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It's go time. Are your techs ready?

March 26, 2014 by Mark Smith — VP of Financial Solutions, Kahuna ATM Solutions

This year will be remembered for the number of ATM upgrades and replacements that occurred as a result of the migration from Windows XP to Windows 7. But this is not the only upgrade being implemented at this time. Many are choosing to upgrade card readers to read EMV, also. Even PCI will have an update this year — one that mostly affects the manufacturers of keypad devices.

All of this to secure transactions and further reduce the number of card fraud incidents. These are important milestones in our industry and they will have an impact on reducing ATM crimes and attacks. Ultimately, cardholders benefit.

Because of the varying timelines associated with each type of upgrade, it looks to be a full year for technicians. Have yours been fully trained and certified? If not … you are about to be too late to address existing opportunities.

Here are two training programs worth your consideration:

ATMIA Academy

Just introduced at the ATMIA U.S. conference, this will be an ideal method for technicians to train on-line. Courses are available on the Internet at the technician’s time of choosing.

Courses are divided into five categories: ATM balancing clerk, ATM custodian, ATM field controller, ATM operations manager, and customer service representative.

More information

FSPA technical training

FSPA has partnered with a respected training company that provides technical training specifically for Diebold and NCR ATMs.

Class 1: Diebold Opteva Training

Class 2: NCR 58XX Training

More information 

As a service provider, how can you benefit?

At any given time, there are approximately 450,000 ATMs in the U.S. market. The majority are owned by financial institutions.

• Some institutions are strictly Diebold or NCR customers. However, many others own more than one make of ATM.
• Due to recent market changes and FI closures and acquisitions, an FI might have to manage a fleet of machines by Diebold, NCR, Wincor Nixdorf, Nautilus Hyosung, GRG and others. This requires that technicians be able to handle many makes and models of ATMs.
• IADs might not have Windows 7 to worry about, but they do have to address EMV card reader upgrades.

An IAD is likely to have many different manufacturers’ ATMs in a fleet — Nautilus Hyosung, Triton, GenMega, Hantle, and more.

• This requires that technicians understand how each model works and how to maintain and upgrade it as required.
• Online training is ideal for this, as it will prepare technicians for a variety of problems they might encounter in the field.
• Technicians gain valuable knowledge and operate far more efficiently.
• This broadens the scope of your service offerings. You can grow your service revenue with trained and certified technicians.

What does this mean to you?

• Lower service costs and fewer technician visits in order to make an ATM fully compliant.
• A technician without adequate training will not have an easy time with unit upgrades, and will spend more time and effort per site visit just trying to figure it all out.
• Reduce the number of service visits. Because upgrades can require the technician to physically attend to each ATM, you want to minimize how many times they have to touch the machine.
• The easiest approach is to keep your inventory of parts ready and deployed on service vehicles.
• Train your technicians thoroughly so they won’t have to take so much time figuring out the system they are working on. The goal is to do the job right the first time and reduce multi-trip service calls.
• Time is of the essence. Windows 7 is right around the corner; soon to be followed by EMV card reader requirements.
• The reality of our industry is that time is money. The longer you have an inexperienced technician struggling in the field, the less chance you’ll have of meeting the needs of your customers. Fair to mention … the ATM is down longer than expected.

Training your team builds confidence and efficiency. Since your techs are often the face of your company with the customer, give them every tool they need by having them thoroughly trained on the products they service. Give them the knowledge that will minimize time spent on the site.

Putting all of this together will ensure that you keep promises made to customers and that you deliver on schedule. Make sure your techs are experts … train your field service team now. We’re past ready and set; it’s time to go.

About Mark Smith

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