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PRODUCT UPDATE: NCR's EasyPoint Xpress

The EasyPoint Xpress, a first-time entry, won the 2004 Complete System Excellence award from KIOSK magazine for its Sprint application. Where has it gone from there?

September 13, 2004 by

NCR Corporation's award-winning EasyPoint Xpress kiosk is a turnkey solution deployed in Sprint retail stores. The NCR/Sprint solution, a first-time entry, won the Complete System Excellence award from KIOSK magazineearlier this year in the publication's fifth annual KIOSK Awardsissue.

The solution is designed to streamline bill payment within the retail stores, increasing Sprint's revenues through cross-selling, up-selling and improved payment accuracy. Customers benefit from faster service, shorter waiting lines and multi-language service. Compared to general purpose PCs, the NCR kiosk offers a stable, managed platform with Intel-embedded components to support longer lifecycles. The attractive, versatile enclosure is designed to fit a multitude of environments.

According to Frank Brown, manager, retail systems and operations for Sprint, the kiosks were first deployed in 2000-2001. One or more payment kiosks are currently in each of Sprint's 700 retail stores. The kiosks perform self-service bill payment in both English and Spanish languages "Payment kiosks in (Sprint) Retail Stores permit customers to pay bills in cash or check for posting to their account within four hours, without any service fee," Brown said.

Sprint employees are able to spend more time assisting customers with handset selection, service plan selection, service questions and the like.

Sprint will continue to roll out the NCR solution to its new stores and add payment kiosks to existing stores based on demand. The full-size NCR EasyPoint Xpress solutions will accept debit/credit payments, as well as cash and check payments.

Built around industry-standard specifications, the EasyPoint Xpress kiosk features a 15-inch, LCD touch screen, barcode scanner, receipt printer, pin pad or signature capture option, integrated motion sensor and a universal power supply (UPS). NCR's EasyPoint Xpress payment kiosk can be linked to in-store POS (point of sale) systems as well as local and wide area networked systems. Retailers have the option of treating the kiosk as another store register, reconciling and reporting receipts accordingly. Or the kiosks can be networked into Web-based applications or centralized servers to manage the transactions.

Brown says NCR has had great success with the bill payment kiosk in the cell phone market, with customers such as Verizon, BellSouth and T-mobile. Similar targeted markets include utilities and cable companies.

Other kiosks in NCR's EasyPoint line include the EasyPoint Xpress Check-In for hotels, such as the Riviera Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. This solution supports loyalty programs, self check-out and automated key dispensing. The newest EasyPoint solution under development is the EasyPoint Xpress Order and Pay. Targeted to quick service restaurants, the Order and Pay units are scheduled for release in early 2005. The EasyPoint Xpress Order and Pay kiosk is designed to improve operational efficiencies through increased productivity, improved order accuracy and minimized waste.