< PreviousNEWS IN BRIEF INIT EXTENDS CONTACTLESS TICKETING FOR NOTTINGHAM Users of Nottingham’s public transport network can now enjoy improved ticketing options with more journey types added to its contactless payment system. New platform validators have been installed across the NET network to enable contactless payment. Passengers tap their contactless method on the platform validators and board their tram, without having to tap again when they alight. The system automatically calculates the best fare, taking into account all the journeys made during a day, with a single payment taken. Alongside these changes, even more Nottingham City Transport (NCT) bus passengers will be able to use INIT’s on-board contactless payment validators to purchase any ticket type, including Grouprider, Under 19 and student tickets. Contactless payments have been available for adult ‘tap and go’ travel since last September, but this change will allow all passengers to pay with their bank or credit card, smart phone or smart watch, regardless of the ticket type. 10KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Publish your news and company announcements here Contact: editor@kdseurope.com HIGH BRIGHTNESS TFT DISPLAY FOR GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE Review Display Systems (RDS) has announced the availability of an 11.6in Tianma TFT display module. The TM116VDSP02 features Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) resolution, a 16:9 wide aspect ratio, a high brightness rating and exceptional optical performance characteristics. Ideal for use in high ambient light and outdoor environments, the Tianma TM116VDSP02 is manufactured with an anti-glare surface polariser and supports 88° wide viewing angles in all directions. Supporting a brightness specification of 1600cd/sqm and a contrast ratio of 900:1, display images are bright, colourful, and concise. The white LED backlight has a 50K hour half brightness lifetime. Typical applications include graphical user interfaces for ticketing systems, information terminals, point- of-sale equipment, marine navigation and in-vehicle systems. Justin Coleman, display division manager, RDS said, “The high brightness Tianma 11.6in TFT display module provides a versatile and highly capable display solution for a wide range display applications particularly those where high levels of ambient or outdoor light may be present. Additionally, RDS can offer advice, design-in support and expertise for customers developing display-based products for a wide range of applications.” A home-grown LED lighting specialist has been lauded for its export credentials following its awards win. And the Leicestershire-based business is closing the year with over 80% of its work now taking place in overseas territories. Ventola Projects, based in Anstey, is in a celebratory mood after scooping the export award at the Insider Made in the Midlands ceremony in Birmingham. The business, which makes VAvR lighting products, was rewarded by judges for its ingenuity over lockdown, re-engineering its primary product to be 80% more efficient for pandemic-hit clients, as well as reformulating the technology into a kiosk entry system for venues during the height of the pandemic. The lighting is typically seen in hospitality & leisure environments, such as family entertainment centres, hotels, bars and restaurants. “What a way to cap off the year,” said Ventola Projects founder, Mick Ventola. “2020 and 2021 have been like no other – but we did what we could to adapt to the crisis we all faced. Entertainment operators understand now more than ever that guest safety is paramount, and businesses supporting these industries need to diversify their product offering to survive in a tough economic climate.” AWARDS SUCCESS FOR VENTOLANEWS IN BRIEF 11 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Microchip has added two new members to its family of IEC/UL 60730 Class B certified touchscreen controllers. The MXT448UD-HA and MXT640UD-HA extend the Class B portfolio of devices beyond 10in, thus providing dedicated solutions for larger screen sizes as well as scalability to customers. In addition to Class B, these new devices are also compliant with the IEC61000-4-6 Class A specification for conducted noise immunity up to 10Vrms (level three for industrial use). This enables products with a touch screen interface to function in harsh factory environments where electromagnetic interference can be caused by conveyer belts, power rails or assembly machinery. Manufacturers of home appliances will benefit from an increased reliability and production yield. These new touchscreen controllers also come with two serial interfaces (SPI and I²C) that operate simultaneously, allowing redundancy in a design through the integration of safety features, such as individual communication between the touchscreen controller to the host microprocessor (MPU) in addition to a safety microcontroller (MCU). Touch events are provided to both processors at the same time. This unique architecture shortens time to market and