At Self-Service Networks, we find that many customers looking to purchase interactive kiosks are doing so for their first time. If you've never purchased a kiosk and have no experience with kiosks, it can be hard to know what to look for and what factors you should consider. In an effort to make your kiosk purchase a less daunting task, we have assembled the following kiosk primer, which addresses a number of questions and issues you should consider when planning a self-service kiosk project.

The primer addresses five main questions:

What is my kiosk strategy?
How do I choose a kiosk vendor?
What are my kiosk hardware options?
What are my kiosk application options?
How will I maintain my kiosks?

What is my kiosk strategy?

Before getting into the "nuts & bolts" of kiosks, it is first important to step back and clearly define the goals of your intended kiosk project. Do you want to improve customer service, provide access to helpful information, automate a transaction, enhance your image, or perhaps all of the above? Setting clear goals upfront will allow you formulate an effective kiosk strategy and increase the likelihood of a successful kiosk project. Some points to consider:

Audience: Who is your audience, and what are their needs? How will your kiosk application meet their needs? Do you have multiple target audiences, with different needs?

Location: Where will you be placing kiosks? Prominent, high-traffic locations are ideal for applications like retail, banking and building directories, while HR applications, which often involve longer user sessions & personal information, are better suited to less public locations. Also, will your kiosks be placed in supervised, semi-supervised, or unsupervised areas? This will have implications for security requirements and your choice of kiosk model.

Performance metrics: How will you measure the success of your kiosks? High overall usage, number of transactions, revenue generated? And how will you gather this information?

While these are important points to consider, you don't have to develop a complete strategy before contacting us - Self-Service Networks' knowledgeable staff is available to assist you with this process and provide strategic recommendations. We're the kiosk experts, after all.

How do I choose a kiosk vendor?

As you may have already noticed, there are many places to purchase kiosks from. Exhibit companies that also build kiosks, multimedia firms that design applications and resell kiosks, "discount" kiosk providers, kiosk software companies, kiosk manufacturers who specialize in high-volume production but do not offer software…the list goes on. And it can be confusing.

When selecting a kiosk vendor, you should look for a company that:

Focuses exclusively on kiosks. If kiosk development isn't their top priority, do you really want to work with them?

Has experience developing kiosk solutions for your market. For example, a vendor that understands your market will better understand your needs and your audience.
Puts quality first. When comparing kiosk prices, remember that you get what you pay for.

Provides turn-key kiosk solutions. In addition to being time-consuming, working with multiple vendors can lead to issues with coordination, timing, support and accountability. A full-service kiosk solutions provider with expertise in kiosk hardware, software, and service will develop a more comprehensive, integrated - and successful - solution. When issues arise, you don't want your hardware provider pointing fingers at your software provider or vice-versa. One call. One resolution.

Is a GSA contractor. When the General Services Administration approves a firm as a government contractor, it becomes easier for government agencies to purchase products and services from that firm. At the same time, companies in the private sector can feel more confident about working with a vendor that has been certified by the federal government.

Finding a kiosk vendor with all of these characteristics is difficult, but luckily you've already found Self-Service Networks. We're a turn-key kiosk solutions provider with more than a decade of experience in developing successful kiosk projects for clients in a wide range of industries.

What are my kiosk hardware options?

Kiosk Enclosure
A kiosk's enclosure houses all kiosk components, but it is more than a "box." An ideal kiosk enclosure protects equipment from the public, but allows easy access for staff; it is eye-catching, yet blends with its surrounding environment. Though it is not as high-tech as the equipment inside, an effective kiosk enclosure design requires design flair, engineering & materials expertise, knowledge of kiosk usability & accessibility issues, and skilled workmanship. Many companies try to save money upfront by building their own enclosures, only to find that the cost of subsequent failure outweighs short-term savings.

