In
designing the dScope kiosk, two major areas of functionality
needed to be addressed, the requirements of the operator
and the requirements of the customer.
The
requirements of the operator include:
(Click on any of the items for more information
about how these goals have been achieved)
The
requirements of the customer include:
(Click on any of the items for more information
about how these goals have been achieved)
Low
purchase and operation costs
The
dScope Kiosk will run on most recent models of PC that
can be purchased from any supplier (Click here to see
minimum hardware specifications) and can often run on
existing hardware you will have within your business.
Overall, the up front cost of a dScope kiosk can be
as little as half the price of the current branded kiosks
sold by major providers. The hardware can also be leased
through organisations such as Dell who will provide
the machines and support them on site. To make the dScope
kiosk solution an option for a wider range of operators,
the software is also available on a rental basis. The
fact that the kiosk is based on a standard PC also means
that the maintenance costs are extremely low. There
are no regular maintenance requirements or ongoing support
costs involved. Despite having more features and better
customer feedback than almost any other solution, the
dScope kiosk is also one of the most cost effective
available.
A
high degree of flexibility so that the solution can
be tailored to the environment & business
The
number of settings available to you as an operator are
the best of any other kiosk available.
Available
Functions
The
dScope Kiosk has four different user levels built into
the system. The first level is available to all users
and the other levels are accessed via a password. You
can choose exactly which functions of the kiosk are
available at which level, then give your customers access
to the most appropriate level for their needs and familiarity
with the system. If there are functions that you believe
are not aligned with other services in your business,
they can be placed at a level where no customers can
access them.
Appearance
The
appearance of the kiosk is totally under your control.
Because the system is independent of any of the major
suppliers, the colours and design of the screens and
buttons can be set to reflect your own branding and
to match your premises. There are two areas on the screen
that are available to display a slide show of images
while the kiosk is idle. The main screen background
and the "advertising" images are totally under
your control and can be changed as many times as you
think appropriate. The advertising section can display
specials of the day, week or month, depending on your
own business plans.
Location
The
dScope Kiosk can be set up to work within your retail
outlet or in a remote location. The settings on the
kiosk allow you to submit the product to the printer
of your choice via a network connection, or to store
the orders on the computer for submission at a later
date. Stored orders can then be downloaded on a regular
basis and submitted to the printer in batches.
Print
Sizes and Paper Types
You
have full control of the print sizes and paper types
you offer to your customers. You can even specify which
sized prints are available for particular paper types.
Once you have specified the paper widths available,
you can offer your customers any print size as long
as one of the dimensions is equal to or less than the
largest paper width specified. You can even offer odd
sizes that do not match any of your paper widths. The
dScope kiosk will automatically print the size on the
next available paper width with a white border down
one side to minimise the cuts required to produce the
final product.
Print
Pricing
You
can set the appropriate pricing for every print size
offered, including up to six levels of tiered pricing
on each size. The kiosk automatically calculates the
price of every order based on the current pricing settings.
Special
Offers
You
can set up the kiosk to automatically include a "Special
Offer" in orders produced for customers, and the
number of prints the customer must order to qualify
for the special order. The "Special Offer"
is printed as a 6X4 print that is added to the order
and printed with that order. You have complete control
over what is included in the special offer.
Order
Identification Prints
When
you have a large number of orders being processed through
your systems, it can become difficult to assure the
correct prints are matched to the correct order. The
dScope Kiosk back prints every image with the order
number (where the function exists on your print device)
to help collate orders, but this can still be time consuming
to collate. You can set a switch on the kiosk to include
an order identification print with each order printed.
This is an additional 6X4 print that includes all details
of the customer and the order.
Customer
Database
The
optional customer database module is designed for larger
operations and allows the customers to be identified
by a "Customer Code". Customers with a Custromer
Code can enter that code on starting an order and the
system will remember their customer details and their
current user level. The Customer Code is also printed
on all order documentation so that the operator can
quickly link the order to any other records held within
the business for that customer. This may include thePoint
Of Sale solution, or any other customer management system.
Ease
of installation and setup, and reliability in use.
Unlike
other solutions, the dScope Kiosk is simply a program
running on a PC. To get a dScope kiosk running in your
business you can source a PC, connect it to your printer,
load the kiosk program, and complete the required settings.
The dScope kiosk program is a fully Windows compliant
solution and can be treated just the same as any other
program running on that PC.
Leading
customers away from the 6X4 print and into more profitable
products.
The
mass production providers have driven the price of the
standard 6X4 print down to the point where there is
little profit to be made in this area. There is still
good margin in other print sizes though, with a single
enlargement being often more profitable than a whole
film of 6X4 prints. The dScope kiosk provides customers
with a chance to be creative with their images including
building Album Pages (image collages) and prints with
interesting borders and other treatments. These functions
actively drive customers to creating their own presentations,
and these are usually associated with larger print sizes.
Album Pages are almost exclusively built at 8X10 or
larger, and these prints provide good profit margins
as well as driving sales of frames and other extras.
A
solution for customers to use at home that does not
require re-training.
A
problem with most home solutions is that they are vastly
different from retail kiosks and require the customer
to learn a new system in order to send their images
through for printing. The dScope Home Kiosk looks and
works almost exactly the same as the retail version
of the kiosk. Once a customer has used the kiosk on
your premises, they should require no further training
to do the same things on their own version of the kiosk
running on their personal PC. While the dScope Home
kiosk looks and feels like the retail kiosk, it is actually
a very different program which submits the customer's
order via the internet. The dScope Home kiosk can be
distributed by inclusion on a disk with customer product,
on its own autorun disk, or through downloads from your
website.
