Pro-Touch

Monthly Roundup

Are you up to date with our latest articles? If not, here is a brief summary of our recent blogs so you can catch up on the latest news and hot topics in the touch screen and kiosk industry.

The Emergence Of Multi-Touch Interfaces
Touch screen technology has advanced over recent years to allow multiple touches to be detected at one time. The benefits of multi touch technology are endless, commonly used for way finding and information kiosks in public locations. To learn more, read about multi touch interfaces and their benefits.

Is Digital Signage The Way Forward For Advertising?
Advertising and marketing techniques are becoming more creative with the development in digital signage and touch screens. Businesses are utilising screens to reach a new tech-savvy audience in search for the next best interactive experience. Read more to find out how touch screens and digital signage are being used as an alternative advertising platform.

Discover the Latest Developments in the Kiosk Industry with Protouch at Kiosk London Expo
Protouch have recently exhibited at the Kiosk London Expo 2013. The exhibition is dedicated to displaying the latest technologies and new developments from the self-service industry. Protouch showcased a variety of their top kiosk solutions that have been rolled out to some of UK’s leading companies across a range of industries. Read on to find out more about the exciting event.

Why Interactive Kiosks Are Great For Events
From corporate events to music festivals, kiosks are an ideal solution to engage visitors and provide speedy services.  Whether it’s a ticketing or way finding kiosk, organisers have the opportunity to incorporate the latest self-service technology into their events and stand out amongst others. If you’re interested in how a kiosk could enhance your event, read on.

Are Kiosks Enhancing The Value Of Employees?
With the rise in self-service, kiosks are being deployed in a diverse range of industry sectors. The question is, are they adding value to our employees? Take a look at this blog to read more on this interesting discussion on kiosks and employees.

Keep checking back on the Protouch blog to stay up to date with the current hot topics in the kiosk industry.

Are Kiosks Enhancing The Value Of Employees?

The debate continues that businesses are turning to technology to augment services, lessening employee value. Automated kiosks are being deployed in a wide variety of sectors, such as retail, airports and hospitality. Kiosks are beneficial to businesses in reducing costs and increasing revenue, but are they adding value to employees?

The employee

Kiosks are getting things done quickly, efficiently and accurately, which is minimising the number of staff required. Nevertheless, it can be argued that automated systems are now empowering employees. With kiosks in place to automate time consuming tasks, staff members are given more time to focus on the delivery of customer service. In addition, kiosk applications can create sales opportunities for staff, encouraging higher performance.

Self service

Face to face customer service still prevails, but customers have a growing appetite for self-service systems. The notion of self-service is predominant, especially in the retail sector. Kiosks are being deployed in more and more retail environments to streamline processes and enhance the customers’ shopping experience. However, a certain level of staffing is still required even with touch screen kiosks in place. If there is an issue or malfunction, there has to be someone at hand to attend to the user’s needs.

Key benefits for employees

  • Create more time to interact with customers 
  • Build relationships
  • Increase performance with unique sales opportunities 
  • Provide one-to-one support 
  • Focus on customer service and meeting specific needs

Customer service

There is dispute as to whether automated systems are taking the personal touch out of customer service. For instance, a visitor can now check in to a hotel without talking to a receptionist and a customer can pay for their shopping without interacting with an employee. On the other hand, kiosk systems offer the customer a self-service channel that enhances their experience, through speeding up processes and reducing queues. With certain aspects being taken care of, staff members have the unique opportunity to interact with customers and develop relationships.

Whilst interactive self service kiosks allow for less staff on site, they are also enabling employees to focus on providing quality one-to-one customer service. Employees still have a valuable role in customer service. As the use of automated systems increases, they should grasp the opportunity to maximise their potential and add value to the business.

Discover the Latest Developments in the Kiosk Industry with Protouch at Kiosk London Expo

We're pleased to announce that Protouch will be exhibiting at this years Kiosk London Expo. As the UK's sole conference and exhibition dedicated to the self-service industry; the show will return to The Barbican Centre for it's third year between 16-17th October 2013, promising to be another exciting event.

KLX 2013 acts as the central meeting point for all those affiliated with the self-service industry and, as such, will be a hive of activity for industry leaders, purchasers, strategic customer service managers, VPs, brands managers and those responsible for the implementation of self-service solutions and technologies throughout the UK.

A lot can change in a year, especially when it comes to emerging technologies and new developments. Therefore the show provides a great opportunity to catch up with the latest industry news and developments; helping you to discover how adding a self service solution to your business can increase sales and boost ROI.

As Europe’s number one supplier of touchscreen self service solutions, Protouch will be showcasing a wide variety of our best performing kiosks and kiosk software. Amongst these we’ll be presenting kiosks which have made a huge impact on specific industries and brands across the UK, including; express lanes for Birmingham Airport; kiosks for product look up and payment at Kiddicare; instore information and phone chooser at O2, and ticketing kiosks at Heathrow Express.

The Protouch team will be on hand to discuss your self-service solution requirements and answer any questions you may have. Whether you require ticketing, fast-track, payment, translator or browser features; our technology can help. Protouch equipment suits any brand for any function, any place.

KLX 2013 is free to attend and is a great networking opportunity, which also aims to deliver comprehensive seminars, offering information on all of the industry’s hot topics and cutting-edge technology. Located in the heart of London, it is easily accessible by rail, underground and road.

If you’re going to the show and you’d like to find out more about how we can help you, contact the Protouch team today and arrange a meeting with us.

Register for Kiosk London Expo 2013 today and we’ll see you there!

The Emergence Of Multi-Touch Interfaces

Multi touch technology allows a user to interact with both hands on a single device, or multiple users at one time. Users are now capable of interacting simultaneously on the same interface, opening up a whole new world of possibilities.

History
Touch screen has transformed the way we interact from as early as the 1970’s. Multi touch has developed through gradual innovation and research that has lead to where it is today. During the last 10 years the industry has seen a rise in multi-touch technology used in both public and private sectors. The technology has advanced across a range of devices and software so that multiple touches can be detected simultaneously, which offers a multitude of benefits.

Uses
Multi touch kiosks are commonly utilised for wayfinding and information in public locations, such as museums and hospitals. Deploying multi-touch points in a museum enhances the visitor experience by providing access to virtual maps, exhibition information and engaging visuals. The retail sector can also benefit from multi-touch screens as they enable customers to browse and locate products. This exciting technology is also effectively used for entertaining users, engaging them in digital learning and creating a multi dimensional interactive experience.

Benefits:

  • Versatility and flexibility
  • Cost effective
  • User-friendly
  • Multi compatibility
  • Innovation creates interest
  • Enhance user experience
  • Speed and efficiency

Businesses can hugely capitalise on multi touch systems as they have extensive capabilities that allow for a fully interactive experience for both clients and employees. Multi touch interfaces are highly adaptable to fit a variety of functions and the on screen content can be modified allowing flexibility.

In all, multi touch interfaces open up a plenitude of exciting opportunities for many possible areas of application. They have great potential in enabling multiple people to interact at one time and engage in an augmented reality.