Enclosures can be made from wood, metal, composites, or a combination of materials. Self-Service Networks offers a number of standard enclosure models, all of which can be customized according to your needs. We can work with you to find an exterior finish that harmonizes with your décor, whether that requires matching a wood grain or a PMS color. Self-Service Networks can also add silk-screened artwork or external signage, as needed.

Choosing standard enclosures (or slightly modified standard enclosures) will reduce cost and production time. However, if your needs are not met by Self-Service Networks' standard line of kiosks, Self-Service Networks' designers are available to design a custom enclosure from the ground up, whether you require added functionality or a particular "look and feel."

Touch Screen
A kiosk's touch screen is one of the most important hardware components because it is the focus of the kiosk and is usually the primary (or only) interface. All Self-Service Networks' kiosks include touch screen monitors, which provide a simple and intuitive interface and also stand up to wear and tear better than desktop mice, trackballs or keyboards.

Self-Service Networks' kiosks feature surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch screens, which deliver superior image quality. Furthermore, they are "drift-free" - meaning that they never need to be recalibrated. The cursor will always appear exactly where your finger touches.

At Self-Service Networks, we exclusively use touch screens from Elo TouchSystems, the world's foremost leader in touch screen technology, which helps ensure that our kiosks are of the highest quality possible. We are also a proud member of Elo's Kiosk Partner Program.
Computer

Self-Service Networks' kiosks are equipped with small form-factor Windows/Pentium-based computers, allowing us to build kiosks with space-efficient designs. Although our kiosk computers look different than their desktop counterparts, they function the same way and can be administered like a "normal" PC. If you have an application that works on your desktop computer or laptop, it can be run on our kiosks. Furthermore, our kiosk computers feature Ethernet ports, making them easy to network.

Printer
When you need a kiosk with printing capabilities, there are a few things to consider.

First of all, integrating a printer into a kiosk will increase the overall cost of the kiosk, due to hardware and maintenance costs, but often the need for printing capabilities outweighs these issues.

Next, depending on your application, you must decide what printer size you need. Most kiosk applications require either a 3" width printer, which is useful for tickets and receipts, or an 8.5" width printer for printing standard-size documents.

Finally, there's the type of printer. Inkjet and laser printers are great printers for personal or office use, but are not well suited to a kiosk environment. Instead, we use high-quality thermal printers designed specifically for kiosk use, which have a number of advantages over inkjet/laser printers. Thermal printers jam far less frequently than regular printers, which is an important kiosk maintenance issue. They also do not use ink, so you will not have to replace ink cartridges - which further reduces kiosk maintenance. Thermal printers also have less moving parts, which makes them less prone to breaking. Furthermore, the thermal printers that Self-Service Networks uses have a feature called the Intelligent Paper Handling System, which presents a printout to a user only after the print job is completed. Users are not able to rip paper out while it is printing, which can lead to paper jams. In addition, the Intelligent Paper Handling System will retract printouts into the kiosk after a preset amount of time if a user has not taken them, in order to help avoid litter around the kiosk and protect the user from inadvertently leaving behind private information.

As a result of these factors, thermal printers are the most reliable for a kiosk, with the lowest cost of ownership. And despite most people's experience with thermal printing - in old-style fax machines - thermal printing technology has improved significantly and is sufficient for most printing needs.

Other Peripherals
Depending on your application, you may require additional peripherals, such as magnetic card readers, keyboard/trackballs, additional monitors, proximity sensors, etc. Self-Service Networks offers a number of kiosk peripherals to choose from, but if you have a need that is not covered in our Kiosk Peripherals section, please let us know.

What are my kiosk application options?

After considering kiosk hardware, it is necessary to decide what your kiosk application will be. Many customers use kiosks for informational purposes, such as providing product/service information, mall or building wayfinding information, etc. Other applications may be more transactional in nature, such as online banking, bill payment, or e-commerce. Either way, you can utilize an existing application for your kiosks, create a new application, or even use a combination of the two.

