Internet based pay phones

As I traveled home from a ski trip to Whistler BC Canada the other day, I took note of the self service technology used in the airports. Airports are the largest consumer of kiosks, digital signage and vending that I've come across. Some more than others, obviously. I noticed in the Cincinnati airport, the same kiosks and digital signage exists that I've discussed previously, and they are still not 100% functional. But they've taken the time to add another item (before fixing the previous) and that is an Internet enabled payphone.



It was a nice hardware form factor, and the interface was okay, but really the design of it was from 10 years ago. The unit is produced by a company called Super Pay Phone. As I walked up to it, I noticed it had a Windows message onscreen (a big no no). It had evidently recently applied an automatic Windows update and was waiting on if the PC wanted a reboot. I touched the "reboot" button and the unit shut down and went through it's start up process. There are many reasons why this is bad including allowing hackers to see your OS (to know how to penetrate it), and during the start up they system gives all kinds of other pertinent information to the hacker, including the option to get into the BIOS (should be password protected with a unique password). This unit is obviously not completely PCI compliant. All of this could be fixed simply by changing the auto windows update method to only update late at night (3am) and automatically reboot. Or, not apply updates at all, and allow a network administrator to apply updates.



Years ago we priced similar units for Cincinnati Bell who was thinking of replacing all of their traditional payphones with Internet enabled devices. At the time, they just couldn't justify replacing a $300-$600 dollar device with a $3500 device (times thousands). Now, you can hardly find any payphones on the street, and only occasionally inside. But the smaller start ups such as Smart Pay Phones may take away the Bell presence in this marketplace, and quickly. It will be interesting to see the rate of adoption of these smart devices that provide greater service than a traditional pay phone. A small company trying to grow a market and network can pay for the devices with advertising and keeping costs low (compared to Bell's often expensive overhead) with leasing of hardware, and internet access.

I think the hardware is pretty nice, but a few tweaks to interface and security would make this much better. I'd love to know what kind of usage it gets, I doubt it is much. Those few travelers who don't have a cell phone or those who are interested in the "gadget" aspect of the phone will enjoy it, but I frankly would not be likely to use it. What about you? Would you use a device such as this when travelling? How about around your home town? Leave a comment below.

Kiosk Cell Phone Interaction Follow Up

As a follow up to my last post, the interaction of cell phones and kiosks or digital signage can be made real by existing technology. Bluetooth and SMS are the most common ways to interact. These can be integrated into many kiosk projects via partners such as BlueFire Digital. I became aware of BlueFire in February of 2007 and have been wanting to integrate their tools into a kiosk project for quite some time. I haven't found a project yet where the client was willing to try this technology, or the budget just didn't allow for the additions. But its a compelling proposition, lets look at some pros and cons:

Bluetooth:
Pros - no cost for messaging, other than battery life. Can send messaging to the phone from the kiosk via graphics such as Jpeg, PNG, Gif, etc., or video or MP3. Text maybe... a smart phone may have software to read a text file, but a regular dump phone may not.
Cons - Requires a bluetooth dongle (antenna) to be added to the kiosk enclosure. That may only be a problem for slim form factors that don't have an enclosure. Connection speeds can be slow, and some users don't fully understand how to use.

SMS:
Pros - Text! Which can be the best way to communicate in some scenarios. And no programming required in the kiosk (generally speaking) and no extra hardware.
Cons - Text! Limited to 160 Characters per message. Also, the kiosk doesn't truly interact, a SMS hosted service does... (Fees vary upon usage). Users may also be charged a fee from their carrier if they don't have unlimited texting.

There are pros and cons to either method. But it may be right for your project. Generally, only a particular market segment will "get it" and be willing to interact this way. But that is growing as people become more familiar with texting their votes to American Idol, or downloading ring tones. If your market target is the younger generation, these tools may be great for your brand.

