Founder, The Circuit Board — Andrew is Head of Communications for 600+ staff music technology leader, Native Instruments in Berlin, a company with a vision to democratize digital music creation. After training as a journalist in London, he spent over a decade consulting for leading technology companies in Europe and Australia. In 2018 he founded The Circuit Board, a virtual communications consultancy. Andrew graduated from City University with a BA in Journalism and Psychology in 2008.
In March 2019 IKEA was praised for partnering with nonprofits to develop accessories that make its products more accessible for people with impairments. It’s a novel step forward but I can’t shake the feeling we need to reframe the conversation on accessibility in technology entirely. Accessibility should be a topic at the forefront of design. Here’s why:
Roughly one in five people in the US have registered with a disability, with a similar figure for the UK. But when creating new products or services, investing resources to make technology accessible for impaired users can seem like taking the scenic route to market. An expensive deviation from a lean go to market strategy.
accessibility considerations
It’s easy to toss accessibility considerations in the ‘nice to have’ bucket. ‘Accessibility as an afterthought’ is a frustration I’ve heard on repeat for the last decade. But to do this is to abandon a unique opportunity to unlock true innovation and realize a much bolder ambition.
The traits separating tasks that AI excels at, and those that remain distinctly human, are consistently cited as creativity, empathy, imagination, and vision. Indeed the Gospel of Jobs clearly states: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” So before we hand over the reins to AI, why don’t we focus on perfecting the human side of technology solutions.
If you’ve even dabbled in brainstorming techniques — or the hyper-trendy ‘design thinking’ — you’ll be familiar with the art of reframing a problem to see new solutions. What better way to do this than looking at new tech through the lens of our senses, with varying degrees of physical or sensory ability?
Thinking about impairments of sight, hearing, or touch from the outset forces designers, creators, and technologists to ‘look at’ problems from very different perspectives, and that brings opportunity for untold and exciting innovation.
Touchstone Medical Imaging has agreed to pay $3 million to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights to settle a breach that exposed more than 300,000 patients’ protected health information.
Touchstone Medical Imaging, a diagnostic imaging services company based in Franklin, Tennessee, has agreed to pay $3 million to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights to settle potential HIPAA violations.
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The company has also agreed to adopt a corrective action plan, which includes adopting business associate agreements, completing an enterprise-wide risk analysis and policies and procedures to comply with HIPAA.
According to its website, Touchstone has imaging centers in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
In May 2014, the FBI and OCR notified Touchstone that one of its FTP servers allowed uncontrolled access to its patients’ protected health information, according to HHS. Search engines could index the patients’ PHI, which remained visible online even after the server was taken offline.
May 14, 2019 – Gaming Laboratories International, LLC (GLI), is pleased to announce the release of the final published version of the “GLI-20 Standards for Kiosks V2.0” for use by the gaming industry.
During the past several months, GLI worked closely with various industry stakeholders including suppliers and regulators to ensure GLI-20 V2.0 represents the most highly-developed set of technical requirements and practices available in the gaming industry.
GLI-20 V2.0 reflects a revision to the core kiosk standard to incorporate technical requirements reflecting the latest trends in kiosk technology, to better align with overlapping requirements in the GLI Family of Technical Standards and other industry standards, and to maintain best-in-industry practices. In general, the changes are largely designed to improve the clarity and consistency of requirements.
A PDF copy of the final published version of GLI-20 V2.0 is linked below for your reference and is also accessible by visiting the GLI website at www.gaminglabs.comand clicking on the ‘GLI Standards’ tab.
Translated versions of the GLI-20 v2.0 standard will be made available in the near future. These translated documents will be posted to the GLI public internet site for global consumption.
Each standard in the GLI Standard Series is a culmination of industry best-practices and is continually updated based on industry feedback. The GLI Standards are true “industry standards” in that they are created using a collaborative approach which involves thousands of gaming industry stakeholders. These standards are intended to assist regulators by creating baseline technical guidelines which they can adopt and/or utilize in the manner they see fit. In addition to assisting regulators, the standards are of tremendous value to suppliers who use the standards as a guide in their design and development process, saving both time and expense. GLI-20 and the rest of the GLI Standards Series are available for free download on the ‘GLI Standards’ tab found at www.gaminglabs.com.
ZIVELO STRENGTHENS ITS FULL-SERVICE TURN-KEY KIOSK SOLUTIONS WITH INDUSTRY COLLABORATION
ZIVELO collaborates with Dell Technologies OEM Solutions to revolutionize self-service kiosks
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (May 2, 2019) – World-class kiosk manufacturer ZIVELO (best known for providing kiosks to the largest fast-food chains across North America) joins the Dell Technologies OEM to allow its clients to purchase ZIVELO’s digital solutions through their existing relationships.
“With the rapidly growing demand for ZIVELO’s products, we are pleased to announce this collaboration.” Says Ryan Lagace, ZIVELO’s VP of Strategic Partnerships. “ZIVELO’s world-class products will now be part of the go-to-market DELL EMC OEM Solutions portfolio.”
With Dell Technologies’ strong brand power, technology portfolio and global reseller capabilities, ZIVELO looks to further meet the needs of clients, which range from restaurants and retail, to banking, healthcare, hospitality, and many more.
“This past year has been groundbreaking for ZIVELO,” says CEO, Healey Cypher. “ZIVELO has been long-established as a global leader in beautiful world-class kiosk hardware. With last year’s addition of OakOS – the first kiosk-only SDK and operating system – plus new services and financing arms, ZIVELO is truly a full-service kiosk partner for any company looking to join the self-service revolution.”
For more information about ZIVELO, visit www.zivelo.com.
ZIVELO’s mission is to revolutionize the way brands use technology to interact with their consumers on-premise and in the physical world. Founded in 2008, ZIVELO has rapidly grown to become the leading self-service technology brand offering a sleek and sophisticated product design, intuitive user experience, and cutting-edge modular hardware solutions. ZIVELO prides itself on a deeply consultative approach, and we’ve learned a thing or two, having successfully deployed over 15,000 kiosks. Plus, we are one of the only companies to provide a true total solution, offering hardware, software, services, and financing solutions from one trusted partner. When our clients see 20-30% ticket lift on average, increased customer retention, decreased overhead, and long-lasting ROI, what do you have to lose? If you’re ready to work with the best, give us a call today!
“ZIVELO has provided McDonald’s USA with Self-Order Kiosks since 2015. ZIVELO has been, and continues to be, a good business partner to McDonald’s in our deployment of Self-Order Kiosks in the US.” – McDonald’s USA
This partnership ensures safe, secure, and efficient transactions for businesses leveraging kiosks as a self-service POS solution.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (May 14, 2019) – World-class kiosk manufacturer ZIVELO (best known for successfully deploying tens of thousands of kiosks to some of the largest retail and fast-food chains across North America) has partnered with Commerce Platform provider FreedomPay to provide fully integrated kiosk POS solutions to clients.
With successful deployments and solutions spanning multiple key industries, ZIVELO’s seamless integration with FreedomPay offers a secure, fast and convenient payment experience while simultaneously bringing digital engagement to the point of purchase. FreedomPay enables ZIVELO to safely accept credit card transactions through its PCI-Validated Point-to-Point (P2PE) card-present solution and a secure payment gateway, enabling trending technologies such as EMV and Contactless.
