Check-in System Part 3: Kiosks

We spent a lot of time researching what hardware platform to run our check-in on. We looked at everything including in-wall PCs, automotive PCs, thin clients, regular PCs, kiosk platforms, Symbol price scanners (they run on a Windows CE platform) and several others. Based on our application requirements we outlined the following needs:

1. Platform that supported Microsoft .Net
2. Enough performance to be responsive with screen animations
3. Touchscreen
4. Multi-media support (speakers)
5. Omni-directional barcode scanner - Omni-directional scanners are the same technology in use at grocery stores which allows the barcodes to be read at any angle or orientation (within reason) vs the bi-directional which is the technology in must gun type readers where you need to aim the code into the reader line.
6. Thermal printer

Another point that we stressed while looking for a platform is that it had to be somewhat innovative. We really didn't want to go with the standard computer w/ monitor and keyboard. In this iPod world people people a lot of emphasis on design and integration. That's not to say we're going to engineer our own unit and find a Chinese manufacture, but the system should be pleasing the eye and have a bit of a WOW factor.

After much time (and I dare say a little stress) we decided on the NCR EasyPoint 42. I ran across these units while shopping at a new Super Walmart. They were being used for the wedding registry and part of the self service checkout. The unit comes with a built in P4 computer, omni-direction barcode scanner, internal speakers, ELO touchscreen, mag stripe reader, motion detector and runs Windows XP. The best thing about these units is that all of the cords are contained inside the unit, only the power and network come out the back (I'm kind of a cord freak, just ask my co-workers).

These units can only be ordered through Instruments and Equipment Company (unless you're Walmart). They were very easy to work with both from a pre-sales and technical support perspective (with a project like this there's always engineering challenges). Based on our quantity they were able to give us a pretty good discount off the list price.

The EasyPoint can be ordered with an integrated thermal printer, but we decided to go with an external network attached Zebra LP 2844-Z printer.

There's cheaper printers out there (Dymo), but the labels for the Zebra are much cheaper. In the end the extra price spent on the unit will make up for itself in 6 months because of the cheaper supplies. The application is written not to care what type of printer is used (it simply prints to a local printer port) so we can change hardware easily in the future.

After four weeks of production use we are very happy with the platform. We're still working on our support procedures to ensure a quick response to an problem (i.e. what to do if a unit dies during services, how to quickly recalibrate screens, etc.) .