Category: Industry News

Kiosk technology in prisons is nothing new. Payment and information kiosks have been helping serve the government’s department of law and prison sector by offering the inmates the chance to pay for their own bail as well as providing info on custodial job vacancies, health and wellbeing and law. Touch screens further aid in keeping the criminals connected with the outside world so when they leave, it isn’t a massive culture shock. The heavy-duty units have toughened glass screen to cope with all the hustle and bustle of every-day life in prison. But as well as offering payment and information services, kiosks can also assist in keeping the convicts in their jail cells. Prisons are categorised into different levels and grades, some of which home low-risk offenders and others house the most dangerous criminals in the country. It is the latter to which can benefit greatly from kiosk technology with regards to actually physically housing the prisoners.

But how can a kiosk help?

The kiosk brings services to the inmates rather than the staff having to move them from the lockup. It can take anything from two to six guards to move a criminal and as they can be locked up for up to 23 hours a day, tempers can flare and danger can be caused. By delivering the services and privileges to the cell, such as the TV, telephone or virtual visitors, it reduces the risk of hazard to the staff and to the prisoner itself, as well as the hassle of moving. By remaining in the cell with the hardened kiosk, the prisoner still gets its privileges and a virtual visit all via one single access point. And what is more, by staying put it decreases the possibility of fights erupting between the inmates themselves as they are confined to solitude.

Charity is said to be at the heart of every community and thousands of people across Britain donate money to charitable organisations every year. In 2003 £7.1bn was given to charity by individuals in the UK, according to joint research by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. But offering spare cash to charities has become easier than ever for consumers, with ATMs now providing donation processes. According to an agreement reached between the ATM industry and government officials, British citizens can make charitable donations through the UK touch screen units. The program, which will launch in 2012, is in partnership between LINK the UK ATM operators and the British authority. It was cabinet officer minister Francis Maude who proposed the scheme in December 2010. Presently there are 63,000 ATMs in the country and 100-million LINK-enabled cards. The latest plan will mean people can donate to their favourite charity through the interactive machines but each ATM owner will decide which particular charities the machine will support. Maude said: “I am delighted by the support of LINK's member banks, building societies and ATM operators for enabling charity donations at cash machines. “This will make charity giving quicker and easier for so many people as they can incorporate giving into a regular routine.” Banks which will feature a charity donating kiosk include Lloyds TSB, Barclays, American Express Europe and more. Give to those who are less fortunate than yourself  whether it is RSPCA, Sport Relief or Cancer Research via an ATM; touch screen technology at its best.

The fast food industry is one of the quick service sectors to gain the most from deploying kiosk systems; to reduce waiting times and put the power in the consumer’s hands. Restaurant and take-away firms such as Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC would benefit immensely from installing touch screen units that would enable the customer to place and pay for their own order via the interface. Until now, kiosks haven’t really taken off in the UK as much as it has in America or other parts of Europe; that is in the fast food industry. A consumer could only order their chicken nuggets and happy meal deal from self-service kiosks in McDonald’s if they lived in France, where the concept was initially launched. However, now McDonald’s UK is embracing the technology. The fast food giant is employing 7,000 touch screen terminals and swipe cards across its European outlets. Steve Easterbrook, President of McDonald’s Europe, said the changes will make life easier for consumers as well as improves efficiency. He expects average transaction times for its two million daily customers will shorten three to four seconds. The technology aids to harness more information on customer’s ordering and dining habits as well as enable customers to pay simply by swiping a debit card; making the company the first fast food chain to introduce contactless payments. In 1200 of the UK locations, staff will also be hired to take additional orders from customers via handheld terminals.

Benefits of touch screen technology in fast-food restaurants include;

– Control of ordering process leads to better accuracy

– Single point of administration and reporting, hassle-free.

– Management costs are low, integration is easier than ever.

– New product placement exposes variety of menu and increases sales.

More and more airlines across the world are investing in Touch screen technology to check-in its passengers.

We wrote a blog post previously regarding airlines deploying kiosks in airports to improve customer satisfaction and better waiting queues. And now further companies nationwide are jumping on board the new trend and rolling out units to check travellers in.

Frontier Airlines has unveiled more high-tech kiosks across an additional 14 airports in America. Installed in Omaha, Orlando, New York, Grand Rapids, Philadelphia, Dayton, Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Austin, Newark, Nashville and Seattle, the machines include all functionalities for passengers who haven’t already checked-in online at home, to use the kiosks at the airport.

The airline said that almost 70% of its passenger check-ins nowadays take place at a kiosk or online; so it makes sense to reap the advantages of the technology as is other airports.

Functions such as a touch screen interface and printer enables the holidaymaker to print off the receipt which is hugely beneficial for consumers who do not have a printer at home; as well as allowing the customer to allocate seat selections.

Frontier says the kiosks reduce labour costs and streamline the process and waiting times for passengers.

This is why Birmingham Airport, in England introduced an express lane too using our kiosks.

The units will improve the processing of its nine million travellers per year and give passengers a choice whether to be processed as per normal or to buy a priority pass from the machine.

The supplied kiosks will enable the nine million travellers that pass through the airport every year, to take advantage of a premium express lane and priority processing.

Similarly, the Kiosks had a touch screen and printer, as well as a chip and pin, coin and note acceptor, and change dispenser.

Let Protouch help your passengers print tickets off and check-in quicker; as well as check-in bags with tag-printing capabilities. It will save the industry billions of pounds a year and cut staff figure costs by a considerable amount.