solutions Customer Engagement Technology April/May 2020 Issue 25 also in this issue: Kiosk Summit Relaunches with New Name Clean Innovations in Shared Devices The Hyper-Connected Clientele Strong Customer Authentication Growing hygiene concerns The rise and rise of the unattended kiosk kiosks | digital signage | engagement technology KIOSK ISSN 2398-2837Kiosk Solutions magazine kiosksolutionsmagazine.com Kiosk Solutions website kiosksolutionsmagazine.com KDS 2020 Kiosk and Digital Signage show kdseurope.comcontents KIOSK solutions 3 FOREWORD 5 NEWS 6 THE FUTURE OF KIOSK SUMMIT 14 With a new name, Kiosk and Digital Signage 2020 (KDS 2020), will not only continue to expand, but is set to be built on even further. CLEAN INNOVATIONS IN SHARED DEVICES 16 Coronavirus is a scary, but important reminder of just how easily microbials are spread from person to person, both directly and indirectly. THE HYPER-CONNECTED CLIENTELE 20 At payment terminals and in-store, mobile payment is attracting not only Chinese tourists, but a new hyper-connected clientele. THE RISE AND RISE OF THE UNATTENDED KIOSK 26 The behavioural changes introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic create a valuable opportunity for us to rethink the retail purchase experience. STRONG CUSTOMER AUTHENTICATION 30 Vending operators are facing some major changes to the way they operate thanks to new legislation which came into effect in March and could result in a loss of revenue if vending and kiosk businesses don’t act. GROWING HYGIENE CONCERNS 32 As the Coronavirus pandemic continues, there is understandably a huge concern about spreading the virus through shared public areas and items, from petrol pumps to ATM keypads to touchscreens. 32 30 contents 16 26solutions Customer Engagement Technology KIOSK Kiosk Solutions reaches an audience of 15,000 decision makers on a bi-monthly basis right throughout the UK. These 15,000 individuals are comprised of Customer Service Directors, Project Managers, CIOs , CTO’s, FD’s and many more besides. This unique readership presents you with a unique opportunity to reach an audience that is not available through any other media. Independent Kiosk Solutions is an independent publication, aiming to offer an objective view of the industry. Articles may present newsworthy acts and/ or opinions of named companies, but all measures are taken to ensure that articles within Kiosk Solutions report the objective facts without bias. Editorial We welcome contributions and submissions of news, features, thought leadership posts and interviews from companies and individuals regarding the kiosk and digital signage industry. These can be sent to the editor; Laura Vallis at editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk. All editorial that we receive from third parties is subject to the editor-in-chief's ultimate approval, and submission of an article is no guarantee of publication. In order to ensure that all articles meet the editorial policy, we reserve the right to edit the whole or part of any material selected for publication. You can find our editorial policy on our website: www.kiosksolutionsmagazine.com/guidelines. Advertising If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages please contact Lloyd at lloyd.vella@abacus-comms.co.ukFROM THE EDITOR It seems that no matter what we had planned for this year, Coronavirus has had other ideas for us. The COVID-19 pandemic has created exceptional challenges for everyone around the world. The health of everyone is at stake and we applaud our key workers, not just at 8pm on a Thursday when we clap for our carers, but at all times and across all industries. But while we are reeling from social distancing, staying home and staying safe, we still have to look to what our future – our 'new normal' – might look like. Obviously the virus is at the forefront of our minds and in this issue we look at how we might restrict the spread of microbials across shared devices. We also look at the sanitisation and cleaning options available for public touchpoints. While we continue to support the global effort in containing the spread of this virus it is our clients, suppliers, supporters, family and friends that is of our highest concern. These are testing times and we want to do our bit to help your business retain its market share. If you have a story to tell or a message to give, we promise to make it our priority. If you would like to contribute to the next issue please forward your article or news item to editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, stay safe, stay well. Laura Vallis Editor foreword KIOSK solutions 5 Access Hospitality Announces Kiosk Solution Partnership with QikServe With a quarter of hospitality operators intending to roll out faster food ordering technology in the next year, leading technology provider Access Hospitality, part of The Access Group, has announced a kiosk solutions partnership with QikServe, the digital self-service platform for hospitality. In a recent survey conducted by Access Hospitality, hospitality operators rated improving guest experience as their second highest priority (58%), with a quarter of respondents saying that they intended to introduce faster food ordering technology in 2020 to retain their customer base and build strong customer loyalty. The partnership, which integrates the Access EPoS system with QikServe’s kiosk solution, will help operators transform the customer experience, streamline operations and reduce pressure on busy staff as part of the expanding range of technology solutions available from Access Hospitality. The visually rich self-service kiosk experience from QikServe typically delivers a 20% increase in average transaction value. Announcing the partnership Mat Wood, Product Director of Access Hospitality, said “As the popularity of self-service kiosks continues to grow, particularly in the food-to-go sector, we’re excited to partner with QikServe to bring a powerful and robust offering for our quick service customers who want to expand into, or improve, their kiosk capacity.” The QikServe self-service platform provides powerful in-store solutions that give operators the ability to bust queues by offering customers a wider range of options to order and pay for food and drinks. Daniel Rogers, President and founder of QikServe, commented, “Access Hospitality