reduces development cost by allowing all safety-critical firmware to be developed on a dedicated safety-certified MCU (with mandatory source code review by an IEC/UL test lab) separate from the main processor running the appliance’s Graphical User Interface (GUI). MICROCHIP ADDS TO TOUCHSCREEN CONTROLLER FAMILY PRG TURNS TO GLP IMPRESSION S350 WASH FOR VIRTUAL STUDIO-XR Since the end of 2020, PRG, along with its subsidiary Cinegate, has been running the Virtual Production Studio-xR in Hamburg, a facility that specialises in digital events of all kinds. Across 360sqm of pure studio space, company events, as well as film and music video shoots, advertisements, and live-streamed concerts, can be realised in a virtual environment. In order to be able to react quickly and flexibly to the complex requirements of virtual productions, PRG has turned to 40 impression S350 Wash from GLP. Matthias Allhoff, Head of Lighting Technologies at PRG, explains, “While lighting and cameras are primarily coordinated in traditional productions, the requirements of virtual productions are more complex because we have to comply with the constantly changing virtual environment at all times. That is why the GLP S350 has proven itself so quickly as a fast-reacting, remotely controllable moving head.” To create a sense of perfect immersion, PRG's Virtual Production Studio-xR not only has LED walls but also LED floors and ceilings. With plenty of space, the content, and therefore the virtual rooms, change frequently, quickly and dramatically over the course of the day. There are also virtual extensions beyond the video areas. Zytronic’s all-weather projected capacitive (PCT and MPCT) touch sensors are helping visitors to navigate their way around the Sydney Olympic Park. The site of the 2000 Sydney Olympics still hosts some of Australia’s most significant events, year-round. Scattered across its 660 hectares are sporting venues, recreational facilities, parklands, cafes and restaurants. The Sydney Olympic Park Authority’s (SOPA’s) Master Plan 2030 is to deliver outstanding social, economic and environmental benefits for the people of Sydney and New South Wales. Cue Design to Production (D2P) who collaborated with their media partners oOh!media to bring this to life with outdoor interactive directories, or wayfinders. ZYTRONIC CHOSEN FOR SYDNEY OUTDOOR WAYFINDER PROJECTCUSTOMER SERVICE 12KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEI n October we celebrated National Customer Service Week, an international celebration of the importance of customer service, and of the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis. Like many industries, the coronavirus pandemic turned the customer service industry upside down overnight. So, in a celebration of appreciation and gratitude to the service industry, this year’s theme was named ‘The Power of Service’. In recognition of National Customer Service Week, we spoke with four experts from businesses renowned for their customer service, on what they believe makes for excellent customer service, and how organisations can reflect on the services they are providing. A client-centric approach Ian Thomas, COO at Node4 told us, “Richard Branson once said, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” Now, this makes sense to me, so you won’t find me trying to argue a different point – a happy employee will certainly be more engaged, motivated and willing to ‘go the extra mile’, which in turn will benefit your customer. “However, I personally think that to achieve service excellence, it needs to be more than this. Even with the most engaged, happiest and motivated colleagues, we need to ensure the culture and direction within which they operate is right for them to drive and focus on client centricity. This means creating an environment whereby they are putting the client at the heart of everything that they do – ensuring that every action, every interaction and every decision has the client at the forefront of their mind. “At Node4 I ask our teams - do we know what it feels like to be the client? What is it like to consume our services, use our products and engage with our teams? Have we ‘walked a mile in their shoes’ by using our own services? Initiatives such as ‘A Day in The Life’, ‘Client Charters’ and ‘Client Calendars’ also play vital roles in creating a client-centric perspective. They bring the client experience front and centre to all teams to help build that understanding and empathy. “We believe in the concept of ‘Continual Service Improvement’. We must learn to review, adapt and change, to ensure that we always keep our clients at the heart of what we are delivering CUSTOMER SERVICE THE POWER OF SERVICE At the heart of the success of any business is excellence in customer service. It has the ability to grow customer loyalty and increase the amount of money each customer spends; it impacts brand reputation and loyalty and can make or break a business. 