Five tips for dealing with your maintenance provider

1. Have the machine in an easy-to-reach, well-lit location. You no doubt thought about location when installing your kiosks, but that decision was likely based primarily on the ergonomics of the user. Choosing a location that also facilitates a repair technician - with easy access to doors and cabinets, for instance - will reduce the need to "move furniture" in your store when repair time comes.

2. Keep all necessary supplies in stock and nearby. Chances are, the toner cartridges for your back-office copier are somewhere near the copier itself. Supplies for self-service should, as much as possible, be convenient for the repair person to access them. And make sure you have enough of everything (paper rolls, ink cartridges, other blank consumables).

3. Have a contingency plan for when the machine needs to be down for an extended period of time. It's no fun to think about, but there might come a day when any given machine is out of service for quite a while. Be prepared for this. "All machines require preventive maintenance to ensure equipment stays in good operating condition," said Anne Coyle, director of new business development for Pitney Bowes Inc. "Therefore, make sure you schedule these visits in off-hours or have another machine available as backup."

4. Have signage ready for maintenance periods. This goes hand-in-hand with #3 - knowing that there will be times when the machines are unavailable, be prepared with signage that tells customers what alternate possibilities exist for them. Is the gift registry machine going to be serviced on Thursday? Signage should let customers know where to go to get shopping lists from a customer service representative.

5. Smile. Yes, downtime is stressful, and it's all too easy to see maintenance or repair periods as downward lines on a revenue chart. But they're part of the cost of doing business, and a small price to pay for the enormous benefit self-service brings your store. So take a deep breath, share a cup of coffee with your repair person, and relax - the machine will be up and running again before you know it, and your customers will wonder how they ever got by without it.