Product category:
Printers, Knobs, Bezels and Other Panelware
News Release from: Trident Infotec | Subject: Custom Engineering printers
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 29 April 2003
Kiosk printer aids innovation in
retailing
Flexibility, support for customisation and cost-effective reliability led ePoint to specify a Custom Engineering printer from Trident Microsystems.
Flexibility, support for customisation, and cost-effective reliability led ePoint to specify a Custom Engineering printer from Trident Microsystems in an award-winning self-service retail terminal concept, 500 of which have been rolled out across Virgin Vshop stores country wide According to ePoint Chief Executive, Gordon Venters, Trident and Custom Engineering offered the flexibility to engineer the printer integration to suit the specific environment
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 May 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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"Our philosophy is to manage out maintenance and intervention issues.
Trident understood that, and both they, and the vendor, partnered with us in wrapping our knowhow around a standard mechanism".
Features added by ePoint to the core printer from Custom Engineering included a paper low indicator, to complement the standard paper-out indicator.
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Using digital I/O lines, and proprietary ePoint software, the terminal can warn store staff of an impending need to change paper via the store's computer network infrastructure.
A log file is available for ePoint's own support staff to review in the event of more serious issues.
ePoint also designed the mountings for the mechanism, so that receipts dropped into a hopper, eliminating the opportunity for purchasers to tug at an emerging receipt.
According to Venters, in Trident, ePoint has a partner that delivers expertise in the technology of the printer mechanisms, and leaves ePoint free to exercise its expertise in the customer's application of interactive technology.
"Trident understand the product, and are able to guide us to an appropriate selection that meets not only our specification, but also our requirements in terms of flexibility and stability of supply", he said.
Mike Caddy, Trident Group Marketing, added, "The adaptation that ePoint implemented here is one of a range of customisations that can be achieved by Trident using the Custom Engineering printers.
They can also be adapted to interface to nonstandard host systems, with firmware offering additional software features, or with housing designs and colours to fit in with a corporate colour scheme or style or to suit particular environmental requirements.
If necessary, we can implement the changes for customers prior to delivery, in production runs of as little as a few thousand units - as opposed to the tens of thousands traditionally required".
The ePoint eP4000 interactive terminal with integrated keyboard enables Virgin Megastores and V.Shop customers to see and buy goods from the warehouse in the store.
First conceived for the new Virgin V.Shop stores, the kiosks enabled the Virgin concept of 'elastic walls'.
This meant that small stores like the V.Shops (rebranded and relaunched Our Price stores) could sell fast-moving products like CDs, DVDs and mobile phones from the shelves, and allow customers to browse a vast array of products in the Virgin warehouse, like back-catalogue CDs, and 'hardware' such as personal stereos to hi-fi systems for fast delivery to the customer's chosen address.
To make the system accessible to everyone, customers can elect to 'pay at the till' or 'pay at the kiosk'.
V-Shop, owned by the Virgin Entertainment Group, together with ePoint and software specialist, Uovo, won the "Most innovative use of in-store technology" category at the prestigious European Retail Solutions awards for the concept.
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