Pro-Touch

Tag: Developments

Monthly Roundup

Posted on by Tom Pryor

Did you miss a few of our articles in August? Not to worry because we've got a recap of last month’s blogs; bringing you all of the latest news and trends in the kiosk and touch screen industry. Catch up with our monthly round up now and find out more about how a touch screen kiosk can add value to your business.

Kiosks Are Improving Visitor Management

With self service technologies becoming increasingly valuable in helping streamline everyday tasks, many corporations are now realising the potential of touch screen kiosks in dealing with the management of digitally native visitors. Combining new technologies with old practices touch screen kiosks are now being deployed by many companies in order to help with visitor management by pre-registering visitors, accounting for visitors on-site, printing and scanning visitor badges and so on. Find out more about how kiosks are improving visitor management.

Is Digital Learning the Way of the Future?

Now the summer has come to an end and students are going back-to-school there’s no better time to find out how E-learning is becoming integral to the modern day classroom. With benefits such higher levels of engagement, independent learning and providing teacher support, Protouch look at how digital learning could be the way of the future. Read the blog in full to find interesting stats and more information on the topic.

Kiosks Are Harnessing Clean Technology

As technology becomes ever more prevalent in society, and the concern for environmentally solutions ever growing, companies now have a corporate responsibility to ensure that the technology they use works in harmony with the environment. In this blog Protouch take a closer look at how touch screen kiosks are harnessing clean technology.

Growing Appetite for Self Service in Restaurants

With a growing desire for more digital touchpoints in consumer facing environments, restaurants in-particular are starting to see the benefits of using tablet devices and touch screen kiosks. Offering everything from virtual concierge, digital menus, bookings, social media engagement, special offers and so on, touch screen kiosks are maximising micro-convenience and enhancing the overall customer experience. If you’re in the catering industry read on to find out more about the growing appetite for self service in restaurants.

Marketing your Kiosk; 3 Tips for Success

Knowing how to successfully market your kiosk is the difference between it being a positive addition to your business and not adding much value at all. In this blog Protouch take a look at how your kiosk can have a strong impact and essential make your customers want to use your product. Read on to find out our 3 top tips for marketing your kiosk.

Check back on the Protouch blog where we’re always keeping you up to date with all of the latest industry news.

Growing Appetite for Self Service in Restaurants

Posted on by Tom Pryor

In the fast paced, ever changing world of technology, it's vital to keep your finger firmly on the digital pulse in order to keep up with the latest trends and consumer demands. While our familiarity and reliance on tablet devices and digital screens grows, so does our desire for more digital touch points in the areas where we live, work, shop, travel and socialise. Restaurants, in-particular, are now seeing the benefits of using tablet devices to maximise micro-convenience and customer experience, with tablets wrapping up everything that we're used to in a traditional sense; offering virtual concierge, digital menus, bookings, social media engagement, special offers and so on.

Digital Signage

Digital menus allow restaurants to entice and seduce customers through high-definition, interactive images; as opposed to traditionally print images, which are flat and lifeless. Digital images give restaurants far more flexibility and creativity to display eye catching and mouthwatering images.

When places in high-traffic areas, digital signs are excellent ways in which to capture the customer's attention as they walk past or queue up for service. This provides an excellent opportunity to upsell items, make recommendations and offer incentives. All of which can increase sales and improve ROI.

Self-serve kiosks

In 2012 it was predicted that a total of 44% of consumers would opt to use a self-service terminal, and 40% would choose to use a Smartphone application to place a food order. To reflect this many restaurants are now catching up with touch screen technologies, as they explore innovative ways to go above and beyond the standard level of service.

So far, 2013 has seen 28% of restaurant owners showing strong interest in having a mobile app, and there is a growing appetite for the technology amongst consumers too; with 67% now interested in booking their tables through an app (source).

With freestanding tablet kiosks and easy touchscreen interactions, customers are able to place orders easily, pay for their food quickly and efficiently, and access nutritional information at the touch of a screen. All of these simple tasks put the customer in control, freeing up staff for other jobs and improving the overall dining experience for the customer.

Other benefits include;

Nutritional/Allergy information
Ordering
Loyalty schemes
Payment terminals
Social media engagement
Reservations
Advertising
Reduce staff

Restaurants kiosks provide a wealth of benefits, not only to the customer, but to the company too. At a relatively low to deploy it’s worth considering how a touch screen kiosk can help your business by improving overall customer satisfaction, as well as ROI. Contact Protouch today and find out how you can start reaping the benefits of a restaurant kiosk.

