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Impact of Queue Management on Customer Satisfaction in Retail

For every retail business managing higher customer influx or long waiting lines at cash counters is one of the most challenging task. Long waiting lines not only results in unpleasant customer experience but also have toll on your staff performance which eventually further undermine the customer satisfaction. As UAE is a very diverse and vibrant country and retail businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of country knows their customers comes from all around the world, which demands a highest possible standard of customer service to ensure customer satisfaction. The UAE is also home to multiple retail chains, with thousands of small, medium and large retail businesses operating all across the country.

Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?

The competition has risen to the sky and due to this competition and higher customer demands the queue management at retail businesses have become more challenging than ever before. The traditional queuing techniques have become ineffective and retail businesses are needing modern digital queue management systems to overcome such challenges. A modern queue management system is not just a token machine but it is a highly sophisticated and smart software-based solution which synchronize various software and hardware components and provide more control over customer flow which help businesses in delivering a satisfactory customer experience.

The importance of customer satisfaction is paramount in retail industry as the customers usually have multiple options in their easy reach and the long waiting time is one of the biggest cause of the customer churn. Furthermore the operational efficiency is another big concern at retail businesses which is hindering customer experience and costing businesses a lot in precious sales. This also have negative impact on businesses image and reputation. The customers who felt poorly at any retail store tend to avoid it in future which can have devastating effects on overall business’s success and long term growth. In this blog we will discuss how a modern queue management system can help retail businesses transform their customer journey and help them achieve higher customer satisfaction.

See Also: From Chaos to Control: How Queue Management Systems Can Improve Your Business

Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?
Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?

What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?

The modern queue management systems heavily rely on smart algorithms and sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) which help collecting and analyzing valuable analytical data in real-time. Before we discuss the technology it is also important to understand the waiting psychology. When customers are waiting in the long queues, they got confused and frustrated, one of the biggest confusion is the perception of waiting time. The perceived wait time is always higher than the actual wait time. It is due to the natural psychological reaction our brain has when we are waiting without having much control on wait time. This frustrates us and it feels like we have spent more time than what we actually did. This is the wait time perception and this have huge impact on customer satisfaction.

The modern queue management system helps retail businesses to streamline queues, with the help of physical stanchions, belts, and digital signage, the customer can get distracted from waiting, while without any worrying of line jumpers or getting any sense of confusion. Furthermore the retail queue management system is equipped with modern AI (artificial intelligence) which gets live feeds from CCTV Security and specialized surveillance cameras. This camera feed is relayed to an AI (artificial intelligence) engine which analyzes the video in real-time and provides feedbacks on estimated wait time and even it is capable enough to analyze the staff performance in real-time and alert branch manager if any interruption occurs. These features greatly enhance the decision making abilities of the management and help them elevate the customer satisfaction.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?
What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?

The Queue Management System Drives Automation

One of the biggest advantage of a modern queue management system is its ability to drive automation and digitalize various internal workflows. Several workflows and human resource management tasks can be digitalized and automate using the queue management system. The queue management system comes with a server-side software application. The queue management software provides advanced administrative controls which empower the management and help them take quick and accurate decisions which help streamlining the customer flow and help minimizing the customer wait time especially during the peak hours. Here are a few features which help retail businesses to enhance customer satisfaction:

  • Virtual Queuing: The queue management system offers interactive kiosks and integrated smartphone applications. The customers can use these to sign-in to the virtual queues, which gives them freedom to roam around the store while waiting in a virtual queue. This minimize the stress of waiting and help improving the customer experience.
  • Integration of Self-Checkout: The self-checkout retail kiosks are a great tool to enhance customer experience and elevate satisfaction. The queue management systems are very flexible towards integration and help businesses integrate self-service checkout kiosks which enable customers to checkout without requiring any help from staff resulting is expediting the service delivery.
  • Dynamic Lane Control: The queue management system infused with the people counting technologies and AI (artificial intelligence) can automatically monitor and count the volume of customers in real-time. This allow the queue management system to automatically open or shut service lanes as per the needs. The staff can also be notified if a new lane or service counter had to be open to ensure a smooth customer flow.