Existing Application
Many customers use kiosks to provide access to their existing web site or other web-based applications, such as online banking, human resource applications, etc. This reduces costs and speeds kiosk roll-out, and because the application is already being centrally managed, there is little additional effort. However, you will need kiosk software to "lock down" your kiosks and ensure that end users only use the kiosks for their intended purpose. Self-Service Networks provides software that allows you to provide secure access to the web site(s) of your choice, while blocking users from surfing the Web freely, closing out of your application, launching new applications, accessing the kiosk hard drive or operating system, or performing any other unauthorized activities. Self-Service Networks' Creative Services staff is available to customize this software to your needs.

If you choose to use existing web-based content, please keep in mind that not all web pages are well suited for touch screen use, particularly if they feature a lot of closely-grouped, text-based links. Such sites, while easily navigated with a mouse, can present a challenge when navigated via a (less-exact) human finger. In such situations, we recommend the use of a trackball in addition to the touch screen, so users have multiple navigation options.

Kiosk-Specific Application
If you have a kiosk application in mind, but have not developed it yet, we can help. Self-Service Networks' experienced staff of developers and designers will work with you to create a kiosk application with robust back end functionality and an attractive & intuitive front end interface. Self-Service Networks's staff takes the time to understand our customers' needs, goals, target audience, corporate identity and more. Then, we combine this information with our experience in kiosk interface design and usability issues to create an effective application.

Self-Service Networks' capabilities include:

• E-commerce applications
  
• Kiosk-specific web sites
  
• Kiosk-based surveys
  
• Database-driven kiosk applications
• Interactive directories
  
• Product showcases
  
• Other custom applications as needed

How will I maintain my kiosks?

A kiosk rollout is an ongoing project, and keeping kiosk hardware up-and-running and kiosk content up-to-date can be a challenge. A poorly maintained or non-working kiosk erodes a user's confidence and decreases the likelihood that they will return to use it. You have a number of options for ensuring that your kiosks continue to function properly and effectively once they have been deployed.

Internal IT Staff
Because Self-Service Networks kiosks feature standard Windows-based PCs, most computer issues can be handled by your internal IT department. Self-Service Networks' Technical Support staff also provides free phone support for hardware issues. More complex computer or touch screen issues may require components to Self-Service Networks for repair.

Software Support Contracts
Customers who purchase kiosk software or kiosk application development services have a variety of support contracts to choose from. Please contact Self-Service Networks for more information.

Remote Monitoring
IT departments and support contracts will help resolve issues when they arise, but remote monitoring allows you to proactively manage and maximize your kiosk network. Remote monitoring is particularly useful for keeping your kiosks up-and-running and up-to-date if your kiosks are deployed in multiple locations. A robust remote monitoring service will:

• Track the health of your kiosks
  
• Automatically alert you of any problems (via e-mail/pager)
  
• Provide detailed health information for individual kiosk components
  
• Detect when paper is low or out, when cash acceptors are full, etc.
  
• Gather & store kiosk usage information, which can be used to gauge the success of a kiosk project
  
• Allow you to create & print a variety of usage reports
  
• Enable you to update kiosk content without physically visiting each kiosk
  
• Schedule content updates for specific kiosks, for groups of kiosks, or for your entire kiosk network
  
• Work through your existing firewalls without any modifications
  
• Include a secure, easy-to-use web portal so that you can log in at any time, check the
• health of your kiosks, print usage reports, etc., all from your desktop PC

Fortunately, Self-Service Networks offers its own remote monitoring service called inReach, which includes all of these features and more, at an affordable price.

We hope that you have found this Kiosk Primer to be an educational introduction to the world of interactive kiosks. Of course, this is only an overview of the many kiosk options that Self-Service Networks offers. For more detailed information, please continue to browse or web site. If you'd like to discuss your kiosk needs, Self-Service Networks' helpful staff is available to assist you with any questions you may have and provide recommendations about the kiosk hardware, software and services that are best suited to your needs. Please contact us for more information.