Now in its third year, KioskCom Self Service Expo Europe has gone from strength to strength, quickly becoming an important European business portal for the latest in self-service and kiosk technology. For 2008, The Digital Signage Show Europe will run alongside the event for the first time, reflecting the growing synergy between these two technologies.
It’s an exciting year for customer-facing technologies and a time of considerable change driven by our current economic climate and a need to reduce costs, increase revenues and improve customer service – the three biggest benefits of self-service technology. KioskCom will represent an opportunity for manufacturers, suppliers and vendors of self-service products and equipment to display and educate the trade on the latest technological updates.
Using chip and PIN or card-based payment systems, today’s consumers can use vending machines to purchase everything from cameras and MP3 players to books, food and clothing. Advances in technology and the growth of the internet have created unlimited potential for this ultimate self-service vehicle. More services, various payment options and easier usage have made shopping through a vending machine easier, quicker and more reliable than ever for the consumer. As the technological revolution continues to unfold, vending will offer new opportunities for consumers.
Innovations
KioskCom reviews radical innovations in self-service technologies and looks to the future of vending. Visitors will be familiar with the vending machine that allows customers to download music to their iPods from the same machine that sells cola, ‘Roboshop’ vending machines which use suction to deliver glass bottles safely, or kiosks that can recharge your mobile phone. Plus, there’s now the ubiquitous photo kiosk, which vends digital pictures, changed and printed to order.
The exhibition will also allow businesses to gain insight into forthcoming technologies including contactless payment and the proliferation of interactive marketing. In retail, for example, on the shop floors themselves, we are also set to witness the adoption of technology on a huge scale – the appearance in Europe of electronic shelf-edge labelling, to give one example. With contactless and mobile payment just around the corner – something that could well play a significant role in leisure and entertainment vending – the show organisers expect a raft of new products and technologies. There is also a free seminar programme which will address such ‘hot’ industry topics.
This year’s show is claimed to bring together key decision makers and property managers within the retail, financial, travel, hospitality, catering, local government and healthcare sectors to discover the latest innovations in vending, kiosk, self service, digital signage and customer facing technology.
Leading players
Among the leading players who have confirmed their participation are Astro Systems, GWD Media, Hemisphere West, MEI, NRI, and Thales.
As a regular exhibitor at KioskCom, Astro Systems will be displaying a full range of GBA note validators and Microcoin coin acceptors aimed at the vending, gaming, kiosk and amusement markets. The new ST1 note validator, for example, offers a high level of security and convenience for notes that have been accepted, including an integrated stacker with lockable cashbox options to maximise security.
Set to display its range of coin dispensers, bill validators and currency counters is Hemisphere West, a company which has been providing award-winning international currency handling solutions for over a decade to the vending, amusement and car park industries. This year’s event will see the company showcase its Artema modular system, a chip and PIN solution that offers fast payment at any unattended points of sale.
Innovative Technology plans to feature its new NV200 – a high volume, high security validator that accepts and stacks notes in only three seconds. The NV200 guarantees quick transactions with a high acceptance rate of typically 99.8 per cent using SPFTM technology, with a seamless note path meaning no jams. A modular interface allows flexible connectivity and bezel backlighting effects can be defined by the customer. Alongside will be the BV20, BV50 and BV100 validators, all ideal for the vending and amusement industry.
Advanced mathematical validation algorithms ensure the validators can decipher varying currencies as well as enabling them to make the distinction between authentic and imitation notes with an acceptance rate of 99.8 per cent. The units are claimed to be reliable, easy to use and designed for easy installation and simple maintenance.
Closed loop cash handling
In addition, MEI will be demonstrating the Cashflow bank note recycler (BNR), an addition to its portfolio of cash payment systems. This innovative product is designed for use within self-service solutions and aimed at significantly reducing cash-handling costs. Recycling reduces the amount of cash tied up as float and increases the uptime between cash refills and thus results in employees spending less time loading, removing, and counting cash. Thanks to the BNR, protection against shrinkage is also enhanced with cash exposure limited bringing closed loop cash handling a step closer.
New for the 2008 show is Innovation Gallery, offering an intriguing close-up of some of the latest developments and most cutting-edge technology – those products that aim to change the face of self service.
Providing great education and networking opportunities through its seminar programme, KioskCom Self Service Expo Europe, takes place at London Olympia on October 1st and 2nd.
Free admission badges, issued before the event, can be obtained by pre-registering on http://www.selfserviceexpo.co.uk/