The modern queue management system not only help minimizing the customer wait time but it also help improving the decision making and overall operational efficiency. The queue management system at retail businesses are effectively improving the staff performance but empowering management with more advanced data collection and analytical tools which help them in improving their decision making.

See Also: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

The Queue Management System Drives Automation
The Queue Management System Drives Automation

The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency

The queue management system is a very smart application it has various sources and tools which enables it to collect valuable analytical and system usage data. The modern queue management software are infused with AI (Artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) which makes it even more effective and impactful. The queue management system also helps management implement their queuing polices with more precision and accuracy. It offers valuable features for self-service while enabling accessibility for enhanced customer experience. The modern queue management system can be integrated with various sensors that physically track the volume of customer flow and when infused with AI integrated people counting and tracking tools it can even track the movement of the customers within the premises of your business and help you understand the customer flow.

These insights are valuable and help management understand the customer flow which highlights the areas of improvements. The ability to offer virtual queues and automated lane controls further empower the management in their human resource planning. The queue management system not only collects data in real-time but it also keeps the data repository helping management track various patterns with at most accuracy and help them understand the customer flow at any given day or time of the day. Furthermore during busy occasions or any festivity or during the seasonal sales the management can accurately understand the customer influx and customer flow which help them effectively and productivity utilize the human resource in hand to achieve the higher operational efficiency.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency
The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency

Conclusion

The queue management have evolved tremendously over the past two decades, from humble paper pencil to the modern day queue management systems which are empowered by the most modern and sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) technologies. The modern day queue management systems offer flexible customization which makes them ideal for various industries and applications. Especially in the retail industry where the customer demands are high, the markets are extremely competitive and the customer wait time is one of the biggest concern for businesses, a modern queue management system has become absolutely essential.

The queue management systems that are designed and customized for the retail industry are equipped with specialized software and hardware components that ensure smoother customer flow, optimum staff performance and elevated customer experience. Features like advanced analytical data collection, virtual queues, dynamic lane control, AI-based customer flow tracking tools and advanced administrative controls help management not only enhance customer satisfaction but it also help them boost the operational efficiency. The management can effectively utilize the human resource in hand with better productivity which directly impact operational performance and results in elevated customer experience.

In this blog we have discussed how a modern queue management system can be leveraged to enhance customer waiting experience while effectively boosting productivity and overall operational performance. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a bespoke queue management system for your retail business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: What are the Basic Components of Queue Management System?


Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

With the advancement of IT and the in-depth integration of digital solutions in our lives, the business landscape has completely transformed. Especially over the past two decades. Now a days’ people are talking about AI and Robotic taking over traditional production facilities and other business activities. This is the evidence of profound impact of digital and information technology on traditional business operations. The entire digital and computer technology revolves around data, the data in fact is the bloodline of these modern technologies. The software solutions have a program or source code, which dictates its functionalities, these software collect, store and analyze the data which translates into their functionalities and features.

These functionalities simplify human-user’s work and drive efficiency. When it comes to software solutions there are two ways, the COTS or Commercial Off-the-shelf Software and the custom software development. The customized software solutions tend to be more productive, impactful and easy-to-use and integrate. Therefore businesses are opting for custom software development instead of going for ready made solutions. In this blog we will discuss the role of big data in custom software development and its impact on user experience.

Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development
Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?

The concept of big data is very simple to understand, it is a very large volume of data which contains, structured, non-structured and partially or semi-structured data which also keep increasing. With the first generation of software or traditional software application, collecting, storing, and analyzing data at such a large volume, diversity, and velocity is not possible. This lead businesses to either adopt to specialized tools, or build intermediary apps to bridge this gap.

However, with traditional software development practices businesses won’t be able to achieve and from cost prospective it is also not desirable. Hence businesses need to integrate big data within their custom software development to ensure ultimate performance, productivity and cost-efficacy. In this blog we will discuss how big data can completely transform your customized software and help you achieve superior efficiency.

