Customer Service – What Are Interactive / Self Service Kiosks?
If you want people to be able to access your services, buy products from you or find out information, but do not feel that employing additional employees to do these tasks is very cost effective for you, then you might want to consider using interactive kiosks instead. They are computer-like devices that allow people to serve themselves. You will probably have used one yourself before, as they are a common sight in stores, libraries and company reception areas. A standard kiosk allows people to access the internet, view multimedia files and run software applications. What exactly people can do it on it is up to you though, as you can have it set-up in any way that you like. So, if you do not want people to be able to access the internet from it, then you can turn off that option. They work best when they optimized to do certain tasks. You can just have a single tailor-made software application running on it if you like, which allows users to only do a particular thing, such as buying a product or entering their personal details. Inside the outer casing of an interactive kiosk you will find a processor, RAM and a hard disk. These parts are typically exactly the same as those used in home computers. As for the display, a standard computer monitor can be used or, if you really want to impress the user, you can get a kiosk fitted with a large plasma or LCD screen. How the outer casing looks is up to you, and you can have them made in pretty much any design or style that you want. Branding is easy – you can have the whole unit in the colors of your company logo if you want to. Of course, this is optional, and if you just plan to use a kiosk ‘behind the scenes’ then you can get a plain, box unit to keep costs down. As for input devices, kiosks can be fitted with a mouse and keyboard, or a touchscreen and / or trackball. Most companies find that touchscreens are the best as they are the easiest to use and are the most durable. Additional devices that can enhance the user experience include printers, scanners, credit card readers, and barcode readers. Everything is customizable, so you only need to pay for what you need. All devices can be easily repaired and replaced, so a part of the kiosk that starts to run inefficiently after prolonged use does not mean that you will need to buy a whole new kiosk. Kiosk software applications come in many varieties, and are often custom-tailored for each kiosk. In some instances, a kiosk owner may just modify an existing software product to make it suitable for public use. However, whilst a kiosk used for public web browsing might simply run a regular web browser (customized with special images and buttons), more sophisticated kiosk applications are typically coded from scratch, and are purpose-built to handle the specific tasks that a company wants people to use the kiosk for.
Find Out More : Ticket Kiosks