“We are excited to align with FreedomPay to bring enhanced payment technology and security to our customers, which span across industries such as restaurants, retail, healthcare, banking, hospitality, stadiums and large venues, and more,” stated ZIVELO CEO Healey Cypher. “FreedomPay will now be part of ZIVELO’s world-class go-to-market solutions portfolio so we can better serve our clients and their ever-changing demand for secure and cutting-edge payment solutions.”
The benefits of large-screen kiosks as a self-service solution in comparison to smaller format pole-mounted kiosks solutions have been proven time and time again over the years. Larger screens, big beautiful images, the ability to consistently upsell and offer LTOs in an engaging and strategic way, purpose-built to be durable in high traffic environments vs. computers built for personal use, it all leads to higher engagement, faster ROI that keeps on giving, and revenue lift per transaction. That said, ensuring that kiosks as a POS solution are highly secure and remaining relevant in a constantly evolving digital world is imperative. This partnership between ZIVELO and FreedomPay will offer the best of both worlds to business owners.
FreedomPay President and CTO, Chris Kronenthal said, “ZIVELO shares our ethos of providing a seamless transaction experience for consumers and we are delighted to enter into this partnership with an innovative and respected operator in the kiosk sector. Our innovative customer-centric platform solution gives merchants the ability to process complex transactions quickly and securely while offering scalability for the future, and we look forward to an extremely successful and long-term collaboration.”
ZIVELO’s mission is to revolutionize the way brands use technology to interact with their consumers on-premise and in the physical world. Founded in 2008, ZIVELO has rapidly grown to become the leading self-service technology brand offering a sleek and sophisticated product design, intuitive user experience, and cutting-edge modular hardware solutions. In 2018, ZIVELO acquired Oak Labs, the creators of OakOS – the world’s first operating system for public computing experiences. Through the acquisition, ZIVELO now provides brands with an end-to-end solution for the roll-out of kiosks and digital signage and is one of the only full-service kiosk providers to offer world-class hardware, software, services, and financing under one roof. ZIVELO is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, with offices in San Francisco and Seattle. For more information, please visit http://www.ZIVELO.com/.
About FreedomPay
FreedomPay, the industry’s first Transatlantic payments solution platform, is driving the future of commerce and customer interaction. The FreedomPay Commerce Platform is the best way to simplify complex payment environments, enabling merchants with EMV, Tokenization, Contactless and DCC capabilities. FreedomPay maintains a robust internal security environment and is validated by the PCI Security Standards Council against Data Security Standard (DSS), as well as Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE). Global leaders in retail, hospitality, gaming, education, healthcare and financial services trust FreedomPay to deliver unmatched security and advanced value-added services. FreedomPay provides broad integration across merchant point-of-sale sites, payment device manufacturers and payment processors, supported by rapid API adoption. For more information, please visit www.freedompay.com.
Kiosk Idle Timeout: What Happens When
They Walk Away…
Andrew Savala – highly respected kiosk consultant and tech entrepreneur Fresno, California
Customers don’t always behave as we would expect when using our kiosks. In the context of software, this is referred to as the “happy path” where everything goes according to plan.
As kiosk software developers we also must plan for what we’ll refer to as the “sad path.” This is when the customer deviates from the expected behavior.
In this article we’re going to be covering the case where the customer walks away from our kiosk in the middle of their transaction. Obviously, we don’t want the next customer to continue where the previous customer left off. The new customer needs a fresh start and it would be confusing if they walked up and the kiosk is in the middle of a transaction.
Let’s start by first talking about why customers might abandon their kiosk transaction. Why do customers abandon their transaction? The list of reasons could potentially be endless, let’s just cover a few common ones…
They didn’t find what they were looking for
They didn’t have enough money to complete the transaction
The kiosk was too confusing, or the customer gets frustrated
They got distracted
The “customer” was just a small child playing with the screen
I could keep going, but you get the point. As developers we need to be prepared for the inevitable case where the customer will abandon their transaction, because life happens.
Can’t we just start over?
The most obvious solution would be to start a timer when the kiosk is idle and if the timer expires we just restart the kiosk workflow by redirecting the customer to the kiosk attract screen. Any time the customer interacts with the kiosk, the kiosk idle timer would get reset. It would also be a good idea to prompt the user with a dialog asking if they’re still there before restarting the workflow. Something like, “Are you still there? Your order will be cancelled in 30 seconds.”
To put this in layman's terms, if the kiosk is idle for too long, we’ll simply start over. Pretty easy to understand right?
Restarting the kiosk workflow will work fine in most scenarios, but it might not work in every scenario. For example, what if the customer is inserting cash and they’re digging around in their wallet for another bill? Restarting the kiosk workflow could cause them to “lose their money”, which will result in some pretty irate customers. In the next section we’re going to cover what to do when we can’t just start over.
What to do when we can’t just start over
We’ve covered the scenario where we can just restart the kiosk workflow using an idle timeout. Now let’s talk about what to do when starting over is problematic. Imagine the scenario where our kiosk accepts cash but has no ability to dispense change. Once the customer inserts their cash, there’s no spitting it back out, so we have to move forward.
Now you might ask, “why not just install a cash dispenser?” Well for one, it would raise the cost of our kiosk and for the sake of this example let’s just pretend dispensing cash in not an option.
For our example, let’s assume the customer is paying their cell phone bill at our kiosk and they owe $100. They approach the kiosk, search for their bill and start inserting cash. But when they’ve inserted $80, they realize they don’t have enough cash to complete their transaction. What should we do in the case where they’ve inserted some of their money, but don’t have enough cash to complete their transaction? Remember, dispensing the cash they’ve already inserted is out of the question because our kiosk doesn’t have a cash dispenser.
In this case, the answer is to give the customer a partial credit.
Giving partial credit Going back to our cell phone kiosk example, the answer would be to apply the $80 to the customer’s account as a partial credit. Should we just apply the partial credit and start over using our idle timeout? Eventually yes, but since the customer is inserting cash, we should give them some extra time and fair warning in the
form of a popup dialog.
Another consideration is what if the next customer approaches the kiosk before the idle timeout has completed. We wouldn’t want the next customer to be able to go back and search for their own bill and apply the $80 credit.
Therefore, it’s imperative that once cash is inserted, the customer cannot navigate backwards and search for another bill. By locking the credit to the original bill, we ensure that even if the customer walks away, the next customer cannot “steal” their credit. The worst they can do is either complete the transaction or wait for the idle timer to expire. Either way, the original customer gets the credit.
Final thoughts on the happy path
The temptation as developers is to focus on the happy path and assume that our customers will use the kiosk just as we would. But you can see from this example that’s a pipe dream. Anytime we’re designing a new feature it’s important to think through what could go wrong (the sad path) and how we might mitigate that. Keep in mind there’s always a point where self-service is not the answer and you just have to get a person involved. We can maximize the effectiveness of self-service by planning for the worst and thinking ahead.