See Also: Custom Software for Improved Business Efficiency

What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?
What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?

The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development

The big data is often misunderstood, most of the businesses doesn’t realize how beneficial it could be. Think of a large library which I full with hundreds or thousands of shelves filled with millions of books, digital copies, audio records, news peppers, research papers and what not. The big data is similar, it is an ocean of information containing precious treasure of insights which help businesses acquire deeper and accurate understanding of market trends, customer preferences, and insight which improve their decision making ability and help them align their solutions, services, products and interaction as per customers’ needs, desires and expectations.

The big data is not just a specific data but a blend of both structured and unstructured data which makes it difficult to analyze it and extract required insights from it. However, when the big data is integrated within the customized software application development process, it help developers understand customer needs, market trends, areas of improvements and much more. This insight is extremely crucial in building successful customized software application which can deliver unparalleled customer experience while driving superior operational efficiency, performance and profitability. This makes big data absolutely essential for modern day software applications.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development
The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development

Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience

In today’s highly competitive market landscape businesses needs innovative tools and software solutions which can help them delivering exceptional user experience. The experience matters more than it ever before. The big data can help developers and project managers to closely analyze the customer behavior. This insight provides them superior understanding of customer pain points, their needs and desires. Furthermore this data also provides them a clear understanding of existing features which are more frequently used by the customers and which are rarely used. This helps them design and include more intuitive features which perfectly align with customer needs.

The biggest advantage of big data is that businesses can utilize multiple sources and compile large volume of data efficiently. This helps them develop highly efficient and impactful software applications. The primary reason of developing custom software is to achieve higher alignment with customer needs. The custom software development process can greatly benefit from insights acquired from big data analysis and help businesses boost internal processes and workflows as well which drive performance. The user experience not only help improving customer interaction but even if a custom software is designed for internal usage, the big data have can effectively boost productivity and performance of the software.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience
Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience

Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making

The big data comes from various sources including social media, existing software applications, employee portals, intranet applications, customer portals, websites, interactive kiosks and even from physical sensors and devices installed at customer centers, ware houses, etc. This is what makes it superior and at the same time very complex. The big data where provide insights of users’ needs, it also help businesses understand market trends, operational processes and internal workflows. This insight help businesses develop customized features within their customized software application to achieve higher efficiency.

The predictive analysis is a very crucial tool for modern day’s fast-paced markets and ever increasing customer needs. The predictive analysis help businesses to be ready for future and help them accurately forecast various future events. This forecasting help management understand the emerging needs and provide them enough time to prepare themselves for the coming challenges. For example, businesses can effectively predict when a software application or a feature they are using is about to lose its impact and efficiency. This is easy to figure out all you need is adequate system usage data and see the trends for that specific feature, if it is losing popularity consistently you can predict that in coming 6 months or so more users will stop using this feature and so on.

See Also: Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short: Advantages of Custom Software Development

Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making
Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making

Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions

Not so long ago businesses were not focusing on performance management, but with the rising competition and ever increasing customer demands, businesses need out of the box approach to obtain higher operational efficiency and better cost-optimization. This can only be achieved if a business is able to leverage the full potential of its resources, whether it is human resource or whether it is IT infrastructure. Now a days, the traditional workflows and business processes have become obsolete and being replaced with more technology oriented and digital processes. The software applications and tools are the primary driving force to achieve higher operational efficiency.

Big data helps businesses collect more in-depth insights and streamline data analytic processes. This help both business leaders and the custom software development team to acquire a clear understanding of user needs, their problems, challenges and it also help management identify the slow/inefficient processes. The custom software development helps businesses utilize this insight acquired from big data to customize the features and internal business processes to drive efficiency and productivity. The software features, content and information can be planned as per the previous usage and user needs which can greatly increase the impact of the customized software application.