13 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE IAN THOMAS NODE4 PHIL DUNLOP PROGRESS ROB SHAW FLUENT COMMERCE MARTIN TAYLOR CONTENT GURUCUSTOMER SERVICE 14KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE and in doing so, we are successful in delivering excellent levels of service that customers positively respond to again and again.” Individualised Experiences Phil Dunlop, General Manager, EMEA at Progress commented, “There is one essential tool required to facilitate a digital transformation; a Digital Experience Platform (DXP). A DXP is a platform-based set of technologies that provides many and various users with consistent, secure and personalised content across multiple digital touchpoints. It plays a critical role in optimising customer experience by enabling brands to create personalised digital journeys for their customers. “There are some key features to consider: Usability is a critical DXP feature, in terms of exceeding the expectations of the technology users across digital touchpoints. If customers can’t use the technology and engage, and if collaboration is inhibited across digital functions, the digital campaigns are ineffective. “Customers today expect individualised experiences, consistent across all the channels they use. A DXP with integrated analytics, personalisation and optimisation will help your marketing team gain full visibility of all the segments, prospects and touchpoints they need to target visitors with appropriate and impactful content. Multi-language support flexibility is also key to facilitating the highest engagement levels. To maximise the potential of a DXP, ensure that the DXP fits the needs of the business to deliver content and digital experiences to the customer in an agile and flexible way. By meeting customers’ increasing standards for continuous digital experiences, this business tool can enable an organisation to convert mere digital processes into real business success.” DIY Service Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO and co-founder at Content Guru said, “Consumer behaviour is constantly evolving. While many businesses were already grappling with heightened customer expectations pre-pandemic, the rapid shift to digital communication channels over the last 18 months has raised those expectation levels into the sky – via the cloud. In the last year, as more customers have interacted with organisations through digital mechanisms – either through choice or necessity – huge pressure has been piled on those organisations to deliver a new type of customer experience. “As the world passes this digital tipping point, the ease and speed with which customers can change providers of almost any service means the experience a brand affords its customers is now its key competitive advantage or impediment. The key to gaining an advantage is developing brand trust, as it has always been. But while most organisations have spent years honing how they build trust during human-to-human interactions, many have had relatively little time to optimise their digital customer experience. “In particular, customer service teams are looking to offer customers DIY, self-service processes as a route to improved efficiency. Choosing the moment to usher in human help is itself now a machine-controlled process, with pattern monitoring and sentiment analysis triggering the change in service flow at just the right time. DIY service clearly has a huge role to play in developing effective and lasting customer relationships. By giving service teams the tools they need to meet the heightened expectations of their customers across every available channel of engagement, forward-CUSTOMER SERVICE 15 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE looking organisations can deliver business efficiency and benefit from the huge dividend that customer trust generates.” Protecting the in-store experience Rob Shaw, Managing Director EMEA, Fluent Commerce said, “The events of the last 18 months have ushered in a growing expectation that retailers will harmonise their digital and physical channels into a unified and cohesive environment that makes it easy for shoppers to move seamlessly across channels. To stay competitive, and profitable, retailers will need to take action to improve order margins and enable the best possible experiences for high- value customers. Fine-tuning their operations to generate incremental improvements that protect and improve in-store experiences, reduce reliance on markdowns, and make it cost- effective to introduce omnichannel fulfilment options that resonate with today’s time-pressed – and ever more demanding – customers. “Protecting the in-store experience for customers will be critical, especially at flagship locations where stock-outs of top moving lines will potentially generate negative customer emotions and lost sales. Preserving the in-store experience means store capacity will need to be tightly managed, using order management rules that limit the number of Click and Collect and/or Ship to Store orders that are sent to an individual store according to total orders per day. These automated rules will ensure that stores always receive a manageable flow of orders, so