Month: April 2011

Social media is a phenomenon and one that has taken over the world. Social networking site Facebook now has over 400 million worldwide users and Twitter is shortly following behind with nearly 50 million tweets per day. The interactivity is ever growing and it is estimated that social networking accounts for 11% of all online activity. Similarly, millions of people across the globe go shopping; whether it is for food, clothes, furniture etc. everyone shops. So if two trends are equally as popular with consumers, then why not integrate them? Interactive shopping experiences really engage with a customer and it is important for all retailers to participate and get involved with its consumers. By offering loyalty schemes a business can increase its customer loyalty attention, attract potential customers from rival firms and rise profits; which is why a company has lodged a patent- pending technology. Beanstalk Loyalty hopes to install the first loyalty platform of its kind to integrate the point-of-sale (POS) terminal and social media; converging shopping and Facebook. The deployed kiosks, with the customer’s permission, will enable a firm to check into Facebook Places, post on their wall and potentially influence their friends while at the same time giving loyalty registration.

There are exampled units deployed in industries that offer social media services however none currently have a connection with loyalty programmes and POS terminals.  At the moment, people can check themselves into locations so one can see where a person has been but the service doesn’t offer consumers to share what they actually bought. Reportedly, this is little use to marketers to learn more about the consumer’s behaviour and preferences. By knowing what was purchased, the marketer can use this info to tailor loyalty offers for example; if they keep ordering chicken via the Touch screen, chicken coupons can be sent out rather than fish. The Kiosk software works by allowing the user to swipe his or her loyalty card, register, pay and check in to Facebook offering data on what they just ate or bought. Even friends can get involved by clicking on the food produce and receiving discounts too! Gilbert Bailey, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Beanstalk Loyalty, said: “Integrating the social network and the POS with the loyalty engine provides the marketer with ability to have an intelligent conversation both before and after the transaction to deliver true closed-loop marketing.” Install a Touch screen kiosk in your business and build a better relationship with your consumers with Protouch; Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor of touch screen technology.

Interactive touch screens are commonly associated as being modern technology and the tools to advancing industries across the globe. They bring several benefits to a business for the consumer, the employee and the owner; but how can they help to keep the past reserved for future generations?

Obviously a Touch screen kiosk has many uses and one of them is the opportunity to store information. Data can be saved on a unit of local history including events, individuals, town origin etc. It gives the residents and tourists the chance to learn more about the area simply via an interactive display.

History is important because as human beings it is in our genes to learn more and our curiosity can get the better of us. Investigating the past is key to get a glimpse of the lives of humans before us to move forward for the future.

And in the age of the internet and technology, isn’t an olden time story and record worth saving?

Whether it is reading about the local sports teams who won games or world championships, or finding our more about groups of people who excelled, a town’s rich history can be easily found and stowed at a kiosk located at a central point in the settlement. This is fantastic for preservation as books can be ruined, lost or destroyed and can take up a lot of storage. With an information Kiosk the king's speech film picture, as long as it is backed up efficiently the info will carry on forever for forthcoming age groups to study.

History can also be displayed with pictures of memorabilia so the real artefacts are not damaged from consumer handling. But the touch screen technology can be progressed too with content available on the internet for residents to view from the comfort of their own home.

Security is important to everything; whether it is a kiosk, a computer, a jewellery store or a mobile phone.

It is vital to ensure that people are free from danger and threats and that those who need it, are protected. On a national scale, it is integral for country’s to defend its citizens against terrorism and criminal activity such as theft.

One example firm has been signalled out for its poor kiosk security to indicate to others how to look after and care for security efficiently. Its breach of security enabled the staff workforce unauthorised admission to private information.

For five months employees at a hospital in Massachusetts, in America had access to one another’s personal pay stub information via the hospital shared Kiosks.

At UMass Memorial Healthcare, 10 installed units gave employees information regarding their pay stub. But it also then gave subsequent users access to the info of previous users.

The personal information exposed the 13,500 hospital staff to learn of others’ names, bank name, bank transit number and bank account number. Private data that included social security numbers, medical records and patient information was not breached.

As a result of the security infringement, the organisation is offering potentially affected employees reimbursements of one year of free credit monitoring and the costs to institute a security freeze. Only those who accessed HRConnect using one of the Touch screen Kiosk between 7^th October and 11^th March have possibly been affected by the security violation.

A system-wide software change was applied to disable the organisation’s settings and the UMass Memorial kiosks have been returned for use.

Rob Brogna, UMass Memorial spokesman, said they have no reason to believe that any of the personal information on HRConnect has been misused.

He said: “UMass Memorial deeply regrets this incident and is continually evaluating and modifying its practices to enhance the security and privacy of all confidential and sensitive information entrusted to it.”

Stay safe with Protouch’s all in one software package, Gorilla Media. It can fully support your kiosk network and has the ability to securely lock down a machine using its secure browser and watch over an entire estate of kiosks through its network management application.

Its comprehensive suite of services cover hosting to displaying and scheduling content through to monitoring and reporting kiosk status.

Contact us today to find out why we are Europe’s number one in Touch screen technology.