Hospital Self-Service Kiosks by Qwick Media are powerful communication tools. While fully customizable, these touchscreen kiosks offer
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Improve the bottom line by significantly saving staff
hours, reducing administrative work, and relieving staff from answering common, repetitive questions
Inform patients and visitors about your unique facility,programs, and services
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capabilities and accessibility control feature. Help them easily navigate the facility with wayfinding tool Instantly receive donations at the kiosk, advertise your fundraising efforts, explain how donations will be used, and share success stories
Mimo Monitors New Touchscreens and Displays at Digital Signage Expo 2019
Mimo Monitors will be in booth #3022, showcasing and introducing a myriad of new products into their stable, ideal for conference rooms, digital signage, kiosks, and retail
CHICAGO, IL—March 25, 2019— Mimo Monitors , the experts in small touchscreen displays, will be at the 2019 Digital Signage Expo (DSE), the world’s largest international tradeshow and conference dedicated to digital displays, interactive technology, and digital communications networks, in booth #3022 to preview and offer hands-on demos of their notable and new durable, high-quality, and innovative displays.
As Mimo Monitors continues to successfully grow, the company wants to continue to explore and expand to new arenas where they can leverage their expertise. “As a solutions-focused company we spend a lot of time listening to customer needs. We of course seek to
create products that already have demand, but also, products that our customers are specifically requesting to fulfill a need or solve a problem,” said David Anderson, CEO and President of Mimo Monitors. “At this year’s DSE, we’re showcasing an exciting lineup of previews and newly launched products that we believe will highlight our company’s flexible and wide range of capabilities, while also getting folks who stop by the booth interested to learn more.”
Some of the new and noteworthy products that will be on-hand at Mimo Monitor’s booth (#3022) include:
The Mimo Vue With TanvasTouch: Slated to launch later this year, the Mimo Vue with TanvasTouch, is the first product to bring surface haptics to digital signage and conference rooms.This innovative display allows users to feel what they see on the screen, such as edges, bumps, or ripples, like never before.
The Mimo Vue with BrightSign Built-In: This recently launched product integrates the BrightSign media player and Mimo Vue display, to provide a high quality, reliable, and fully-encompassing digital signage solution that’s intuitive to use, and simple to install and scale.
The 24” 4K Mimo Vue with BrightSign Built-In: Now in preview and ideal for high-end retail displays, this 4K touchscreen provides a visually striking, crisp image at 3840×2160 resolution, while conveniently integrating the Mimo Vue with the BrightSign player for simplicity and ease-of-use.
The Mimo Monitors 21.5” Outdoor Display: Previewing at DSE is Mimo Monitors’ first-ever outdoor display, ideal for kiosks. Designed to operate over a wide temperature range in both cold and heat, this interactive display, at a 1920×1080 resolution is 5x brighter than a typical display to ensure clear and visually pleasing graphic viewing in all kinds of outdoor light.
Shelf-Edge Displays: Previewing at DSE and ideal for retail, Mimo Monitors is showcasing their first-ever shelf-edge displays. Available in 16”, 23”, and 35” these shelf-edge displays are ideal for seamless retail integration, providing high-quality and durable solutions.
24” and 27” Open-Frame Displays: Mimo Monitors’ largest open-frame displays to-date, will be previewing at DSE 2019. Ideal for kiosks, retail and more, these displays are simple to deploy and scale while offering up a high-quality interactive experience.
OptConnect, a longtime leader in managed wireless services, today announced its formal launch into the Internet of Things (IoT) market with the creation of a patent-pending smart embedded modem™ for IoT, OptConnect ema™. OptConnect’s combination of a smart embedded modem™ plus fully managed services is the first “Connectivity-as-a-Service” offering in the IoT industry, and builds on OptConnect’s unparalleled managed services expertise to help companies to quickly and cost-effectively deploy and scale their IoT projects. OptConnect will showcase its managed service offering with ema at Internet of Things World 2019 (Booth #802), May 13-16, 2019, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
OptConnect’s IoT managed services are the ideal solution for customers across a wide range of industries, including retail, energy, agriculture, healthcare and others, who need to embed cellular wireless connectivity into their solution without the trial and error, slower time to market and cost normally associated with typical IoT implementations. OptConnect’s comprehensive solution includes 24/7/365 carrier monitoring and help desk with one-call resolution and service-level agreements (SLAs) on response time, multicarrier support, device and device management analytics, hardware warranties, IoT professional services and a wealth of other capabilities that help companies move their IoT projects to market quickly and cost-effectively.
The introduction of ema positions OptConnect at the top of the IoT managed services market by delivering to customers a seamless wireless experience without the cost and difficulty of developing low-level embedded wireless design. ema is a fully certified LTE Category 4 smart embedded modem with an optimized developed wireless application that supports multi-carrier connectivity and includes embedded applications for mission-critical device management and managed services by OptConnect. ema has an onboard microcontroller with embedded firmware and software developed by OptConnect, providing plug-and-play functionality.
ema features:
A compact design to easily fit on a host board design, but with powerful capabilities, including fully certified PTCRB and full carrier certification and dual-carrier SIM on board
Device management application right out of the box for firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) updates, power management and carrier failover
The highest levels of security already baked in through AWS IoT Core
“Building on our vast experience in managed service wireless connectivity for markets such as ATMs, digital signage, kiosks and more, OptConnect is entering the IoT space with a fully managed wireless service right out of the box, making it easy for customers to quickly and cost-effectively scale their IoT deployments and improve their time to revenue,” said, Chris Baird, President and CEO, OptConnect. “The introduction of ema into this mix is a game-changer. Other companies that develop embedded modems leave the customer to figure out the development, certification and management on their own. Through our robust managed service offering, OptConnect can save them time, money and the headache and hassle that is usually experienced with typical IoT connectivity deployments.”
To learn more about OptConnect’s managed service offerings and OptConnect ema, visit http://www.optconnect.com, or visit OptConnect at Internet of Things World 2019 (Booth #802), May 13-16, 2019, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California.
About OptConnect
OptConnect (http://www.OptConnect.com) is North America’s leading provider of managed service wireless connectivity for ATMs, Smart Safes, Kiosks, Micro Markets, Digital Signage and other custom applications. OptConnect provides a secure and reliable monitored wireless connection to the Internet for unattended equipment that is easy, low-risk, and convenient: All supported by a superior customer service infrastructure. OptConnect has spent 10+ years perfecting managed wireless services so that customers can focus on their core business strengths without having to deal with the delays, complexities, and frustrations of typical cellular deployments. OptConnect’s fully managed solution provides Connectivity-as-a-Service for M2M and IoT applications that is simple and easy to implement.
TDS will announce its 20L series digital signage with the light bar in June of 2019 that will lead the touch monitor market. Through the hardware solution implementation to achieve the control of the light bar to reflect the color vitality and dynamic state without relying on software.
Moreover, the POE power supply of wake-up module is provided to solve the traditional power supply mode of customers. TDS Control system is engineered with LED lightbars by default to color changes. Set aside the limitations of software compatibility to support the widest range of interactive digital meeting room signage projects. Users will be able to identify current availability of the room by the LED color bar indicator, visible from afar. The instant visibility provided by being able to see the room availability whilst walking past a meeting room through edge lighting; Offering a compelling meeting room signage solution for our partners and customers.
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Our 20L is an all-in-one industrial touch computer, multi-point, Projected Capacitive (PCAP) touch screen technology , which is sensitive with the fast response rate. It supports 24-hour operation for 7 days a week, adopts advanced Intel Celeron 3855u processor with Windows 10 system, low power consumption, fan-less motherboard, environmental protection and energy saver, backlight LED, wide viewing Angle. TDS excels at customization, with sizes ranging from 10 "to 55". We offer a variety of peripherals, cameras, NFC, RFID Readers and AF fingerprint prevention etc. as options. All advanced technology is available as an option.
