Pro-Touch

Author: Tom Quarry

The Different Uses Of Check in Kiosks

Posted on by Tom Quarry

Automation of service and check-in has many advocates and understandably so. It’s quick, shortens queues, with great software is self-explanatory and provides the specific service right down to a tee. Of course, this means check-in kiosks have been adopted right across the self-service industry – so let’s take a look at some of the most innovative and most commonly used areas for these items.

Airlines

A prominent place for check-in kiosks is the airport. Airports are a mass of queues, lines and people awaiting services from their airline. Self-service kiosks are created to reduce the incidence of such queues. The area of boarding passes and boarding pass printing is one that has benefitted from check-in kiosks.

Instead of having to queue to gain passes at desks or print them at home – something that poses a myriad of issues – travellers can do so quickly and efficiently at kiosks. These units come with facilities for reading passports and documents, as well as printers for tickets and baggage tags.

In addition they can upgrade services, make requests and perform almost all of the actions they would at a desk with an attendant. Statistics show that in an airport setting, check in kiosks can double the number of customers processed in an hour when compared to traditional methods.

Car Rental

The area of car rental is also one that has seen significant leaps in recent times and car rental check-in and check-out has become increasingly employed. These units reduce check in times, free up agents for other concerns and also allow customers to purchase ancillary products. In doing so they reduce queue times, improve efficiency, customer satisfaction and also save on costs.

Hospitality

The hospitality industry can utilise these kiosks in so many ways. From self-serve check in and check out hotel kiosks, to self-service concierge kiosks, the hospitality industry has been utilising kiosks from when they were in their infancy. Take a concierge kiosk and virtual receptionist software as an example of the amazing benefits of self-service kiosks. These units can be customised to provide way finding, ticket printing, VoIP call services and also for checking in and out of hotels electronically.

In the Workplace

Self-service check-in kiosks are also very beneficial in the workplace and can provide convenience for both employers and employees. From check-in and out for workers, to information, to registration for guests; kiosks can perform a number of jobs in the workplace. Kiosks can also be used for initial employee registrations, vacation requests and for updating employee information forms and info.

Medical Care

The self-service kiosk has also come into its own in a medical setting. Patient self-service kiosks are used increasingly in medical centres and hospitals for patient check in, collection of information and payments, to registration and cancellations. These units are also ideal for facilitating language translation, consent forms and gathering demographic and clinical information.

We’ve only touched on the cusp of the uses of these kiosks, but as is clear they provide significant benefits for a vast range of businesses.

How Translation Kiosks Help Tourism

Posted on by Tom Quarry

The world is a small place nowadays, however even though this is the case there are still plenty of challenges regarding languages, translation and the provision of information – especially in the world of tourism. This is one area where kiosks are at their strongest.
In the world of tourism, interactive information and translation kiosks provide an informal manner in which to offer information, services and guides of all sorts.
For tourists it limits worries regarding being misunderstood and for the tourism industry it provides a number of benefits, including automation of processes, providing the correct information to customers and tourists when and as required, as well as the additional benefit of increasing business from tourists.

So, where can Translation Kiosks Help?

Hotels

Hotels can utilise the power of the translation kiosk in a number of manners. From check in and out, to reservation and bookings, to provision of information, to hotel requests – translation kiosks can significantly benefit hotel businesses.

These kiosks can be provided in a whole range of languages at little or no significant extra cost. These can then be used to provide information and services to the vast array of individuals who stay in the hotel, making their lives easier, their stay more efficient and the level of service significantly better.

Tourism Centres

Whether you decide on an outdoor or an indoor kiosk, there are all sorts of manners in which a Protouch translation kiosk can be of service.

Everything from way finding, local information, services, ticketing, payments, phone calls and communication services can be offered to tourists at such a kiosk in a language they’re native in.
We offer all sorts of benefits via our translator kiosks, including custom scripted scenarios, built in translation services and our systems even facilitate the tracking of trends surrounding your customers.
This creates the positive experience that the tourism industry wishes to generate and is considered as a positive for tourism and tourists alike.

Restaurants

Of course, restaurants too can benefit greatly from these translation kiosks. Reservation systems are often part and parcel, as are translatable menus. These kiosks can also be utilised to provide information on the locality, happy hour, specials and promotions too.

