Ever-evolving technology is changing the way we shop. Harish Sukhwal and Nagraj Kunder give us the inside story of kiosks

Kioskí is a word of Persian origin which refers to an object that is intended to produce a shadow in other words, a provider of shade. In the thirteenth century, a kiosk was a small garden pavilion which was open at one or all sides. In that era, a kiosk could easily be found in various countries, including, but not limited to, Persia and India, as well as the Ottoman Empire. Even today you will find many such kiosks in Istanbul, especially around Topkapi Palace.

In the early days, the main purpose of a kiosk was to provide shade, as the name implies. However, with the passage of time, the uses of kiosks have developed a great deal. Local governments started using kiosks as information booths. These booths were meant to offer information like maps of an area, directions to a particular recreational spot, local information, etc. Seeing the success of local governments in using kiosks, other institutes also decided to use kiosks. Later, private companies began using kiosks to provide information about their products as well as sell them.



Evolution of Kiosks
With the passage of time and advancements in technology, the kiosk acquired a new facet. During this phase of development, kiosks went through a dramatic change, resulting in what we know today as computer kiosks or interactive kiosks.

Types of Kiosks
Today, kiosks are used for a variety of purposes, ranging from merely dispensing information to performing the role of a store keeper. Kiosks are broadly categorised as:

􀂔 An interactive kiosk is a computer booth that is meant to provide information to the public using electronic methods. These kiosks are extremely popular because they have unlimited free access to the internet and can be used to obtain information. These kiosks closely resemble telephone booths we commonly see around us. However, advancements have been made so that these kiosks can also be used while sitting on a bench or a chair. Public places like airports, train stations, bus stops, hotel lobbies have the greatest potential for the installation of kiosks. Interactive kiosks come equipped with devices like touch screens, trackballs, keyboards, keypads, etc. However, these are not the only devices that can be used for interaction with or for input of data into an interactive kiosk.

􀂔 Non-interactive kiosks: Digital signage is also known as non-interactive kiosks. These are meant for displaying information, advertising, and other useful information without input from the user. Noninteractive kiosks can be found in public as well as private environments. The latest development in kiosks is the self-service kiosk which is used for various functions like paying utility bills, online transactions, cash collections, etc.



Usage of Kiosks:

􀂔 Tele-kiosks are the technical successor of a telephone booth. A tele-kiosk is publicly available and can be used for various purposes such as emailing, faxes, SMS as well as for telephonic services. Tele-kiosks first appeared in UK in the early 2000s. These could easily be found in shopping areas and other public areas like airports, services areas on motorways, etc. The use of this particular type of kiosk is being promoted, especially by the International Telecommunication Union in third world countries in Africa and parts of Asia, to offer ease in telecommunication.

􀂔 Financial services Kiosks: These offer their services similar to bank tellers and are much easier to work with than ATM machines. The customers find it much easier to perform routine transactions using a financial services kiosk. Due to the ease it provides in performing bank-related tasks, it is also sometimes referred to as ëbank-in-a-boxí. Various services can be performed using this type of kiosk: cashing cheques, dispensing cash cards, paying bills, performing transactions etc. In the US, these types of kiosks are manufactured by Speedway, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and others.

􀂔 Photo Kiosks: These are interactive kiosks that allow users to get prints of their digital photographs. Kodak was the pioneer in introducing this kiosk for consumers. A photo kiosk comprises a PC with a touch screen LCD. This PC is connected with a central printer at the Customer Service, from where the photographs can be picked up. There are two types of photo kiosks:

􀂔 Digital Order stations: These stations allow users to place orders for digital images. 􀂔 These types of stations are connected to internal printers which produce instant prints of the photographs.

􀂔 Internet Kiosks: This type of kiosk allows public access to the internet and sometimes even resembles a telephone booth. You can easily find internet kiosks in hotel lobbies, care facilities, waiting rooms, offices, airports and other public accessible areas in the US. These kiosks offer all the basic components, including monitor, keyboard, mouse/trackball and much more. Sometimes, these kiosks also have bill acceptors as well as credit card swipes. However, these internet kiosks are among the major targets for hackers.

􀂔 Ticketing kiosks:Unattended, outdoor ticketing kiosks are gaining popularity in places like amusement parks. These kiosks accept cash or credit cards and charge them against a ticket. Several facilities in the US, such as Disney World, Amtrak, Busch Gardens, cruise ships and rental shops use ticketing kiosks.

􀂔 Donation kiosks:Another type worth mentioning is the kiosk used by non-profit organisations for donation purposes. These kiosks can accept funds and donations as well as offerings. Some of these kiosks are also able to accept credit as well as debit cards.

􀂔 Visitor management and security kiosks:The main purpose of this kiosk is to facilitate the security process in areas like schools, companies, parks, and other places where controlled access is required. These kiosks come with a built-in database for blacklisted personnel, criminals, etc. This helps in screening and tracking visitors entering an area.

􀂔 Customer feedback kiosks:Organisations are always looking for ways to get feedback from their customers about their products. The main purpose of the feedback is to further develop a product according to the needs of the customers. Kiosks have proven to be useful for this. These days, touchscreen kiosks are being used to obtain real-time feedback from customers. This feedback is saved instantly on a backup computer or a network.



