News

Hertz second try at kiosks is successful

May 9, 2012

The 122 video kiosks deployed throughout Hertz locations have helped the car rental company take advantage of higher demand among business travellers in the U.S., according to CIO Journal.

Customers can use the kiosks, equipped with a touchscreen interface and a second screen allowing customers to interact directly with live customer service agents via video, to pick up existing rentals or create new rental agreements.

Kiosks, said Hertz CIO Joe Eckroth, first started appearing on Hertz lots three years ago but failed because the company tried to emulate the self-service airline model.

With a rental "you're giving someone a $40,000 asset, so you need a bit more information up front," Eckroth said in the interview. "But adding those additional steps to an automated car rental service made the transaction too complex for most users, who had to go through several screens and a lot of legalese."

Hertz pulled the kiosks and started over and eventually deployed the two-monitor system. Customers who have used the kiosks previously don't usually need the extra help, but the agent is there for people new to the system.

Probably most important is that the kiosks dispense a radio-frequency ID card that customers use to unlock the cars, which means agents don't need to help them rent cars. For example, the location at Los Angeles International Airport has 12 kiosks processing an average of seven rentals per hour during peak times, Eckroth said.

The kiosks are only the first step in Hertz's plans for technology; others include a mobile reservations app and text alerts to Gold-level customers to let them know where their cars are located. Employees also now carry mobile devices to help them provide customer service on the lots.

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