The new 20L product line will be released in June and is now available for pre-order. Please visit our website www.ustdstouch.com for details or email to [email protected] for inquiry.
Interactive Kiosk Awards 2019 – Bell Canada & Taco Bell
The Interactive Customer Experience Association honored Taco Bell’s Self-Order Kiosks and the Bell Canada Smart City Kiosk Tuesday Jun 4, 2019 during their conference in San Francisco.
Image of Bell Canada Smart Kiosk
Taco Bell’s kiosks won for Best Restaurant, while Bell Canada Smart City Kiosks by Bell Canada won Best Kiosk.
Delivery, kiosks and other digital efforts are taking more prominent roles at Yum! Brands, moves that serve as a good reflection of overall trends in the quick service restaurant (QSR) space. Yum operates the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC chains, and the company’s fourth-quarter results, released Feb. 7, provided details about where those [… link]
From menus curated to individuals’ dietary needs to offers that adjust in real time to trends and even weather patterns, here’s how top food names like Sonic and THE.FIT are using AI to enable tailored food experiences
Today’s consumers have more food options than ever. The ordering experience is incredibly important, and a good one can keep customers coming back time and time again. To help guests navigate drive-thru menus, companies like Sonic, McDonalds, and THE.FIT have incorporated AI into their ordering to create a seamless transaction.
Taken from PSFK’s Food Service Debrief report, take a look at how these innovators have redesigned ordering to offer personalization and enhanced convenience:
Sonic, Mastercard and ZIVELO
Global payment company Mastercard has partnered with self-service kiosk technology provider ZIVELO to trial AI-based voice ordering at select locations of the drive-in chain Sonic. At the restaurant, guests place their orders with an AI-powered voice assistant, while an integrated digital menu display can be customized in real time, taking into account context, like weather, time of day, season and location, as well as specific customer preferences. The system aims to streamline repeat orders and use data to offer personalized suggestions and loyalty rewards that are more relevant.
Frost and Sullivan Award Olea Kiosks Customer Value Leadership
LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 20, 2019 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Olea Kiosks of Los Angeles, has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan with the 2019 Customer Value Leadership Award for its self-service kiosk manufacturing and focus on designs for outdoor use.
Olea Kiosks is recognized not only for its technologically advanced and custom kiosks, this award also acknowledges its high standards for in-house manufacturing and services to make it an industry leader.
Frost & Sullivan evaluated Olea Kiosks in two main areas: Customer Ownership Experience and Customer Service Experience. Kiosks give businesses the opportunity to put the customer in the driver seat and in control of their transaction, and with sleek, modern, aesthetically-pleasing designs, Olea delivers a positive experience for today’s user.
Olea is redefining self-service technology with innovation that makes the transaction experience faster, more reliable and easier, particularly in the outdoor space. With several custom, outdoor designs completed and installed, Olea has earned a reputation for providing high-quality kiosks for challenging environments, including outdoor tourist attractions subject to varying temperatures and weather elements.
“Self-service kiosks in demanding environments, such as outdoor locations, face performance and frequent maintenance challenges. With its superior product design knowledge and expertise, Olea has virtually eliminated outdoor maintenance issues for its clients. Such high levels of customer satisfaction have resulted in more than 200 Olea-built drive-thru kiosks installed across the United States, with more to come,” stated Nandini Bhattacharya, Industry Manager, from Frost & Sullivan.
Since 1975, Olea Kiosks has designed and installed more than 20,000 custom kiosks for companies including CLEAR and Kaiser Permanente. Its custom kiosks can be seen throughout the United States and in other countries. Olea has a custom design process to ensure the kiosk is built and deployed to deliver the business outcomes for which it was intended.
About Olea Kiosks:
Olea Kiosks Inc. is a Los Angeles-based self-service kiosk manufacturer in business since 1975. Its technologically advanced, in-house manufacturing and services have made it an industry leader.
Olea Kiosks Inc., is a Los Angeles-based self-service kiosk manufacturer in business since 1975. Its technologically advanced, in-house manufacturing and services have made it an industry leader.
Excerpt from Nation’s Restaurant News June 17, 2019 Editor’s Note: How China tariffs might affect this are in play.
Taco Bell Kiosk consumer-facing technology efforts are in full force this year.
On the heels of rolling out delivery nationwide in February, Taco Bell has quietly installed kiosks in about 4,000 restaurants.
Rob Poetsch, spokesman for the Irvine, Calif.-based chain, said the brand is on track to complete the national rollout of kiosks by the end of this year. The company has about 6,600 U.S. locations.
Less than a year into the deployment, the new 22-inch monitors are already winning accolades.
Taco Bell’s consumer-facing technology efforts are in full force this year.
On the heels of rolling out delivery nationwide in February, Taco Bell has quietly installed kiosks in about 4,000 restaurants.
Taco Bell kiosks are now in 4,000 U.S. locations. (Photo: Taco Bell)
Taco Bell developed the application for the 22-inch touchmonitor. The chain has remote monitoring via a secure cloud-based platform for remote management of the kiosks through Android devices.
For Taco Bell, the award is years in the making. The company has been testing various versions of kiosks, only recently settling on a format that it said works for its consumers.
Rafik Hanna, senior director of information technology at Taco Bell, said the company “strives to stay relevant with customers’ ever-changing preferences.”
The deadline for merchants to bring payment devices into compliance with EMV standards passed more than three years ago, but there are still non-compliant devices in the marketplace.
EMV Compliance Kiosk
A year ago, KioskIndustry.org published a piece looking at the state of adoption of Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) requirements among kiosk deployers in 2018. The bottom-line findings were that while kiosk manufacturers were stressing the need for EMV-compliant solutions for new projects, many deployers planned to keep current non-compliant solutions in the field until the end of their lifespan.
Now that a year has passed since that analysis, has anything changed? Where do things stand now?
EMV Compliance Kiosk continues to expand
To recap, EMV is defined as “a payment method based upon a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines that can accept them.” EMV “smart cards” store their data on integrated circuits in addition to the traditional magnetic stripes. According to financial services firm FirstData, EMV chip cards transmit a variable algorithm that changes with each transaction, making the data more secure than what’s found on magnetic stripe cards.
Under EMV standards, merchants had until Oct. 1, 2015, to make their payment processing equipment EMV-complaint. If a fraudulent transaction occurred at a merchant who had not upgraded their equipment, the merchant would eat the cost of that transaction along with any fines or fees that might be assessed.
And while EMV standards were relatively clear for in-person transactions, such as those at an attended checkout register at a grocery store, they were a bit murkier when it came to transactions at an unattended device, such as a self-service kiosk.
Although payment card issuer Visa doesn’t break out kiosk-specific statistics, it does track overall EMV adoption. By most measures, the process seems to be rolling along.
As of December 2018, more than 3.1 million merchants now accept chip cards, according to Visa statistics, compared with just 392,000 merchants as of September 2015. There are now 511 million chip cards in circulation compared with 159 million three years ago. Ninety-eight percent of payments accomplished at the end of 2018 were done using chip cards.
In addition, counterfeit fraud dollars dropped 48 percent over the 39-month period, according to Visa statistics, while that figure was closer to 80 percent for merchants who have completed the upgrade.