understands the needs of its customers and we’re thrilled that QikServe has been chosen as its partner of choice for self-service kiosks. We provide the fastest way to roll out a highly scalable self-order and pay kiosk solution and we’re looking forward to working with Access Hospitality to help its customers benefit from faster ordering, improved customer experiences and higher transaction values.” n KIOSK solutions Abacus Communications Limited 1 Tudor Business Park, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood, KT20 6EN www.kiosksolutionsmagazine.com Published by: Abacus Communications Publisher: Greg Ward Editor: Laura Vallis Sales: Lloyd Vella ISSN 2398-2837 The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. The author and publisher, and its officers and employees, do not accept any liability for any errors that may have occurred, or for any reliance on their contents. All trademarks and brandnames are respected within our publication. However, the publishers accept no responsibility for any inadvertent misuse that may occur. This publication is protected by copyright © 2020 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved. Would you like to contribute to Kiosk Solutions? Please submit news stories, articles, press releases and industry expert opinions to Laura Vallis editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk including high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images. We publish all news and articles free of charge. This ensures our content is unbiased and relevant to our industry. news 6 KIOSK solutions6 KIOSK solutionsnews Medical Research Institute gets Makeover with BrightSign Digital Signage Players BrightSign works with Signagelive to upgrade signage at two leading research centres in Australia. With the aim of bringing a complete signage solution to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Australia, digital signage media player company BrightSign, LLC, has announced a collaboration with Signagelive. The installation covers two Perkins Research Institute facilities to manage the creation, scheduling and delivery of content to a large number of LED screens, information boards and large foyer banner displays, all of which are used for internal digital signage communications. Founded in 1998, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research has grown to become one of Australia’s leading adult medical research centres. 450 research and trial staff work across two new state-of-the-art research facilities, in conjunction with the major teaching hospitals. The aim of the new installation was to increase platform reliability and keep time spent managing the system to a minimum. Andy Crowhurst, Facilities Operations Manager of the Harry Perkins Institute said, “The reliability of the Signagelive CMS on the BrightSign media player is outstanding. Given our existing inflexible proprietary signage infrastructure, Signagelive and BrightSign have been the proverbial breath of fresh air, delivering significant cost savings, reducing administration overheads and providing a solution that is far more agile in presenting content. In addition, Amped Digital has provided highly effective implementation and ongoing support services and the combination is highly recommended.” He added, “Our existing solution was at the end of life and going out of support. Signagelive was the most cost effective, functional and flexible replacement solution that we evaluated. It is a very complete solution that doesn’t need lots of training, doesn’t consume huge amounts of time to maintain and is reliable in operation. There was considerable time and effort in the analysis and design stages and we didn’t lose much time dealing with unexpected issues. Overall it was a quick and well-executed project completed ahead of schedule and within budget. The signage is a vital and valuable part of our communications strategies and our brand and therefore it has provided major business benefit to the institute.” Jeff Hastings, BrightSign’s CEO, commented, “We’re delighted to make the facilities of the Harry Perkins Institute even more friendly and functional. This project serves as the perfect example of how updated digital signage solutions can improve not only a building’s aesthetic but contribute to the overall smooth running of a valuable educational facility.” n New AI consultancy Fountech.Solutions launches to market Fountech.Solutions, a new artificial intelligence (AI) consultancy, has launched to help organisations globally integrate AI into their operations. Fountech.Solutions has been formed as a new subsidiary company of Fountech.ai, the four-year-old parent company to a number of specialist AI firms. The new company has already established a presence in Austin, Texas, USA; London, UK and Limassol, Cyprus. Fountech.Solutions provides clients with the advice and guidance they need to create an AI adoption strategy. Led by chief operating officer Ero Georgiades, its team will use their commercial, scientific and technological expertise to enable organisations to grow by implementing AI. The new consultancy’s services will fall under three categories. Firstly, it will conduct audits to identify how an organisation can take full advantage of AI. It will also create bespoke AI adoption strategies to guide clients through the entire process. Fountech.Solutions can then develop and deploy tailored AI solutions according to the needs and strategies of the client. Ero Georgiades, COO of Fountech.Solutions said: “AI is perhaps the single most exciting technology businesses are working with today. It has the ability to completely transform the world around us – and for the better. Yet many organisations and their management teams lack the skills and knowledge of how to use and implement AI. Fountech.Solutions will enable them to overcome these challenges by providing all the guidance and expertise they need under one roof.” In the coming months, Fountech.ai will also launch two new subsidiaries. These are: Fountech.Ventures, an incubator for high-growth AI startups in the UK and US; and Fountech.Science, an AI exploration firm that will investigate new, novel ways in which AI can be used to tackle pressing issues affecting consumers, businesses and governments. n KIOSK solutions 7KIOSK solutions 7news Innovative Technology Americas, Inc. becomes