Kiosks: Design and Construction
The design and construction of a kiosk is of great importance. The main purpose of any kiosk is to ensure user adoption, affordability and overall uptime. Here are some factors that need to be taken into consideration when designing an interactive kiosk:

􀂔 Design:One of the most important features of any product is its design and same is true for a kiosk. The design helps in identifying one brand from another and acts as a driving force for user adoption.

􀂔 Graphics:These act as the interface that helps the users interact with the kiosk.

􀂔 Maintenance:This is one of the most important factors that need to be taken into consideration since it ensures that the crash period or the failure period of the system is reduced.

􀂔 Components:Touch-screens, trackballs, keyboards, bar-code scanners, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) etc.

􀂔 Ergonomics:This is meant to ensure that the user is comfortable while using the system.

􀂔 Regulatory Compliance:The designs of the kiosks produced must be according to the set electrical standards, such as UL in the US and CE in Europe.

Kiosk Software: The kiosk comes equipped with its own software according to its purpose. An internet kioskís software will be different from a donation kioskís software. However, all kiosk software can have various common features, such as:

􀂔 Allowing remote access to the kiosk terminal

􀂔 Managing multiple kiosk terminals simultaneously

􀂔 Daily reports in the form of mail and/or text Monitoring problems in the software.

􀂔 Stopping users for maliciously attacking or hacking the system

􀂔 Preventing misuse of the features and/or components of the system kiosk.

Kiosk Hardware:Kiosks are usually constructed using the following materials:

􀂔 MS Steel - thickness can range from 1 mm to 3mm. Normally used: 1.2 mm and 1.6 mm.

􀂔 Touch-screen - Sizes varies from 7 inches to 60 inches. Touchscreens normally used in kiosks are 15 inches, 17 inches and 19 inches. A few large vendors use 32-inch touchscreens for large product display.

􀂔 PC - Usually, a small form factor PC is used. But today, many kiosk manufacturers use ATOM PCs which are thin in size and have a good performance.

􀂔 Cooling and ventilation fans at the back of the machine to keep the machine cool.

􀂔 Speakers for better interaction with the system.

Other hardware items which can be added include:

􀂔 Metallic keypads - Metallic keypads are common in kiosks where you need more of typing and touchscreen is not suitable for the same.

􀂔 Card readers - Swipe/dip card readers are used to read credit cards

􀂔 Cheque scanners - MICR readers and cheque scanners are used to scan cheques and used mostly in cases where people want to pay bills or donate money through their cheques.

􀂔 Barcode readers are helpful in reading barcodes usually found on a product to identify them.

􀂔 Fingerprint readers are used to read the fingerprints.

􀂔 UPS - In India, UPS is important in kiosks because of the electricity shortages in several areas.

High-end hardware items which can be used in kiosks:

􀂔 Cash acceptors to accept the cash directly.

􀂔 Coin acceptors to accept and read coins

􀂔 RFID readers to identify and read radio frequencies or interrogate an RFID tag.

Advantages of Kiosks

􀂔 Kiosks provide round-the-clock sales and service - This is the primary advantage of kiosks. Unlike humans, who can do only eight hoursí work, kiosks can provide service and information 24 hours a day and thus create sales opportunities round the clock.

􀂔 Kiosks allow users to decide for themselves -Many users now want to decide on their own instead of having sales personnel sell them products. Kiosks allow them to choose what they want and get information as required.

􀂔 Easy maintenance -Kiosks are easy to maintain and integrate and thus involves less workmanship.

􀂔 Enhances focus- Kiosks enhances focus on particular product and particular areas so users can look for what they require and what they need and focus on the product and its specifics.

􀂔 Reduces workload- Kiosk software provides many reports and kiosks act as a sales agent and reduces workload. Kiosks can effectively do the jobs of marketing, sales and public relation personnel.

􀂔 Enhanced capabilities- New kiosks are used with enhanced applications in areas like jewellery, hairdressing, fast food restaurants, PC building shops to provide users great self-service capabilities and fulfil ondemand requests. Some new kiosk software even allows users to take photographs to check how a particular jewellery or hair design will suit them.

Disadvantages of Kiosks

􀂔 Electricity consumption- There is a significant amount of electricity consumed by kiosks. This can be a great disadvantage, especially in certain areas in India, where electricity is not available all day.

􀂔 Real-estate -Kiosks occupy a real estate space and as real estate prices are increasing in big cities, even the small area adds up to a huge cost to run the kiosk. 

􀂔 Custom Software- There is no global software for kiosks, and thus any company wanting to use a kiosk has to opt for custom kiosk software, which can be expensive as well as time-consuming.

􀂔 Unemployment- Large-scale use of kiosks can cause unemployment. Even at a few large outlets, sales agents find their commissions dipping because of kiosks.

Overall, even with its disadvantages kiosks are making their way into retail operations all over the country. The convenience and information provided by the kiosks is far more supreme than any assistance a human store person can give.

The authors are CEO and Manager-Kiosk Solutions, Hashtech Systems.