Still, that doesn’t mean credit-card fraud is going to disappear. According to research by intelligence firm Gemini Advisory, as of November 2018 chip-enabled cards represent 93 percent of the more than 60 million payment cards stolen in the past 12 months, thanks to the lack of U.S. merchant compliance with the EMV implementation.
Other Gemini findings include:
45.8 million or 75 percent are Card-Present (CP) records and were stolen at the point-of-sale devices, while only 25% were compromised in online breaches.
90% of the CP compromised U.S. payment cards were EMV enabled.
The United States leads the rest of the world in the total amount of compromised EMV payment cards by a massive 37.3 million records.
Financially motivated threat groups are still exploiting the lack of merchant EMV compliance.
In addition, a new type of card fraud is gaining in popularity. Unlike the skimmers fraudsters attached to gas pumps and other devices to capture credit card information (one of the types of fraud EMV was designed to eliminate) a “shimmer,” according to Krebs on Security, fits in the card slot between the chip on the card and the chip reader — recording the data on the chip as it is read by the underlying machine. The fact that the device fits in the slot itself instead of fitting over the card reader, it’s difficult to spot.
“Data collected by shimmers cannot be used to fabricate a chip-based card, but it could be used to clone a magnetic stripe card. Although the data that is typically stored on a card’s magnetic stripe is replicated inside the chip on chip-enabled cards, the chip contains additional security components not found on a magnetic stripe.
“One of those is a component known as an integrated circuit card verification value or “iCVV” for short — also known as a “dynamic CVV.” The iCVV differs from the card verification value (CVV) stored on the physical magnetic stripe, and protects against the copying of magnetic-stripe data from the chip and using that data to create counterfeit magnetic stripe cards.”
The weakness a shimmer exploits lies with the card issuer as opposed to the payment device.
“The only way for this attack to be successful is if a [bank card] issuer neglects to check the CVV when authorizing a transaction,” ATM giant NCR Corp. wrote in a 2016 alert to customers. “All issuers MUST make these basic checks to prevent this category of fraud. Card Shimming is not a vulnerability with a chip card, nor with an ATM, and therefore it is not necessary to add protection mechanisms against this form of attack to the ATM.”
(If I needed any persuasion that payment card fraud was still a problem, I recently received a call from my bank alerting me that my debit card had been compromised. Someone had used what was obviously a cloned card to withdraw $300 at an ATM 30 miles away from where I live. The bank blocked the card when the fraudster attempted to make a withdrawal at another ATM. A few days later, my son’s debit card was compromised as well. In both cases, the money was refunded to our accounts and the dispute was closed in less than a week. When I posted a comment to the neighborhood Nextdoor social media site about the incident, dozens of people in my area said they had also been victims of payment card fraud. The speculation was that the issue occurred at a nearby convenience store, although nothing was proven.)
The current state of EMV Compliance affairs
By all appearances, EMV adoption among kiosk deployers essentially stands where it did a year ago. Deployers seem to be carrying on with existing equipment until the end of its lifespan, with any new deployments.
Part of the reason is likely, as mentioned in last year’s analysis, that the relatively low transaction averaged for many kiosks translates to less overall chargeback risk, which in turn means less incentive to upgrade. Given that risk, it doesn’t make much sense to invest in an upgrade it of the deployer plans to swap it out in a year or two.
“For kiosks we have seen very little in the way of EMV retrofits of fielded kiosks running in mag stripe even though there are surface mount devices well suited to field retrofits available,” said Rob Chilcoat, president, North American Operations with UCP Inc., a provider of EMV-compliant chip-and-pin hardware and payment gateway solutions for attended and unattended card payment terminals in North America.
In addition, some of the concerns about whether a kiosk would be considered attended, “semi-attended” or unattended under EMV requirements may have been overblown.
The Path to EMV Compliance Kiosk
What are some other risks in deploying non-EMV kiosks? Comments from the experts:
There are current deployers with standard ecommerce websites using a third-party shopping cart on their kiosks that have no clue about EMV. Kiosk software like KioWare can intercept the shopping cart MSR checkout and perform the EMV transaction; however, they still need the third-party shopping cart to know the transaction has succeeded; ie, we need an API to call. This API is often lacking as most don’t care about kiosks and EMV integration, although it is slowly changing. This is definitely affecting existing kiosks going EMV, but it is also affecting new kiosk projects that had hoped to use their existing third-party shopping cart.
If a card data breach is tracked back to a kiosk, the merchant associated with that kiosk would be in hot water. This is why data in the clear between a card reader and a web hosted payment page (the old way of doing things) is such a PCI no-no.
Ultimately PCI compliance comes down to the merchant themselves, ISVs want to enable the merchants to use a PCI-DSS pre-certified solution, but that doesn’t completely relieve the merchant themselves from final PCI compliance. Implementing EMV pretty much removes mag stripe data from the environment except in cases where a card has no chip, or the chip is damaged. In the case of a card not having a chip, the issuer of the card would be the least compliant (culpable) party if the merchant is EMV capable. In the event of a damaged chip, this is why it is also important to implement end-to-end encryption, to render malware sniffing attacks unfruitful.
“’Semi-attended’ doesn’t exist as far as the PCI Security Council and EMVCo are concerned; a device is either a Cardholder Activated Terminal (CAT) or it isn’t in their eyes,” Chilcoat said.
“This ‘semi-attended’ term was coined by processors to justify using less costly attended devices at self-checkout and other indoor self-service scenarios where the kiosks are being tended to by an employee of the store,” he said. “This PCI gray area still exists and we do see people ordering attended devices from us for this purpose. We advise against it, but we can’t stop them from doing what they want with a terminal. It really comes down to what the merchant’s processor will allow.”
Still, deployers shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security by thinking a low transaction amount means they’re insulated from major losses. Yes, if a fraudulent card is used on a small transaction at the kiosk, it can just be considered a cost of doing business. On the other hand, if someone is able to collect cardholder data at the kiosk and then sell it on the dark web causing massive fraudulent transactions elsewhere, and that gets tracked back to a non-EMV compliant kiosk, it won’t be trivial to a kiosk deployer.
But for new projects, EMV is definitely the norm.
“In terms of kiosks, the biggest thing that’s changed is the move from EMV being an optional form of payment to a requirement for our customers,” said Bruce Rasmussen, director of sales with payment technology provider Ingenico Group.
“Currently we do not have any customers in the pre-deployment stage that are not already planning to support EMV now or in the next phase of their project,” Rasmussen said. “Additionally, merchants are continuing to redefine their customer interface to capture a new segment of the market, and payments continues to play a large role in this transformation.”
In particular, he said, there is a growing emphasis on supporting mobile wallets in payment solutions, which in turn drives demand for EMV contactless. With the majority of legacy cashless options only supporting magstripe transactions, merchants are putting updating their payment solutions to accept contactless at the top of their requirements.
“We see growth in contactless card payments and payments via smart phones driving growth in NFC adoption at the kiosk,” Rasmussen said. “The mandate from the card brands to support EMV contactless payments as of October 2019 is driving adoption for EMV since managing a contact and contactless certification may be the most economical and efficient use of resources to achieve a certification.”
Ultimately, although the process continues to be a gradual one, it’s only a matter of time before the vast majority of self-service kiosks in the marketplace are EMV-compliant.
