STRATEGIC PARTNERS
KioskCom wraps up its European trade show with speakers outlining the right and wrong ways to implement kiosk systems. The show was judged a success by event organizers, with about 300 attendees taking part.
February 25, 2002
LONDON - The conference and exhibition portion of KioskCom's Europe trade show wrapped up on Nov. 7 at Wembley Conference Center with stories of kiosk extremes that touched on several key themes.
Speakers at the show talked about creating kiosk programs and vandalizing kiosks. A successful kiosk project was given a forum, as was a kiosk project that has been put on the backburner.
By the time the show ended in late afternoon, six speakers and a panel discussion had looked at the kiosk industry's progress, and more than 20 exhibitors had shown off their wares at a conference that drew about 300 attendees, according to KioskCom executive director Lawrence Dvorchik.
Of the many subjects discussed during two days of presentations, transforming kiosk projects from technological curiosities into solid business endeavors was a constant theme.
"The (kiosk project) failures are still in the majority because people haven't figured out their core competencies," said John Purcell, NetShift Software Ltd. vice president of marketing, during his discussion on kiosk deployment project management.
Purcell believes the kiosk industry is on the cusp of explosive growth, but that several factors are holding the sector back, including a failure to exercise standard business-project management practices.
Move forward or backpedal?
A pair of presentations on Nov. 7 displayed just how wildly successful or excruciatingly disappointing kiosk projects can turn out.
The afternoon session featured Guy Browes, project manager for the English government's Employment Service. The organization is in the midst of rolling out a line of 9,000 kiosks at its Jobcentre locations throughout the United Kingdom.
Browes said the project was five years in the making, starting when the service purchased several kiosks in 1996 and tested their usefulness as electronic job display boards. The project underwent several changes before reaching its current form - an Internet job bank. Browes said a 1999 trial project taught the Employment Service that job seekers did not want to use a swipe card to access the site or a telephone to call in job inquiries.
"This was a privacy issue, even in the Jobcentre," Browes said. "People didn't want to sit on the phone and give personal information.
"We looked upon all this as a business program, not an IT program," Browes added. "Perhaps that's why we've done things this way."
Browes said a service survey showed that 81 percent of job seekers were satisfied with the kiosks and 92 percent of them found the kiosks easy to use.
Speaking from the opposite bench was WHSmith UK project manager Jon Bunston, who discussed his company's kiosk project, which was temporarily shelved after yielding inconclusive results.
The bookstore company launched more than 50 kiosks in 19 stores, starting in April of 2000, at the behest of chief executive officer Richard Handover. WHSmith modified its Web site for use as an in-store search engine. But Bunston said the project had problems, both in the planning and rollout stages.
"For those of you who are thinking about doing kiosks without a pilot program, you'll come up with some surprises," Bunston said. "There's always value in doing tests in advance."
Bunston said studies showed their customers were older than most Internet users, were generally not computer literate, and that crowded bookstores were not comfortable places for first time Internet-kiosk experiences. WHSmith put aside the program earlier this year, and is now preparing to rollout a line of staff-operated ordering kiosks.
Vandals and talkers
Other speakers included Peter Jarvis, sales and marketing director of Keymat Technology Ltd., who discussed ways to deal with kiosk vandals; Dr. Georg Thaler, managing director of German retailer Kaufhof Innovation & Medien GmbH, who looked at multimedia sales support in a retail setting; and Kevin O'Brien, IT director for V.Shop Ltd., and Uovo chief executive officer Tim Keogh, who discussed the rollout of Virgin Records's V.Shop line of retail kiosks.
Jarvis, with a lively, entertaining look at the problem of kiosk vandalism, took center stage at the start of the day's proceedings. He broke down the different kinds of vandals, from pack animals (who vandalize to establish status in a group) to provoked vandals, who lash out in anger after something fails to serve their needs. He pointed out that location is an essential consideration in deciding how secure to make a kiosk.
"If you're designing or planning a kiosk, you don't need the same level of protection for each one," Jarvis said. "A kiosk that is located in an airport terminal doesn't require the same level of security as one in an unprotected location."
The morning session concluded with a panel discussion on kiosk hardware similar to one on Nov. 6 regarding kiosk software. Executives from ePOINT Ltd., Elo TouchSystems Inc., 3M Touch Systems Inc., and NCR Corp. all took part in the discussion. Much of the discussion focused on the strengths of each company's products. But many of the session's roughly 50 attendees were interested in how hardware will help move the industry forward.
Deva Mitra, business development director for ePOINT, a kiosk manufacturer based in Alloa, Scotland, said a basic killer application that can be used in many sectors could spur overall growth in the kiosk business.
"The breakthrough is going to take place when we develop the Coca-Cola (machine) type of kiosk that takes one or two things, does them very well, and never breaks down," Mitra said.
Post-show thoughts
KioskCom managing director Lawrence Dvorchik said numbers for the London show were up from last year's European trade show, which took place in Berlin in June. That show attracted about 150 attendees and featured 17 exhibitors.
"There's never enough people for us because there's never enough people for exhibitors to see," Dvorchik said. "The numbers are right about what we expected, but we'd like to have seen more."
As was the case during KioskCom's retail show in San Diego in late October, last-minute changes were made to the program due to travel restrictions. Three of the speakers originally scheduled to speak on Nov. 6 cancelled, as did a fourth speaker on Nov. 7. But the program was adjusted, with new speakers added, so that 11 sessions were still offered, as opposed to 12 on the original agenda.
"(The events of Sept. 11) had more of an impact at the show in San Diego," Dvorchik said. "I think the American corporate culture is less likely to travel to shows right now. That's been demonstrated across the board."
Something new
Those who did make it to the show saw the introduction of several new products and kiosks in the exhibit hall, along with some new faces.
Creating easy-to-use printers that do not suffer at the hands of impatient customers is the focus of Italian-based Custom Tecnologie Elettroniche Applicate and Swedish company Swecoin AB.
Both have introduced thermal printers - Custom's KPM 210/216 and Swecoin's TTP 8200 - that feature ejector systems that cut the paper inside the printer before making them available to the customer. That way, customers cannot grab paper before it is finished printing, which can lead to printer failures. Swecoin's model features a sensor that ejects the paper as soon a customer grabs it.
Australian and English kiosk manufacturer NeoProducts Ltd., the manufacturer of the Jobcentre kiosks, is maintaining its work in the government sector with a new project for the British consulate. The waist-high kiosks, which will begin shipping to British consulate offices across the world in the next two weeks, will offer visa and business information concerning the United Kingdom.
"It's telling people abroad about visiting the UK," said NeoProducts's sales associate Brian Murray. "There's an initiative with the government to get everything online. Obviously not everybody is on the Internet, but this fills that particular gap."
Murray said the project, if successful, would lead to the deployment of about 250 kiosks worldwide.
Participating in a kiosk show for the first time was manufacturer Keili cc. Based in Elandsfontein, South Africa, the company is a spinoff of Symo-Tech Corp., which manufacturers sheet metal enclosures. The company manufacturer kiosk enclosures, running between $1,225 and $1,795 per unit depending on model line and the number of kiosks ordered. The company also offers an all-in-one package, with a touchscreen and computer, for between $3,39,5 and $3,995.
"Because the company is based in South Africa, we believe we can provide very competitive rates because of the Rand," said Keili cc managing member Yudi Cohen, referring to South Africa's currency.