KMA premium member The US arm of Innovative Technology has recently joined the Kiosk Manufacturer Association (KMA) as a premium member. KMA is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organisation focused on better self-service for customers and employees through kiosks and information technology (IT). The kiosk industry association leads efforts to optimise self-service engagements using information technology. Membership is made up of representatives from the self- service industry who are interested in establishing and following common guidelines on accessibility. Rebecca White, VP Sales & Business Development for Innovative Technology Americas said, “2020 is set to be an exciting year for us in the US and surrounding territories with lots of opportunities in the pipeline especially in the retail market. I am delighted to announce that we have become a premium member of the Kiosk Manufacturer Association (KMA) which will help us capitalise on these opportunities within the self-service and kiosk industry.” White continues, “KMA Membership opportunities include networking with kiosk manufacturers and software providers as well as access to member resources such as market research and trends, regulatory guidelines as published by the government and technology solutions such as AI and biometrics. Most importantly, together with other members, we will support an industry- led association which promotes the industry on an objective basis.” White concludes, “Our retail, kiosk and self-service offering is continually expanding, and we have developed many new products with our Spectral Technology designed specifically for this market. Our core business is all about automating transactions in the most business efficient and cost-effective way. Our suite of highly secure cash validation, recycling and smart safe products offer numerous advantages such as, fast bulk note processing speeds, multi-denomination recycling and reduction in overall operation costs. We are particularly excited about our new ICU Age Verification and Facial Recognition device which can help users manage the sale of age restricted goods to ensure compliance, plus intelligent AI algorithms can identify faces to control access. ICU does not require pre-registration or human intervention and quickly and accurately predicts age and identifies faces so is ideal for automated self- service and kiosk markets. Joining the KMA will give us the opportunity to network with key organisations within the industry and therefore introduce our new retail and kiosk portfolio to this growing hi-tech market.” n Absen Offers Corporate, Retailing and Rental Staging Focused LED Webinar Series With events being cancelled and projects getting postponed across Europe, Absen has set up a new webinar series to help companies and individuals interested in learning more about LED. The inaugural session focused on Absen’s rental and staging products, and had in excess of 350 registrations and over 200 attendees; 84% of whom rated it as being either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. The second rental and staging webinar, hosted by Absen’s rental and staging industry director Christian Czimny, took a more in-depth look at Absen’s key rental products from the inside out, as well as covering what to look out for when investing in LED. The session featured a Q&A portion at the end where attendees had their product- specific questions answered; equipping them with all of the knowledge they need when eventually returning to work. Absen’s retail industry director Ben Phelps, hosted a session focused on the applications and benefits of LED displays for retail and corporate environments. This taster webinar is designed for system integrators and anyone else involved in the design, delivery, and support of LED systems, including architects and consultants interested in gaining a better understanding of the technology and its uses. More specifically, the session will address the advantages and differentiators of LED displays, the benefits of using LED for digital signage, and how these apply to real world applications. n 8 KIOSK solutionsnews New Sanei Kiosk Printers with Enhanced Functionality Star Micronics, manufacturer of packaged and modular specialist kiosk printing solutions, has announced the latest additions to its range of Sanei SK1 kiosk printers, the SK1- 211/221 and SK1-311/321 series, as well as the new low cost SK4-21 and SK4-31. These printers enhance Star’s wide selection of highly compact Sanei open frame printers for limited space enclosures. The Sanei lightweight open frame solutions feature a variety of print widths and print speeds. The new 58mm SK4-21 and 80mm SK4-31 offer a low cost slimline printer that is ideal for hospitality applications including takeaway ordering, while the SK1-211/221 and SK1-311/321 series benefit from extra bezel and presenter options as well as high print speed. The SK1-211/221 and SK1-311/321 series now support StarPRNT Emulation as well as ESC/POS. These printers therefore benefit from Star’s Advanced Android SDK and Windows Printer Software utility which have been specially created for the Sanei range and offer direct cable printing support for low cost compact tablet-based kiosks. Furthermore, the SK1-211/221 and SK1-311/321 series can be configured in the same way as Star’s range of kiosk and desktop printers, thus providing maximum flexibility in kiosk design. Benefitting from an extended paper cutter life (2 million cuts), 250mm/sec. print speed and easy paper loading, the SK1-211/221 and SK1-311/321 series additionally feature an LED presenter and anti-paper jam bezel. With the same outer dimensions and variety of install positions as the SK1- 21 and SK1-31, the new Sanei printers also offer USB and serial interfaces within a compact footprint. “In response to the growing need for compact printer mechanisms to meet the current trend of slim, space-saving kiosks, Star has been at the forefront of developments in this area,” states Simon Martin, Director & General Manager, Star Micronics EMEA. “Offering the new Sanei SK1-211/221 and SK1-311/321 series with StarPRNT Emulation demonstrates Star’s commitment to providing a range of solutions with exceptional functionality alongside greater ease of configuration and maximum flexibility in kiosk design.” n KIOSK solutions 9Next >