“In terms of new kiosks, we have not shipped anything mag stripe only for a long time,” Chilcoat said. “I think overall EMV migration has hit a tipping point where chip card payments is the expected user experience and kiosk companies are seeing that and including it in their RFP requirements.”
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Inpixon (Nasdaq: INPX) (the “Company” or “Inpixon”), a leading indoor positioning and data analytics company, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Jibestream Inc. (“Jibestream”), a premier provider of indoor mapping and location technology.
Jibestream offers a full-featured geospatial platform that integrates business data with high-fidelity indoor maps to create smart indoor spaces. Jibestream states their solution is deployed in hundreds of buildings globally including numerous marque venues such as Mall of America, The Pentagon, Westfield World Trade Center, San Francisco International Airport, several Veteran Affairs hospitals and Mall of the Emirates. Jibestream was selected as a “Cool Vendor” by global research firm Gartner in the 2018 Cool Vendors in Location Services for Wayfinding report, and was named as a Top Geospatial Company in 2019 by Geoawesomeness.
“The addition of Jibestream’s mapping capabilities and technologies is a pivotal and transformative step in our mission to be the global leader for indoor data,” said Nadir Ali, Inpixon CEO. “Our ability to provide a single indoor location platform that now provides mapping with what we believe is the most accurate positioning the market has to offer, comprehensive analytics that provide deep, meaningful insights for our customers, and the SDKs and APIs to fuel a thriving partner ecosystem sets us apart from competitors. Gradually, Inpixon’s indoor location data platform will ingest data from various third party IoT sensors and databases in addition to its own proprietary sensors to deliver information critical to a multitude of industries and disciplines including marketing, customer experience, operations and security. Inpixon’s depiction of indoor data will give each user a unique view of their indoor data, from wayfinding, visitor analytics and marketing campaigns to video camera integration and cybersecurity threat detection. Inpixon’s analytics engine and artificial intelligence will continue to anonymize devices, ensuring privacy and security, as we deliver on our mission to do good with indoor data.”
Uniguest provides kiosks to the hospitality, senior living, specialty retail, education and corporate sectors. The kiosks typically run a locked down version of Windows, and are managed by Uniguest rather than, for example, the hotel customers. With so many kiosks in so many different locations, that management inevitably involves the cloud — and when the cloud is involved there are often security lapses.
Starting with nothing more than a Google search, researchers from Trustwave SpiderLabs found a Uniguest website (ucrew.uniguest.com) that had been publicly exposed on the internet. This website appeared to contain all the tools that technicians would need to deploy or manage a kiosk on location. From this simple observation, the researchers were able to develop a train that would ultimately enable them, in their own words, to “dump all the data in the Uniguest cloud database, which includes admin, router and BIOS passwords, product keys and various other sensitive information, for what looked like all of Uniguest’s customers.”
SAFECRACKERS OF THE past put a stethoscope to a safe’s panel while turning its dial, listening for the telltale murmurs of the interlocking components inside. It turns out that modern safecracking, despite all its electronic upgrades, isn’t always so different. But now those involuntary murmurs are electric, and the combination they betray takes the form of ones and zeros in transit between a lock’s silicon chips.
At the Defcon hacker conference Friday, security researcher Mike Davis will present the results of years of research into a family of electronic safe locks all sold by Switzerland-based lock giant Dormakaba. Over the last two and a half years, Davis has found techniques to crack three different types of the Kaba Mas high-security electronic combination locks the company has sold for securing ATM safes, pharmacy drug cabinets, and even Department of Defense facilities, representing millions of locks around the world. Davis found that he could open many of those ATM and pharmacy locks in as little as five minutes with nothing more than an oscilloscope and a laptop. The technique also leaves no physical trace—other than the safe’s contents disappearing.
Unlock ATMs in Minutes article continued
Davis says he initially warned Dormakaba about the vulnerability of its Cencon locks two years ago, and shared findings about the other models over the following months. But fixing the vulnerabilities that Davis has exposed won’t be easy. Davis says that in at least some of the locks, there’s no hardware capable of encrypting the locks’ combinations to prevent his attack. Even if a software update could prevent Davis’ attacks in some cases, it likely would have to be implemented across millions of locks around the world, an expensive process sure to take years.
But Davis says he also isn’t giving anyone a simple playbook to replicate his attacks. He’s not publishing the code for his power analysis program, for instance, and he believes it would take significant, sophisticated work to recreate even the simpler techniques he pulled off. “I’m not looking to expose the locks that protect the nuclear codes,” Davis says. “I don’t think I’m giving anyone a loaded gun.”
Nice demo of Alexa self-order integration by Pyramid Technologies. Includes employee voice command and response sequences with Alexa combined with beacon technology for locating the customer.
FRANK MAYER AND ASSOCIATES, INC. NEW GOLD SPONSOR OF
KIOSK MANUFACTURER ASSOCIATION
Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. will experience added benefits as new Kiosk Manufacturer Association gold member.
GRAFTON, WI – A longstanding member of the Kiosk Manufacturer Association (KMA), Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc.recently upgraded to gold membership status. The new sponsorship level includes participation in a variety of industry trades shows such as the National Retail Federation 2020 as well as access to market research and RFPs that come in through the KMA website.
US Access Board ADA and Accessibility Meeting with Randy Amundson standing next to Director David Capozzi
In addition, Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc.’s Technology Director Randy Amundson serves as chairperson for the KMA’s ADA and Accessibility Committee. Each year, the committee meets with the US Access Board in Washington, D.C., and in 2019, the group will present a preliminary outline of the Kiosk Industry Code of Practice which will combine all ADA regulations and technologies into one document. An exciting new addition to the document is a proposed framework for voice command.
Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. is a leader in the development of in-store merchandising displays, interactive kiosks, and store fixtures for brands and retailers nationwide. The company helps retailers and brands utilize the latest display solutions and technologies to create engaging customer experiences. For more information on Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc., visit www.frankmayer.com.
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CONTACT: Cheryl Lesniak, Integrated Marketing Manager Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. 1975 Wisconsin Ave., Grafton, WI 53024
(262) 834-1489 | [email protected]
This was a massive collaboration between several teams and organizations. I couldn’t be happier and more proud of all the folks involved, from software and hardware engineers, product managers, fellow designers, and our operations and brand folks. So to them, I say thank you
Jon Kantrowitz
@jkantro
·
As to what I did – I was the design lead responsible for the human interactions, user flow, and tablet user experience, which is the primary engagement for riders. Can’t wait for our early feedback from our field research this week.
asked here’s a bit of a breakdown. But first context again: This is being run as a trial in Toronto Airport; We leveraged existing kiosk hardware that we use in driver green light hubs, which we further modified for speed, cost effectiveness, and operations.
As smart cities rise in popularity, government IT leaders must also contend with the additional security questions these raise as well.
City leaders are flocking to smart city devices and technologies with myriad purposes and functions, ranging from air quality monitoring, alleviating traffic congestion, and improving government performance. However, city IT leaders must also remain measured in their approaches to these new technologies, especially considering the increased cost in managing more devices and the potential for greater threats penetrating these networks.