staff have the time and resources to service their in- store customers. “This level of flexibility should also apply to product selections. Having the ability to add or remove products or product categories at a store level will help prevent poor customer experiences or returns. For example, if a store in one location is impacted by a local flood that damages stock, customer orders can be quickly fulfilled from another nearby store. “Delivering an exceptional customer experience is the key to maintaining and growing the loyalty of high-value customers. Omnichannel retailers have the unique advantage of being able to leverage their stores to offer a highly differentiated VIP experience. This may include restricting the availability of selected inventory to customers, based on their loyalty status. Or giving VIPs exclusive or early access to buy first before the larger inventory pool is made available to all customers. “Other options retailers can leverage to reward VIP customers include offering high value, limited edition, or in-demand items for Click and Collect only. Or offering fast-track order fulfilment and preferential delivery options for customers designated as high value or long-standing and/ or loyal. That includes providing optimised ‘white glove’ fulfilment services such as VIP pick and pack orders for fast pick-up or delivery; fulfilment from designated ‘VIP service’ stores; or fulfilment from locations where expedited shipping – such as a one-hour delivery – is readily available. “As retailers prepare to reinvent their store networks for heightened agility and new omnichannel fulfilment models, they’ll need a highly adaptable order distribution system that makes it possible to establish unique parameters and rules so that inventory, fulfilment and pricing can all be synchronised to reduce costs – and maximise outcomes - without impacting on the customer experiences that drive value-added loyalty.”A GOOD CONNECTION ISN‘T JUST FOR CHRISTMAS P eak season trading this year is set to be more difficult than ever for retailers. Unprecedented supply chain disruption is threatening to decimate stock levels. Post-Covid customer behaviour is unpredictable – with some customers relying ever more heavily on eCommerce; others heading to the high street to get ahead on Christmas buying in response to fears of shortages. How can retailers attain control over the end-to-end business and meet customers’ ever-rising expectations and desire for a high quality and slick experience? Reliable, high capacity internet connectivity is now an essential component of successful retail operations. From ensuring an inspiring in-store experience to enabling efficient, intelligence-led logistics, connections need to be continuously available, with the fast bandwidth required to minimise lag and ensure seamless operations. From rapidly deployed portable wireless solutions to support seasonal pop-up shops or temporary warehouses to bonded solutions that deliver the fast, resilient connections required for effective retail operations throughout the year, Nick Sacke, Head of IoT and Products, Comms365, explains how retailers can confidently achieve the resilient connectivity required to underpin every aspect of the customer retail experience. Customer Experience Imperative Retailers have been encouraging customers to get ahead this peak season – and many have responded, opting to shop early and stockpile items, from toys to food, well ahead of the usual spikes at Black Friday, Christmas and Boxing Day sales. Activity is both online and in-store, with changing behaviour driven both by a population desperate for face-to-face interaction and a recognition of the difficulties in getting goods delivered to the home and to the stores. For retailers, this is a perfect moment to enthral these customers with an excellent experience; a chance to explore innovative new technologies such as digital signage and intuitive self-service RESILIENT CONNECTIVITY Nick Sacke, Head of IoT and Products, Comms365, explores how retailers can confidently achieve the resilient connectivity required to underpin every aspect of the customer retail experience. NICK SACKE HEAD OF IOT AND PRODUCTS COMMS365 16KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINERESILIENT CONNECTIVITY 17 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEto reinforce customer desire for an in-store interaction. Yet how many retailers feel confident in their ability to deliver that experience during busy periods when every aspect of the retail experience – indeed, every element of the total product offering and the resultant consumer assessment of the experience - is dependent on an internet connection? Even a small slow-down in connectivity will affect the speed with which payments can be processed – adding to delay at the counter or checkout, leading to longer queues, tying up staff and deterring customers from making a purchase. There is a future store concept being trialled right now by major brands in the UK where there are no tills or staff to man them – products are picked