See Also: Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai

Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions
Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions

Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement

Scalability and continuous improvements are the two most crucial aspect of any custom software development project. Whenever businesses decide to implement a new software solution they consider the scalability and potential of making improvements in future. Businesses need software solutions which evolve along with their needs, as businesses tend to grow over the time, hence their needs are expected to grow, whether it is simple growth in users, or a bit more complex in terms of application and features, the scalability is an essential factor to consider during custom software development. The big data help businesses and developers to analyze the performance of the software application in multiple scenarios and it helps building features which ensure higher performance and impact.

The big data collection and analysis help businesses determine the features of their custom software applications as well as how these functions and backend processes will work. This is a huge leap toward success and help businesses make informed decisions. Once the software is developed, now businesses and the software development team can leverage the big data to understand the impact and efficacy of their software application. The continuous improvements help businesses avoid disruption, and effectively deal with upcoming challenges. Furthermore as the user base increases the software might need modifications and enhancements which all can be improved by leveraging the big data.

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project

Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement
Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement

Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial

The biggest problem with big data is that it is too big, businesses can often end up relying on expensive analytical tools, and even in case you are using inexpensive or open-source tools, you might require help of specialized experts who can process this data. Hence it is extremely important to understand what kind or type of data is beneficial for your custom software development project. It is extremely important to distinguish the data which is relevant to the areas and subjects you want to understand. Here are some key points that you should consider while analyzing the big data for your custom software development:

  • Identify the areas and subjects you want to understand
  • Categorize your data as primary, relevant and unrelated
  • Never skip automated data sources such as APIs, Log Files, system usage stats
  • Always collect feedbacks from the actual users whether they are your customers or employees
  • Always keep the data from external and internal sources separate
  • Verify every data source and validate the authenticity of the data
  • Always keep your data stored in secure and well protected manner
  • Always use standard analysis techniques
  • Compare your findings with industry benchmarking and other relevant applications

Furthermore it is important to keep your data repository up-to-date all the time. Furthermore when you will collect your data it would be in both structured and unstructured forms, moreover inconclusive data noise also has to be filtered out. It is important to well-organize your data to get accurate insights.

See Also: Top Trends in Custom Software Development: What’s Shaping the Industry?

Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial
Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial

Conclusion

The custom software development is rapidly gaining momentum, even medium and small sized businesses are also investing in custom software applications. It is due to their ability to fully align with user’s needs which helps businesses achieve maximum performance and efficiency. Furthermore the custom software development offers easy integration and superior scalability which makes them very cost-effective over the longer period of time. The big data is something which is usually misinterpreted as something very expensive and exclusive to large enterprises, government and international organizations.

However, that is not true at all. With the advancement in technology and latest programing framework now the big data collection is much more convenient and accessible. The big data provides deeper insight to customer behavior, market trends and at a wider spectrum which help businesses and custom software development teams to effectively understand customer needs. Whether you are building a software for your customers, or whether it is for internal use to enhance the operational efficiency, the big data can greatly improve the application in terms of intuitiveness, performance and efficiency.

Embracing big data for software development and predictive analysis can greatly enhance the application features and elevate the user experience. In this blog we have discussed how big data can be utilized to streamline custom software development process for superior results. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build a customized software application for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.


Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

The interactive self-service kiosk industry is rapidly expanding its scope in multiple industries. The educational institutes and establishments are eagerly seeking solutions to boost efficiency and efficacy. Similar to any other typical kiosk the student kiosks are also a computer terminal consisting of various devices and peripherals enabling students, teachers, parents, guests and new comers to perform various tasks conveniently and efficiently. The student kiosks or student information kiosks are not only offering quick access to various services but also improving the workflows and processes which greatly enhance student experience.

The student kiosks act as a mini administrative office offering a ton of services and easy access to information along with sing-ins, scanning, printing and in some cases payment services too. The student kiosk are typically installed on various places at the campuses, so more people can access them conveniently. The traditional campus services involve tedious processes majorly based on paper-pencil based systems, long queues and administrative bottlenecks which undermine the student experience.

