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Category: Industry News

The Benefits of Touch Screen Kiosks in HR

Posted on by Tom Quarry

From travel and banking, to retail and hospitality, there's no denying that the digital touch screen industry is paving the way for the future of the consumer landscape. However, touch screen kiosks are not solely reserved for consumer facing sectors, and can prove highly beneficial when rolled out in corporate environments too.

Research carried out by CIPD found that engagement levels among staff have plummeted to record lows – costing organisations a fortune. The CIPD’s Spring 2013 Employee Outlook survey found that only 37 per cent of staff are actively engaged at work, a figure that drops to 33 per cent in the public sector. While the survey focuses mainly on re-engagement in a social sense, seeing companies investing in internal social media platforms, the findings can also be applied to the successful deployment of touch screen kiosks in HR departments.

New generation technologies can inject fresh takes on age old practices. Touch screen kiosks not only provide a number of ways to enhance employee experience, but they come with many other benefits too, including;

Employee engagement

As individuals become less focused and more accustomed to processing an abundance of real-time information, it is fundamental that businesses find more ways to better engage with employees. Touch screen information kiosks help to bridge the digital divide for around 30-40% of employees; who do not have daily access to desktop computers, such as those who work in manufacturing.  When placed in high-traffic areas like canteens or communal rooms, touch screen kiosks allow HR departments to connect and engage with their entire work force, without needing be present.

Time saving

A touch screen kiosk can alleviate HR staff from the inconvenience of menial tasks, that do not need to be performed by a human. For example, instead of relying on staff members to answer questions, employees can use a touch screen kiosk to access company FAQs or other relevant information; such as company policies, benefits, payslips, holiday allowances and so on. As well as this, if your business has departments which operate outside of the usual 9-5, Monday to Friday hours, touch screen kiosks can allow employees to access information and complete numerous HR tasks, around the clock. By deploying a touch screen kiosk, HR teams can spend more time on more important jobs and employees can benefit from a wealth of information at their fingertips.

Environmentally friendly

Many companies are now moving away from paper payslips, holiday request and time tracking forms as they begin to see the benefits of digital information points.The increasing costs of printer ink cartridges, versus the decreasing amount of printer ink inside the cartridges, means that they are not good value for money. Adding to this, The Environmental Protection Agency claims that we get through 4 million tons of copy paper annually; which, as we know, comes at a significant cost to both businesses and the environment. Living in the age of technology makes using less paper and ink cartridges in the office easier, with touch screen kiosks carrying out a range of tasks at a significantly lower price.

More control

Transparency is important to employees and the more control and involvement they are given in the HR process, the more empowered they will feel. With a stand alone computerised system employees can conduct human resource tasks themselves, having greater control over their benefits, work hours, holiday allowance and payslips. All of this can be managed in real time without the need of HR representatives being present.

Cost effective

When all of the benefits are considered together HR kiosks prove to be highly cost effective. Such a machine can save a company a great deal in overheads; from reducing HR staffing costs and training, to saving on printing and eliminating distribution costs. As well as this, with self serve kiosks providing a heightened level of help and support for employees, and enriching engagement, companies can aim to reduce employee turnover in the long run.

Deloitte rates only 6 per cent of HR departments as ‘excellent’ for their analytics, with over 60 per cent labelled ‘poor’. With this in mind perhaps it’s time you re-evaluated your HR department and started thinking about how it could be improved with the adoption of touch screen kiosks; to offer more satisfaction for your employees and a greater return on interest for your company.

If you’d like to find out more about how a touch screen kiosks could help your HR department, contact Protouch today.

Image source: HR management

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.

5 Technologies We May See In Kiosks Of The Future

Posted on by Tom Pryor

Kiosks are always on the cusp of technology and we believe that if a new form of equipment provides value to the user experience, then it could be well worthwhile adding it to one of our kiosks.

Of course, it’s hard to look into the future and say what will certainly be included in the technology of the future, but we can make guided guesses from what we believe. So, we’ve compiled a list of five technologies that we may see in the kiosks of the future.

Quality Food and Drink Kiosks

Although there are plenty of food vending machines and kiosks in existence, most if not all offer a substandard experience to that of a fine barista or mixologist. Though that currently may be the case now, it most likely will not be forever. Rumours have it that Starbucks is working on kiosks that offer a quality coffee experience of the standard of a barista and if you want to see something similar in reality, Google showcased a cocktail mixing robot called ‘Makr Shakr’ at its recent I/O conference. In time, who’s to say similar technology could not fit into a vending machine?

Contactless and Print Scanner

The contactless payment option has been included on a number of our machines and it’s set for further roll out in the future. We’ve also heard tales of an Apple iPhone 5S with contactless option via NFC technology and fingerprint scanner – so, who’s to say that this technology will not be rolled out widely in time to come – not us anyhow.

Eye Control

Then again, using your hands is so tedious. The current generation of smart phones is toying with the idea of eye control and who’s to say kiosks and other devices with screens won’t soon.
Samsung’s SIV uses eye control to aid reading of webpages, watching of movies and viewing of images and who’s to say we soon won’t see something similar on our TVs and PC screens and also our kiosks?

OLED

The OLED screen is also a quite realistic tech next and may replace our plasma and LED displays within the next few years. OLEDs allow for slimmer screens, which can also be flexed and curved. This new generation of displays is brighter than current screens, don’t require backlighting and are far easier to produce in larger sizes. They’re also greener, more efficient and have larger fields of view than the current crop of screens.

3D Printing Kiosks

Anyone who keeps up to date with technology will have heard of 3D printing. Essentially, this tech layers material on top of each other to create all sorts of items and it’s becoming increasingly complex. Reports suggest by 2050 we’ll all be using the machines to print everything from electronics to clothes in our living rooms. All we’ll do is purchase the design for our home 3D printer and let it manufacture the rest. So, before then, expect 3D printer kiosks in a shop near you, allowing you to create all your needs from one amazing kiosk.

We can’t say for sure what the future of kiosks will be, however we do know it’s going to be exciting.

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.