No Touch Touchscreen + User Monitored Station Maintenance

By | May 2, 2020

No Touch Touchscreen

Two fairly cool ideas from KioWare on let users use their mobile as the touchscreen proxy controller.  And then for the workstation that presumably has been cleaned, users can see how long ago it was actually cleaned. Cool ideas.

Ed Note: Using the kiosk as the “fulcrum” or proxy is not a new idea but it is coming of age with the current situation.  These new functions allow users to use their mobile phones as the proxy touchscreen. Statistically their mobile phone is a hotbed for bacteria but this method isolates users from contaminating the usually very clean touchscreen. People without mobile phones have cleaner fingers.  Kind of an odd situation of juxtaposable factors.

As an added feature KioWare announced their new Maintenance feature which displays “Last Cleaned” date to users to add extra level of confidence. This allows users to alert store personnel if a maintenance cycle has been missed. A new characteristic of an interactive kiosk.

Establishments will have to increase maintenance cycles and no longer will it be the redheaded stepchild so to speak.

What is KioTouch?

KioTouch is a clean innovation in the kiosk industry that will help in preventing the spread of potentially contagious and harmful microbes by giving the end-user full access to the kiosk’s interface via their personal mobile device.

Across grocery and retail stores, and quick-service restaurants it is reported that of the total bacteria in these facilities 63-percent have potentially harmful consequences to humans.

How KioTouch Works

KioTouch allows the end-user of a shared device to interface without physically touching the device itself. This is accomplished by scanning a QR code via the end-user’s personal mobile device. and navigating to a landing page that gives the user full control of the kiosk while their user session is active, just as they would have had by directly interacting with the kiosk.

What is Maintenance Management?

Maintenance Management is a KioWare feature that assists in the janitorial maintenance schedule of a self-service kiosk. This is critical in preventing bacteria spread from user-to-user.

How Maintenance Management Works

Maintenance Management works on two sets of parameters that can be defined individually for each kiosk: total time between cleanings and total number of user sessions between cleanings. If either of these thresholds are passed, then the status of the kiosk changes and staff notifications occur. After cleaning, the technician resets the time and user session counter, and the cycle starts again. The KioWare toolbar has a special icon that can be displayed with the time since the last cleaning. The time will increment every 36 seconds, so the that the kiosk user can see it is working.

What Maintenance Management Looks Like

no touch touchscreen maintenance kiosk cycle
Click for full size

The screenshot shown here depicts KioPay with Maintenance Management enabled. In the upper-left hand corner of the screen is the Maintenance Management logo with a fractional timer that indicates the last time since the kiosk device was cleaned. After tapping on this icon a maintenance employee can reset the timer after cleaning by inputting a unique code.

Reference article on KI

More KioWare info

https://thinclient.org/kiosk-software-kioware-europe-uk-presence/

KMA Announces ADA Accessibility Chairpersons

https://thinclient.org/mobile-device-byod-management-vs-kiosk-software/