Control
over the support & training effort required to manage
customers on the kiosks
The
different user levels implemented on the kiosk mean
that you can not only control which customers access
which functions, it also allows you to manage the times
when you provide customers with training. Customers
who come in when your shop is busy can be left to work
at their current level on the kiosk and are less likely
to require help from your already busy staff. When customers
come in during quiet periods, you can assign a staff
member to showing them other functionality on the kiosk
and helping them increase their skills. This process
allows you to better control your staff commitments,
as well as encouraging customers to come in during quieter
times. Customers also are enthused by the learning process
and will come back to your store to learn more each
time.
A
solution that will develop over time to stay ahead of
market developments.
Retail
outlets everywhere are littered with superceded kiosk
equipment. Some kiosks have become redundant literally
within months of their release and have no resale value
at that point either. The dScope Kiosk is a software
based solution and can therefore be easily updated and
modified. You can go to the internet at any time and
download the latest version of the software and apply
it to your machines. There are many updates under construction
for the kiosk that will further extend its capabilities
and the services you can offer to your customers. Some
of the services planned for the kiosk include further
support for scrap booking functions, a music download
capability and more flexible pricing options. Best of
all, these updates have never been charged for, and
there is no plans to charge update fees in the future.
A
kiosk that will continue to work irrespective of the
printing solution used.
The
market in print labs is undergoing marked change as
traditional suppliers are being pushed out of the market
and new, more aggressive suppliers are coming in. Most
existing kiosks are branded by a supplier and will only
work with that suppliers equipment. The dScope kiosk
can work directly with most of the major printing devices
on the market, and will work with any print solution
via a hot folder. If circumstances or preference lead
you to change your print device, a settings change on
your dScope Kiosk is all that is required to keep them
working within your business environment. This is not
only important for you, but also for your customers
who will be able to continue using the system they are
familiar with.
Improved
use of your expensive equipment.
The
dScope Kiosk is just a program running on a PC, and
can be one of many programs that run on that PC. There
is no limitations to what software you can run on the
PC along side the dScope Kiosk. You can use that same
machine to offer a range of services to your customers,
not just the image kiosk. You could sell internet time,
specialised scrap booking software, children's games
or any other applications on the same kiosk. Whatever
service the customer is looking for from the machine,
you can load the correct program to provide that service.
When other services are completed, simply restart the
kiosk program again and the machine once again becomes
a dScope kiosk.
Ease
of use and exceptional on screen help.
The
dScope kiosk has been developed in collaboration with
a number of operators and the design is based on customer
and operator feedback. We watched closely to see where
customers were becoming stuck or confused, and modified
those areas to overcome the problems. Literally half
of the program is dedicated to assuring that the customer
always has a full range of on screen help to get them
through. Every screen has a series of help messages
and every button in the system has context sensitive
help associated with it. Place the cursor on a button
and leave it for a second and a help message will appear
explaining the function of that button. Throughout the
system the help is centered around the kiosk mascot.
Customers learn very quickly that they can find help
on any screen by finding the mascot.
The
ability to be creative with their images.
Most
customers now have digital cameras and home computers
and have no need to print their images just so that
those images can be viewed. The dScope kiosk attracts
customers with the ability to do more than just print
their images. The Album Page Builder has become very
popular because it allows customers to create something
very personal using their images. It also gives them
capabilities they probably do not have at home. The
many effects, borders and modifications they can apply
to their images allow them to do more on a dScope image
than other solutions they may have used, and there are
always new functions for them to discover.
WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get) interface so there are
no 'surprises'
One
complaint many customers had about existing kiosk solutions
was that they would order an image at a particular size
only to find that the result was cropped to fit the
selected size and cut important sections of the image.
With the dScope kiosk, the image they see on the screen
is exactly what will be printed at the selected print
size. This WYSIWYG approach is used throughout the kiosk
and includes borders and other effects selected for
an image, Irrespective of the dimensions of the original
image, if the customer chooses an 8X10 with a keyline
border, what the see on the screen will be exactly what
they will get on their print including any required
cropping and any selected effects and borders.
The
chance to learn and discover new ways of working with
their images.
An
unexpected area of success of the dScope kiosk was providing
the customers with the opportunity to learn new things.
Customers clearly get a degree of satisfaction from
the learning process and the ability to progress through
the different levels of the functionality in the dScope
kiosk. The knowledge that there were more levels within
the Kiosk is a strong driver for repeat business.
The
convenience of using exactly the same program at home.
The
dScope Home Kiosk offers customers the option of using
the same program at home as they have used in the retail
environment. The full functionality of the dScope Kiosk
is available in the Home version, including the Album
Page Builder. Using the Home Kiosk allows customers
to choose their own time to work with their images without
the restriction of 'business hours' or the need to travel
to your retail outlet. This solution is particularly
appreciated by parents with small children, older people
and workers who find it hard to get free time in business
hours. Others like the Home Kiosk option because it
allows them to work at their own speed without feeling
like they need to get their work done and make room
for other users. For the operator, the Home Kiosk means
that you can have customers creating and submitting
orders without tying up your retail space or resources.
Minimum/Recommended
Hardware Specifications
To
get a full list of the hardware requirements for dScope
and the dScope Kiosk, click on the button below.
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