News

Source Technologies, KIS take latest tech to Orlando

Anchor partners at next month's self-service and kiosk show include financial-services leader Source Technologies and kiosk titan Kiosk Information Systems.

February 1, 2006

What does self-service mean to a business? What can it do, and what are the best ways to go about implementing it?

Those questions are not easy ones to answer, largely because the answers will vary based on who is posing the questions. Self-service, more than a set of technologies or products, is an emerging network of solutions, a way of thinking about business that has the potential to transform virtually any industry.

For retailers, self-service is a holistic way of rethinking operating practices - at every point in the process. For financial service providers and banks, it is a robust set of time-honored tools - tools that are evolving to become ever more powerful. For restaurants, self-service is a knockout punch of an app, a tool that has the possibility of changing absolutely everything in the next few years.

The Self-Service & Kiosk Show, owned and operated by NetWorld Alliance (which also owns and operates this Web site), will take place Feb. 13-14 in Orlando, Fla. Dozens of companies will be on hand to share their latest self-service technology, showing examples of how they can make a difference in the real business world.

The show's four anchor partners are Source Technologies, Kiosk Information Systems, Palm Desert National Bank and St. Clair Interactive Communications. (Click here to learn more about planned offerings by PDNB and St. Clair at the show.)

Suzi Schweiger McNicholas, corporate communications manager for Source Technologies, said her company will be bringing examples of its end-to-end solutions.

"We are not simply a kiosk vendor," she said. "Our technology is comprehensive, including standard kiosks, devices and components, and a complete software platform engineered specifically for self-service applications."

The Source booth will contain the concourse kiosk family in three of its configurations: the 3-Series, 5-Series and 7-Series. Attendees will also be able to test-run four standard concourse software applications: Teller, Bill Pay, Check Cashing and Credit App.

Louisville, Colo.-based Kiosk Information Systems is one of the world leaders in kiosk design, manufacture and integration. Over the last eight years, KIS has created kiosks for more than 1,000 applications. In November 2005, the company announced it was opening an office inside a 52,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Scotland.

Channel manager Craig Keefner said KIS will bring six units to Orlando, including a never-before-seen Photo Pod developed for the U.S. Armed Forces. Other units include retail kiosks in thin and countertop configurations, as well as a digital ordering station for mini-lab integration.

KIS will also demonstrate its Digital Media series machine, a standalone photo and digital media device.

Since attendees to The Self-Service & Kiosk Show are rigorously pre-screened, exhibitors will have ample time to talk with each one, rather than spending their floor time fending off solicitors. Attendees will be able to "pick the brains" of those and other leading self-service experts, at the same time testing best-in-class hardware and software.

"We are looking forward to another very successful show," said Source's McNicholas. "The attendees at the 2005 show in San Francisco were extremely well-qualified. We wouldn't miss this one."