One of the significant benefits here is the visual aspect of kiosks. Quality touch screens allow for HD images of mouth-watering dishes. In addition the systems can also be used for surveys and follow up offers all of which is positioned on an easy to navigate, intuitive software.

So, as you can see even from these examples, interactive translation kiosks can potentially provide all sorts of benefits to tourists and tourist services.

How Kiosks Are Improving Healthcare

Posted on by Tom Quarry

Anyone who has recently tried to get medical attention will have come up against the massive and insoluble problem of the health market – there are never going to be enough doctors, nurses and paramedics to meet demand. As we get busier, the time cost of keeping healthy is only going to increase and that’s where kiosks and remote healthcare are making a huge impact.

The mHealth sector – as mobile healthcare is known – is growing massively quickly. Doctors’ time is at a premium so technology that allows them to be in two places at once is very valuable.
As early as 2010, two prescription vending machines were trialled in the UK. One allowed patients to collect repeat prescriptions without face-to-face interaction with a pharmacist. The second used a video link to open up a pharmacy service to patients out of hours.

Sexual Health

Sexual health information is not easy to come by, so kiosks provide an anonymous way to collect information and also signpost people to the right services, often in conjunction with the sale of condoms or pregnancy testing kits.
Kiosks are also a great way to interact with patients who have complex needs and need complex information. Digital signage with touch screen kiosks can protect confidentiality and impart complex information flexibly.

A reactive kiosk is far more cost-effective than a human receptionist and can store far more information than any brain can. With good software design, a kiosk can provide a truly personal portal to healthcare.
The latest developments in mHealth and healthcare kiosks are seeing the collection of health information remotely.

Smartphones are now being marketed with health monitoring apps, and a kiosk can provide a far more sophisticated interaction.

Population

With an aging population the healthcare sector has to deal with more chronic conditions – from heart disease to diabetes – which need regular monitoring. Having trained healthcare professionals collect this information is expensive, limits their ability to maximise their expertise more usefully, and is generally more accurate.

With wireless connectivity and high security encryption it is perfectly possible to securely and confidentially collect patient information. In the United States, kiosks with heart rate, blood pressure, red blood cell counts and even colour blindness testing are being introduced onto the market. Kiosks can link to online systems to monitor a patient’s progress, logging their activity and diet while measuring their vital signs, for example.
Networked kiosks provide the most cost-effective and controllable way to both give and receive important medical information in a system where face-to-face human contact is at a premium and is often wasted in consultations which do not maximise either the patient’s experience or the clinicians time.  The role of remote healthcare will only increase.

Is Buying Cheap Chinese Kiosks a False Saving?

Posted on by Tom Quarry

There’s no sector of industry that hasn’t been affected by the massive growth of low cost manufacturing in China. Outsourcing will almost certainly cut costs, but is it a proposal worth considering in the kiosk business?

What are the potential downsides of outsourcing?

Firstly, you will have less control over the process. Big companies like Apple outsource their manufacturing and apart from bad publicity about workers’ conditions still have a great reputation for quality. That’s because Apple have the money and the clout to ensure that their rules are followed. If you don’t have that clout, you won’t have that control.

Materials will probably be lower quality, which is vital if your kiosks are going to be used outside. A lot of the components in a kiosk must be high quality to work – touchscreens, CPUs and thermal printers – and they also need to be compatible with your software for a cost-effective operation.

Replacements

Outsourcing also means you will probably have to outsource replacement parts. It’s possible that you won’t be able to find the same materials, industrial materials, particularly in something as complex as a kiosk are no longer simple, generic things.
Standard practice in every possible way are different. Manufacturing laws are less stringent, measurement standards may be different.

Communication

Finally, you are communicating at a great distance. The Chinese have a wonderful command of English, but most of the people you speak to will be communicating in a second language in a very technical area.

Building a kiosk is a demanding business. Lots of delicate machinery needs to fit perfectly in order to interact perfectly. Everything needs to be ventilated, but protected from water. The more complex the design the more likely mistakes are – when you are developing a new model and need to tweak the design, sending it back to the other side of London is much easier than sending it back to the other side of the world for modifications.

Dealing with foreign markets always comes with risks. You’re in a different legal jurisdiction; shipping is another process where delicate machinery can be damaged; and if things go wrong, who do you complain to?

So, buying kiosks from abroad is a tempting way to cut costs, but in the long run, supporting an imported kiosk will soon start to eat into those savings, if you even get a working machine.

[image by Stuart Miles]