by the customer and billed automatically to their accounts. More than ever, internet quality and resiliency will be the cornerstone of a good customer experience in these new retail environments. And for those retailers still reliant on the more traditional experience, they don’t want to be forced to choose between processing payments or playing Christmas music. They will be disappointed if innovative new digital signage or self-service kiosks have to be mothballed to ensure staff have access to product information and the ability to place orders for customers. This year more than ever, no independent retailer needs to make in-store trade-offs that reduce the quality of customer experience as a result of glitchy, slow or under capacity internet connections. Particularly given the fact that a poor experience will, perhaps irrevocably, undermine the consumer opinion of the retailer’s customer service levels and their propensity to shop there again. Supply Chain Overhaul And that is just one part of the complex retail model. Online sales demand continues to be strong, reinforcing the pressures on warehouses RESILIENT CONNECTIVITY 18KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Retailers urgently require reliable, adaptable connectivity for both warehouses and stores; resilient connectivity with the capacity to scale up to meet peak demand.RESILIENT CONNECTIVITY 19 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE and distribution. With the well-publicised lack of HGV drivers – and Amazon’s recent £3000 payment to attract peak season staff from the competition – retailers are not only considering new distribution models to add contingency but also actively exploring automation to fill the gaps in the available workforce. Many companies have increased stock levels where possible, investing in smaller, local warehouse locations and designing local fulfilment models. Retailers have also embraced innovative warehouse management technologies to support the single item picking required for eCommerce fulfilment, alongside store fulfilment. Yet despite the fact that – irrespective of the model adopted - all these changes and innovations are totally dependent upon excellent, real-time communications links, this vital component of efficient logistics is, more often than not, the last part of the puzzle to be considered. Even assuming that a fixed-lined fibre optic connection is available – which is certainly not always the case, especially in rural areas and greenfield sites – it can take weeks, even months to get the service provisioned. Even then, one fibre optic connection is a single point of failure – and even a short break in the connection can result in massive upheaval, disruption and loss of revenue Continuous, High-performance, Reliable Retailers urgently require reliable, adaptable connectivity for both warehouses and stores; connectivity with the capacity to scale up to meet peak demand and the resilience to reduce the risk of interruption and downtime. And it needs to be rapidly deployable to meet immediate business needs – which is where wireless is playing an increasingly important role. Portable wireless connectivity can be deployed within days, providing stores and warehouse facilities with the capacity required to manage peak demand. But don’t rely on a single connection – to achieve ultra-reliability businesses of every size need multiple connections. Using a bonded solution that orchestrates these connections together, uptime is maintained and capacity maximised. And, where 4G (or 5G) wireless connections are used in tandem with existing fixed-line resources, the solution becomes a fully resilient solution – using wireless to enhance capacity and performance, or as a failover when the fixed connection fails; reverting back to the fixed-line automatically when it is available. The great news is that this technology is inherently portable, adaptable and scalable – which means it can be deployed quickly and effectively to meet retailers’ immediate needs, from pop-up shop to temporary warehouse, and with business continuity plans in mind, provide a robust, scalable and resilient solution for long term business goals. Conclusion This latter point is key. Yes, the retail industry and its supply chain have an unparalleled challenge this year: peak trading will be difficult to manage at every level, from sourcing stock to managing demand. But reliable, high-performance connectivity is also a prerequisite for effective retail; without confidence in the ability to attain immediate access to data throughout the supply chain right into the store, retailers cannot embrace the innovation required to optimise the customer experience or the automation needed to improve logistics operations and minimise reliance on an increasingly scarce workforce. Good, reliable and scalable internet connectivity will help retailers to manage this year’s peak season but it should also be the bedrock of future strategy and operations planning. This is not a short-term need: a good connection really isn’t just for Christmas.Next >