Kiosks Are Harnessing Clean Technology

Posted on by Tom Quarry

We're all trying to be greener in our day to day lives; everything from choosing energy saving lightbulbs, to recycling our waste. However, with technology becoming ever more prevalent in society, and the concern for its impact on the planet growing, companies have a corporate responsibility to the environment. Whether it’s supplier or buyer, it’s now in both parties best interests to take the necessary steps and precautions to be greener. The question is, can you reduce your carbon footprint whilst at the same time adopting the latest technologies?

Low energy consumption hardware

Kiosk hardware is constantly evolving to meet the demands of the user, and at the same time suit the needs of the environment; operating at maximum efficiency, whilst creating the lowest possible carbon footprint. They've come a long way since the early days when you simply had one manual on and off button, and are now designed to consume very little energy. With capabilities such as Power Save Mode your computer can save energy by turning off automatically. Likewise, if a kiosk is not going to be used, for example, after business operating hours, you can set it to shut down and then automatically reboot at a certain time. This ensures that the computer is ready when it is needed, but does not consume energy when it is not in use. The benefit of energy saving kiosks lies in low-power consumption that optimizes long-term kiosk performance and efficiency.

Eco friendly processes

Recycling doesn’t just stop at separating our plastic bottles from our everyday waste; kiosk manufacturers and buyers have a responsibility to be green too. Under the European Law, all end of life kiosks are disposed of under WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). For this reason every single piece of metal in an end of life kiosk is saved and recycled; meaning that nothing is wasted or sent to a landfill.

Green self-service initiatives

As well as fulfilling their duty of care to the environment, kiosks are helping consumers to be green too. Changes in the automated retail space are seeing self service kiosks turn eco friendly in order to help consumers recycle everything from mobile phones and coins, to day-to-day waste products. In our highly disposable economy this is a much-needed service, working to encourage recycling and save the environment. Consumers are very used to helping themselves, so the quicker and more efficient the recycling experience can be, the more likely it is that consumers will get involved and take an interest. Eco-friendly kiosks help to automate recycling, streamline the process for consumers, help the environment and save on manual labour costs.

Kiosks of the future

Eco friendly, self-supporting kiosks are going to be at the forefront of technological developments. The next generation in innovative eco-friendly kiosks is harnessing ‘clean’ energy from the power of the sun; eliminating the need for wires and reducing installation costs. Solar power technology is already in place in some parking meter and info-point type kiosks in metropolitan areas such as London, and will see energy consumption reduce dramatically.

Green technology is an exciting field and one in which we can expect to see innovative and significant progression in the future; in order to see the environment and technology working together in harmony. If you’d like to find out more about how kiosks manufacturers are taking their responsibility to the environment seriously, or find out how a green kiosk can improve your ROI, contact Protouch today.

Is Digital Learning the Way of the Future?

Posted on by Tom Quarry

There's no question that touch screen kiosks are revolutionising public facing sectors such as leisure, retail and healthcare. However, recent studies have indicated that touchscreen technology can make a prolific impact when is comes to student learning and education, too. Gone are the days where students relied solely on notebooks and turned to textbooks for information; with the advent of devices and technology, classrooms are now becoming paperless and the future of teaching and education lies mainly in ‘smart’ classrooms.

Touchscreen technology hasn’t been around for very long, but it is already making a huge impact on education. Whether it be in early learning, key stage learning or higher education; technology allows the current generation of learners to go out and find answers on their own, catering for their desire for information and improving their critical thinking skills. According to an infographic by Educase, 70% of students say they learn most in blended learning environments; indicating that with access to a variety of rich media resources, students can benefit from higher levels of engagement.

Digital learning, touchscreen PCs in particular, has the advantage of being able to capture the attention of students, who may otherwise become bored or restless by more conventional teaching methods. Interestingly Educase found that 54% of students say they are more actively involved in courses that use technology. Through E-learning students can play educational games, read interactive books, practice logic and arithmetic skills, take tests, submit work, research, and much more (depending on varying learning styles and interests); allowing them to learn more effectively as they interact directly with the device.

Touch screen technologies can prove particularly valuable in the education and development of disabled students or students with learning difficulties. Through interactive learning teachers can better engage students who may have short attention spans, difficulties reading or hearing and so on. Specialist software can be installed in a touchscreen PC in order to suit the requirements of the users, including; large, easy to read text, colourful visuals, interactive games, voice command and moving objects.

Technology is becoming an integral part to the learning experience, not only for students but for teachers too. By understanding how to present information to students teachers can better connect with them and therefore benefit from the positive impact that comes with empowering students through independent learning.  As well as this, teachers can use technology to manage their own time more efficiently (lesson planning, marking etc), using collaborative tools to reduce the demands placed upon them as the sole teacher.

While technology for technology sake is not the answer, it’s important to know what is out there and what tools can be used in a classroom environment to make learning a more positive and integrated experience. If you’d like to find out more about how touchscreen technologies can be used in the classroom, contact Protouch today.

Image source: CNN.com