-2 Consumer Terminal. The CT-2 has a built-in CD burner and multi-format memory card reader.

At the Olea Exhibits/Displays booth, the attention was on the Tucson kiosk, a new hardware stand that is ready to pair with an Elo multifunction 15-inch LCD, a Planar DS15 or the IBM Anyplace kiosk. Next door, WebRaiser Technologies stopped traffic with its award-winning self-service propane tank purchase system. Together, the two companies offered the Vendapix photo kiosk.

Parabit Systems is taking its 20-plus years of experience in access control, surveillance and telecommunication equipment to the self-service arena. The company recently moved to a new location to accommodate its expansion into kiosk manufacturing. Parabit offers a complete turnkey solution.

Pay-Ease showcased its V Series Automated Commerce Machine bill-pay kiosk, which was configured to accept payments for utilities, municipal fees and event tickets. According to chief executive officer Dean Scaros, he has seen a lot of interest for the unit from payment companies, ISOs and others in the financial services field. "Financial transactions at kiosks seem to be front of mind for everyone right now," he said.

Germany-based PROVISIO demonstrated version 6 of its SiteKiosk software package, which locks down kiosk browsers while also providing remote control and administrator access. The company estimates that more than 2,500 customers have purchased SiteKiosk in its 9-year history.

Rhombus Group Inc., an installation, service and maintenance company, was on hand to answer attendee questions about deployment installation and management, service and maintenance needs.

Star Micronics offered a number of printing solutions, including one system suited for badge generation.

Star Micronics, which provided bags for attendees, displayed a sample from its line of dot matrix and thermal POS printers, including the TCP300 Thermal Card Printer/Re-Writer. The TCP300 with quad service offers write/re-write capability to the card face and three-track magnetic stripe read/write capability for the back of the card. "It would be a great application for creating badges for tradeshows," said spokeswoman Karen Wiegand.

TD Fischer Group, known for manufacture and design of point-of-purchase displays, graphics and tradeshow exhibits, had several designs on hand. Their displays, kiosks and designs have been used by many large retailers for window displays, self-check-out applications and customer service kiosks.

Among Telpar's line of thermal and dot matrix printers, on display was its TGP 2300 Gaming Printer for cashless payout gaming applications. The unit is customizable and can print several bar code formats. Based in Lewisville, Texas, the company produces standard printers as well as customized printers for various applications.

Making its U.S. debut at the show with three eye-catching, uniquely designed kiosks was Touchmate Touchscreen Solutions. The Brendale, Queensland-based company, which began as a software company, started building kiosks in Australia four years ago when it couldn't find an enclosure to fit its needs. Touchmate offers complete turnkey solutions.

TPI Software LLCpromoted its software solution designed to enable businesses to accept non-cash payments. The Redmond, Wash.-based company provides the payment vehicle and integration devices to the POS.

Traffic stayed heavy at the Tranax Technologies booth.

Partnering with Financial Payments, Tranax Technologies had on display its transactional kiosk. The device, which is in beta testing in 12 locations, can cash checks and load the value onto stored-value cards. Future functionalities include accepting deposits as well. "The companies hope that the unbanked will come to think of these devices as their financial institutions," said Susan Taylor, business development account executive for Financial Payments.

Transaction Network Services is ready to be the service provider for kiosk companies needing secure data transport. TNS currently carries 70 percent of all dial credit card transactions and sees a natural fit for the company's services with the emerging transactional kiosk market.

UNIK C&C's "DVD Villy" rental kiosk offers up to 590 titles and allows customers to pay by credit or debit card, mobile phone, membership card or accumulated points. Customers can search by new releases, weekly top 30, keyword or genre, check their current rental status, reserve titles and view VOD previews 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

One of two "Zoom Shops" turning heads on the show floor. Zoom Systems CEO Gower Smith (right) talks with an attendee.

Also turning heads were the two "Zoom Shops" installed by Zoom Systems, high-end vending devices that use a series of robotic arms to dispense big-ticket items (one machine offered books and CDs while the other was stocked with iPods, accessories and headphones).

Seminars included a keynote address from Mohsen Moazami, vice president and global managing director, retail — IBSG, Cisco Systems; updates on self-service in QSR, photo kiosk trends, financial services, logistics, environment and in-store integration. Other speakers included Brian Slaughter, retail brand manager for Dell; Randy Gidcumb, senior program manager for Diebold Inc.; and Peter Honebein, Ph.D. and Roy Cammarano, co-authors of "Creating Do-It-Yourself Customers."

"The seminars I attended were very well put together," said attendee George Cordoba of Advent Technologies. "We came here looking for technology solutions, and we found more than I expected."