Several speakers at the Smart City Expo Atlanta conference addressed this issue, as more and more cities look to explore and embrace these technologies. Smart city technologies have been proliferating as of late across the country. One example is Columbus, Ohio, which received $50 million in grant funding and $520 million in private investment to use toward autonomous vehicle testing, new transportation models, and open source data systems. Additionally, the state of Ohio recently opened a testing ground for autonomous vehicles as part of ongoing efforts to invest in advanced transportation. Ohio is not alone in these endeavors, however, as Utah has invested $50 million in connected and autonomous vehicle infrastructure, and Louisiana passed legislation allowing autonomous semitrailer trucks on its public roads.
Deltek previously released its Smart Cities Report in 2018 highlighting several major trends and areas in which these technologies are being utilized and procured by city and county governments. Specifically, the report examines five different market segments or major categories, including smart transportation, smart emergency response, smart & big data, smart citizen engagement, and smart connected facilities. The report shows that procurement activity in these areas has increased over the past few years, as well as which cities and counties are leading the way.
Despite this growing popularity in smart technologies, as noted above, this is not without justified concerns. To go along with the question over securing these devices and networks they operate on, many organizations using these technologies are now amassing huge amounts of data that must be collected, managed, effectively shared, as well as kept safe.
Ultimately, it appears that smart technologies in cities and counties are here to stay, and these initiatives hold great potential to improve the lives of citizens, however local government IT leaders should maintain a measured and methodical approach to how they embrace them by ensuring IT security architecture is in place and capable, establish effective data governance policies, and balancing innovation with security.
An in-depth look into the market for child support enforcement technologies.
Background
Child support enforcement is the legal process through which a parent supports their child monetarily following the end of a marriage or relationship. Specifically, the non-custodial parent makes ongoing, periodic payments to the custodial parent for the financial benefit of the child. The majority of child support payments, which are court-ordered, are collected through direct wage withholding. Employers are responsible for reporting newly hired and terminated employees, withholding child support payments as ordered, and remitting payments to the state. Child support represents an intersection between the judicial system, employment authorities, and human services programs.
Information Technology
Several information technology systems are required to support a state’s child support program:
AChild Support Enforcement System automates management of the program, specifically providing caseload management, document management, and information sharing. Each state is required to have this system.
A State Disbursement Unit (SDU)is a payment processing center for child support payments. It processes checks received from employers and non-custodial parents before disbursing the funds to recipients.
A New Hire Reporting System is a central location for employers to report newly hired employees to the state shortly after hiring. This system helps child support agencies issue income withholding orders.
Procurement Landscape
There is significant variation between states in terms of which of the above technologies they procure externally versus developing in-house. Most states contract out to a vendor for one or two systems, while there are nine confirmed states that have vendors for all three. These states include Delaware, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Overall, there are nearly 90 confirmed contracts throughout the country related to the three main child support technologies, including 24 child support enforcement systems, 38 SDU’s, and 25 new hire reporting systems. Four states currently have no confirmed contracts for anything – Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, and Utah. Furthermore, 18 states are actively procuring one or more of these systems, meaning formal solicitations have been released or are being reviewed. The following states are currently accepting proposals:
In terms of contract values, there is approximately $1.5 billion in the collective market for child support technologies. Breaking this number down by technology, the average value of child support enforcement systems is about $36 million. California holds the most expensive contract for this technology at almost $125 million with Deloitte. For SDU’s, the average contract value is about $32 million. Ohio’s contract with Systems and Methods is the most expensive at approximately $165 million. Compared with these technologies, new hire reporting is generally less lucrative of a service. The average contract value is only $1.2 million, with Texas holding the most expensive contract at nearly $8 million with Maximus.
Indeed, Systems and Methods and Maximus, along with Conduent and Stellarware, are top vendors in the market for child support technologies. Systems and Methods and Maximus each have 15 confirmed contracts, while Conduent has 12, and Stellarware has 9. Other notable vendors include Protech Solutions, Informatix, Deloitte, and Accenture. Additionally, over half of all child support IT contracts have terms that range between five and ten years, including with renewal options.
Excerpt: It’s called “biometrics”—a type of artificial intelligence that maps the features of the face with such accuracy, it not only can identify that person but detect their sexual orientation and, in the most advanced versions, even gauge their emotional state. Casinos in Macau and elsewhere are now testing the technology as a way to identify card cheats, problem gamblers and more. Does this go beyond surveillance to spying?
Last month, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) acknowledged that “two to three” gaming operators in the world’s top casino market are testing facial recognition technologies, presumably to identify and eject criminals, card cheats, compulsive gamblers, underage players, dishonest employees and others whose presence in a gaming hall may be unwelcome.
DICJ head Paulo Martins Chan made soothing sounds about “strictly adhering” to privacy rules, but that may not ring true in Macau, which takes its orders from Beijing, or in the market’s billion-dollar casinos, where corporate concerns have sometimes overruled privacy concerns.
Besides, in an era where cameras are always looming, is privacy becoming obsolete? These issues are at the heart of a new report, published in June in the UNLV Gaming Law Review.
The report, And the Eye in the Sky is Watching Us All: Privacy Concerns of Emerging Technological Advances in Casino Player Tracking, looks at innovations in video surveillance, biometrics and other technologies— gesture recognition, too—that author Stacy Norris said have reached “an almost Orwellian level of intrusiveness.
Once upon a time in cold Russia of 2000 something important happened. A new payment system was born. It would soon dominate the whole country, become part of daily life of every single Russian, and spread across the borders to neighbouring Ukraine, Belarus and various X-stans.
The invention so ingenious that it is still unclear why it did not take off in comparable cash markets of Africa or South-East Asia. System so smart and obvious that many would not believe it was born, designed and engineered in Mother Russia. There is no other region on Earth that would have it to this day. I am still amazed at that too.
In the late 90s, early 00s there were no smartphones, iPhone was still years ahead, and the population was increasingly accepting the idea of the personal mobile phone. Mobile phones were becoming cheaper and cheaper, and everyone got a chance to own one.
Mobile operators issued scratch-cards with the airtime value, and you could buy those either in the telco offices, or through their agents. Scratch-card had a value, and you were supposed to dial the number on the card, scratch and enter the PIN from it (guided by the voice instructions). Much like in Kenya now and before, or the rest of Africa, the agent network was the main force for the operators, and the scratch-card — the main vehicle.
The history has many names of the first companies and persons that were responsible for the birth of this new payment system, and some of them are still very much active in the fintech space even today. Anyways, a machine was designed to sell airtime and accept cash for it. It is called payment terminal — literally, when crudely translated from Russian, and up to this day there is no obvious English name for it. For the lack of such thing anywhere else. I call it — payment kiosk, ATM-like machine, payment box, etc. And then show a picture.
Notable updates — Charging Kiosks and Digital Signage Kiosks and FID Kiosk
PARABIT KIOSK SYSTEMS
Parabit designs, fabricates, and integrates enclosures and software that allow you to efficiently and effectively authenticate physical identities and manage facilities. Custom kiosk solutions provide comprehensive, enterprise level visitor registration, notifications, tracking, reporting, as well as other features including automated interaction with dynamic data sources and integration with building access control systems.
Enhance your brand with custom kiosks to improve security, provide a quick charge for mobile devices, offer on-demand visitor information, and enhance customer service.
Boost your front-line security by safeguarding your employees and tenants. Self-service kiosks are particularly fitting for high traffic areas and unsupervised lobbies.
