Modems save vending machine leg work

Vianet vending management services including remote monitoring, on-line management reports and sales analysis.

Vianet has released devices which transmit data to and from vending machine sites.

It has solutions suited to both local operators looking to manage operations more efficiently and save costs and to brands seeking to integrate point of purchase data into the planning process.

These systems include the hardware for extracting data from vending machines and the application software, which customers use to run their vending businesses.

Vianet vending management services including remote monitoring, on-line management reports and sales analysis.

With the increasing use of internet and Ethernet functionality in retail machines, Vianet was keen to explore the benefits this technology could bring to its vending customers.

It was one of the first in its market to identify the possibilities and advantages of integrating internet capabilities into its vending machines to enable vending suppliers to remotely monitor their machines and analyse their stock sales while reducing management time and costs.

Reliability was a key priority for Vianet.

A modem was needed which would recover quickly should the internet connection fail or a fault occur in the machines themselves.

Vianet also needed to work with a partner that could supply the appropriate modems in large volumes and provide high-level consultancy and technical knowledge on how to effectively integrate the GSM modems into their own systems.

Vianet's legacy modem had raised numerous issues over its size, level of power consumption and cost.

Without Alpha Micro's expertise in finding a replacement, it is unlikely that Vianet would have met its roll out target.

Alpha Micro specialises in the design and integration of telemetry products.

It could also offer Vianet the technical knowledge to produce a reliable GSM/GPRS solution within a very short timeframe.

Using Sagem MO200 GSM/GPRS modems, Alpha Micro successfully helped Vianet to integrate the MO200 into its Vitel Lite telemetry unit.

The module is small in size and offers low power consumption and extended battery back up life, as well as optimum radio frequency performance in locations where vending machines were located.

The low cost of the module in comparison to its competitors also met Vianet's budgetary constraints.

Alpha Micro's team of in-house design engineers worked with Vianet, to integrate the Sagem components into board-level designs.

Dependable internet connectivity helped Vianet's customers to increase sales and reduce costs significantly.

Reports can be now be delivered securely over the internet together with stock and fault alarms, which can then be sent to customers' email addresses or mobile phones in real-time.

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