Also, how you interact is important. Don't think that you can simply broadcast a bluetooth message out to any device nearby. Technically its possible, but frankly, you won't know if that device is in someones purse, or jacket and they may not know you are asking to connect to their phone until they get home from the store and look at their screen. Even if they do see their phone telling them that someone wants to connect, most people are unlikely to allow a connection from an unknown or untrusted source. So you will likely have to prompt them to "opt-in" by having a compelling reason for them to choose to send something to their phone. Perhaps a branded jingle as a ring tone, or a MP3 instructional audio snippet to help them with a task, or a coupon.

Ah... coupons. Now, a bluetooth coupon is compelling, especially in retail. But many retailers are not yet setup to scan a bar code from a phone screen. So your coupon may be a graphic that says "show this coupon to the cashier for 10% off your purchase". If the retailer can work this way, this is a good way to measure usage at the kiosk, and its value to the consumer. If you're giving 10% off of a purchase, simply for interacting with the kiosk or digital signage, I think many consumers would interact.

And then you have their eyes. That is so important in a venue competing for their attention. If they are at your kiosk and you have a compelling brand message, you can get them to do more than just get the coupon... you can get them to change from a passive consumer to an advocate. You could introduce your latest products, you could get them to join you in your green initiatives. But it has to be compelling, and better yet, targeted. Have them give you a contact point such as an email, and you are getting permission to interact again. Send them to your website and you can do very measureable things. So, is that coupon for 10% off of a purchase worth it now? If you integrate a full program with goals and measurements, and a compelling targeted message, I think you come out ahead in the ROI proposition.

What do you think? Click the comment link below to post back a thought or comment.

Cell phones for boarding passes

This NPR story is very interesting and talks about the use of a cell phone as a boarding pass. Essentially a message is sent to your phone with a 2 dimensional bar code that is your boarding pass information, and the ticket agent scans the screen just like they would a paper boarding pass you may have printed out at home. 2D bar codes are great because they can hold a lot of information within the "pattern" that traditional 1D bar codes cannot. You've seen 1D bar codes on most every product since 1986. You may not recognize the 2D bar code yet, unless you've been to a trade show where all of your contact information is stored in a bar code on your badge for exhibitors to scan, or you may have seen them on a UPS shipping label.

The use of a cell phone as a self service device to allow you to identify yourself has big potential in the future. Imagine a kiosk or interactive digital sign being able to scan and recognize you by a bar code you were sent via email. Or it may be able to recognize you via bluetooth or similar technology. Imagine a kiosk that allows you to sign up for a program or service, receive a code via email or sms within moments, and be able to interact with the kiosk, or be able to purchase your product without cash or credit cards. There are a lot of potential uses for this technology going forwards, it is just waiting for companies willing to adopt it in an engaging way that provides real value to the consumer.

I recently became aware of a "pay by phone" service called MocaPay. MocaPay allows you to sign up for an account online (or at a kiosk?? Anyone??) and add cash to your account from your credit or debit card. You can then go to any merchant who accepts MocaPay and purchase with your phone. It works like this: You SMS MocaPay your PIN number, and it returns the message with a response including a code number that is good for 15 minutes. You give the code to the merchant and walk away with your product. Your account is debited once you have used the code. The service doesn't cost you anything to use, the costs are to the merchant at a rate similar to a credit card transaction. Could this be the new Visa? The convergence of so many technologies into one device now also converge your wallet into your phone along with a PDA, Camera, etc.. I've been trying this service out at my local coffee shop every morning, which is named.... get this... Moca. Total coincidence!

This young company is primarily targeting the younger early adopters who already embrace cell phones and SMS messaging. They are growing in the USA in cities with large college campuses where this target market is ripe. They get the merchants and universities to sign up to allow this audience to purchase with their phone.

All great stuff, great ideas... now we need customers and deployers to figure out when it's appropriate to integrate these tools for their projects. Could this be you? I know I'm thinking about it when consulting for clients!