Display customized FIDs in your airport, or bus and train schedule info at transit stations. Our WayFinding software helps your visitors to navigate to indoor and outdoor destinations.
Mobile device charging stations provide visitors and passengers a way to get recharged. Since we have become so dependent on our tech devices, providing the convenience of charging stations is essential. Our designs offer up opportunities for advertising, providing you a revenue-generating opportunity.
Telephone Kiosks
Our kiosks offer convenient and reliable customer assistance. Constructed with vandal resistant materials.
Example of smart city kiosk this one by Peerless-AV
Detroit — Dozens of interactive booths with free Wi-Fi, suggestions for dining and shopping or finding an open shelter bed for the homeless might soon be sprouting up downtown.
The Downtown Detroit Partnership has entered into a 15-year agreement with Ohio-based IKE Smart City that calls for the installation of at least 30 kiosks in the city’s core and neighborhood districts, said Eric Larson, the partnership’s CEO.
The new technology is planned amid tensions in Detroit over privacy concerns tied to the use of traffic-mounted cameras, real-time feeds to the police department’s crime center and facial recognition software.
The kiosk technology — often equipped with high-definition security cameras — has also raised privacy concerns in some cities over unwanted surveillance and other features that may provide a user’s personal information to third parties.
Detroit is believed to be the first city deploying IKE kiosks without cameras, Larson said, but the terminals can be retrofitted later on “if everybody is comfortable with it.”
Waterford-based tech company Omnivend is rolling out its top-up kiosks to over 20 O2 stores around the country and is eyeing the UK market as it continues to grow.
Waterford-based tech company Omnivend is rolling out its top-up kiosks to over 20 O2 stores around the country and is eyeing the UK market as it continues to grow.
Customers using Omnivend’s technology in O2 stores to top up their mobile device enter their phone number at the kiosk and the credit is loaded directly onto their account.
Established in 2003, Omnivend now has 250 kiosks located in high footfall retail stores across Ireland.
We welcome Evoke as our latest KMA sponsor. Evoke works in all types of complete kiosk solutions as well as OEM standard models for people such as McDonalds.
WHO WE ARE
Evoke have been at the forefront of interactive digital technology since 2003 and work with some of the world’s biggest brands designing and manufacturing the latest in self-service solutions.
At our purpose-built UK headquarters, we combine dynamic workspace, showroom, warehouse, factory and production lines. In total we have over 50,000 sqft of the very latest energy efficient facilities where we are investing in extensive R&D and creating a dynamic, flourishing workplace.
Our highly trained production engineers work to continuously improve lean manufacturing processes and we deliver large scale roll outs of the highest quality to locations all over the world. With a culture of innovation and the best talent from around the country, evoke creative have the experience and capacity needed for your digital transformation.
We’ve won awards for our cutting edge design, our manufacturing quality and our people-centric business.
Evoke works with forward-thinking businesses around the world to design, manufacture, and implement the latest digital solutions both out-of-box and as part of our bespoke service. Our product range includes everything you need for your digital transformation: self-service ordering, digital signage, interactive experiences, video walls, RFID and payment, all supported by tried and tested software solutions and integrated with your existing systems.
Introducing the first portable temporary mobile kiosk trailer.
Capable of holding up to 8 kiosks in a thru wall configuration, this unit can give your site a boost in kiosk sales. The trailer is completely moveable and can be configured to be completely self-sufficient or connect to existing infrastructure and payment gateways to allow
an additional 8 kiosks to sell tickets, passes or whatever your enterprise needs to sell and/or dispense.
The trailer is fully heated and cooled and is hardened to allow it to be installed virtually anywhere you need it and in any weather. Place the unit where you think your customers will most benefit and reduce line ups, reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.
Unattended Card Payments Inc. KIF Now PCI P2PE Validation
PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: NOV 6, 2019 07:00 PST
LAS VEGAS, November 6, 2019 (Newswire.com) – Unattended Card Payments Inc. (UCP), a leading Value Added Reseller of payment devices for self-service kiosks, announced today that its Key Injection Facility (KIF) located in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been validated for Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) by the PCI Security and Standards Council.
UCP’s KIF is a secure facility where the injection of point-to-point encryption keys takes place. The KIF is in compliance with strictly defined procedures concerning the sharing, safeguarding, and injection of P2PE keys, as well as the proper storage and tracking of payment terminals throughout their journey to the merchant’s deployment location. UCP’s KIF is purpose-built to support the injection of unattended payment devices, also known as Cardholder-Activated Terminals (CATs). Many self-service PIN pads and card readers are equipped with anti-removal sensors that play a role in ensuring devices in the field cannot be removed and substituted with rogue devices that cybercriminals use to collect credit card information. These anti-removal sensors also come into play when these devices are configured and key-injected, which is the catalyst behind UCP’s unique KIF design.
UCP’s President of North American Operations, Robert Chilcoat, said, “Having our KIF PCI P2PE Validated will open a lot of doors. It gives us the opportunity to partner with industry-leading P2PE Solution Providers and help their merchant clients provide their customers with the security and privacy of data they expect. At UCP, we strive to stay up to date and in the know with ever-evolving industry standards in parallel with offering top-notch services and support.”
Self Service ADA Accessibility Requirements and Quiz
Kiosk Industry and KMA are offering a free consultation for ADA and Accessibility for your self-service project. Also to assist, a downloadable PDF with current ADA, Section 508 and ACA regulations that are currently mandated.
Excerpt below —
Are your kiosks ADA-compliant? Typically prospects and customers will include a stipulation that the units be ADA-compliant. We see many requests for proposals from city, state and federal agencies where that one line is the only line about ADA.
Almost all kiosks are ADA-compliant, to a degree. Most all likely will observe basic reach requirements but that is only one of over 30 standing regulations concerning hardware. And there are another 30 or so which apply to the software and interface.
So, go ahead and test your knowledge. You can also schedule a free consultation.
Self-checkout theft is an acknowledged problem, but what’s less talked about is who’s committing the crime.
Turns out, it may be someone you know — even you.
Perhaps an item you tried to scan didn’t have a barcode, so — pressed for time — you slipped it into your bag without paying, instead of flagging down a store employee for assistance.
You felt justified given the circumstances and figured the risk of getting caught was low. U.K. criminologist Adrian Beck calls this a crime of opportunity, one that’s turning average shoppers into “part-time thieves.”
“These aren’t people who are setting out in the day going, ‘You know what, I’m now going to go and steal some items from retailers,'” he said. “They’re just taking the opportunity that they are presented with at these machines.”
From 2016 to 2018, Beck studied retail sales losses caused by self-checkout theft and honest mistakes made by customers scanning their own items. The emeritus professor at the University of Leicester said it’s hard to differentiate between the two acts, because a customer’s intent is unknown.
Starting with nothing more than a Google search, researchers from Trustwave SpiderLabs found a Uniguest website (ucrew.uniguest.com) that had been publicly exposed on the internet. This website appeared to contain all the tools that technicians would need to deploy or manage a kiosk on location. From this simple observation, the researchers were able to develop a train that would ultimately enable them, in their own words, to “dump all the data in the Uniguest cloud database, which includes admin, router and BIOS passwords, product keys and various other sensitive information, for what looked like all of Uniguest’s customers.”
A security loophole is allowing fraudsters to break the £30 spending limit for contactless bank cards.