Although universities, colleges and schools are proactively managing their front offices, receptions and administrative offices, but the large influx could be very frustrating for both the students and the staff as well. The student kiosks on the other hand offers instant access to various services with highly organized information structure and above all the digitalization brought automation and efficiency which enhances student experience. In this blog we will briefly discuss how student kiosks are completely revolutionizing user experience.

Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks
Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

What is a Student Kiosk?

The student kiosks are interactive self-service kiosks which hare widely used all across educational institutions in UAE. Schools, colleges, universities and libraries in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the country are proactively seeking technologies to improve educational system. There are various different types of informational and transactional student kiosks or campus kiosks are widely used to provide instant access to information or to deliver various services via self-service experience.

These interactive self-service student kiosks are not only facilitating students but also offering various services to teachers, faculty, administrative staff, and even guests which can greatly improve the overall business productivity and performance.

Student kiosks or Campus Kiosks offer simple and easy registration process, ability to access student portals, internet access, and easy access to university resources, well-organized information repository, and a multitude of features. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks are very helpful for the visitors, newcomers and guests, offering them required information, navigations and way finding, and various other services.

These kiosks are strategically placed in various places across the campus, such as at class rooms, near administrative offices, common areas, libraries, cafeterias, etc. The university administration can also utilize these kiosks for sharing information, making announcements, and for general communications. These features greatly enhance student experience and also help optimizing operational efficiency.

See Also: Security Challenges and Solutions in Payment Kiosk Systems

What is a Student Kiosk?
What is a Student Kiosk?

What are the Key Advantages of a Student Kiosk?

With the rise of technology businesses and customers have adopted modern ways to interact, same is applicable at universities, schools, colleges and other educational institutions. Traditionally these establishments have large facilities, sometime even navigating them could be difficult for visitors and guests. Similarly if a student has to visit an admin office which might located on the other side of the campus and he/she has to attend a class at the other coroner. This will disturb their schedules, and it is common for students to skip the classes or be late due to such matters. However, when all these services and information are provided at kiosk located at easily accessible spots within campus, the students can easily access it.

Here are some key advantages of student kiosks:

Streamlining Registration Process

The registration is one of the most crucial process, often student and parents find themselves stuck in these complex administrative processes. A student kiosk or campus kiosk offers various features such as ability to take student data, scan student documents, and integrate the data with other relevant systems. The student kiosks offers intuitive user interfaces with on-screen instructions, which take students, parents and any user through the required process. The students can easily scan their documents, IDs, and even QR Codes/Barcodes which ensures highest level of security and convenience.

Even the most modern campus kiosks also offer payment facility enabling student to pay for their enrollments or other dues. Furthermore for the students who are already enrolled, they can print their documents, schedules, timetables, assignments, and much more. Students can also update their information, apply for schedules, check available laboratory slots, and much more through these student kiosks. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks can be linked with the central information systems of the organization to offer more up-to-date information and data.

See Also: The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency

Streamlining Registration Process
Streamlining Registration Process

Enhancing Accessibility

The modern day educational system have completely transformed, now a day’s the accessibility and inclusivity are the two crucial aspects of any educational establishment. Now a days the educational culture is more inclusive and accommodating, especially in UAE where there are a lot of international students are studying, the need of an inclusive and diverse educational culture is even more. A campus kiosk or student kiosk is well-equipped with advanced features such as multi-lingual user interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart algorithms which ensures an excellent personalized user experience.

Furthermore these kiosks are also equipped with the features that caters to the needs of students and users with disability or special needs. Furthermore these kiosks can also offer voice-activated features, screen readers and various other such features which help users with special needs. By enabling enhanced accessibility and inclusivity features universities, colleges, schools and other educational establishments can foster a culture of inclusive and highly student-friendly educational environment.

See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

Enhancing Accessibility
Enhancing Accessibility

Improved Campus Services

In a typical university, college or school environment the organization offers a multitude of services, which often are accessible through the administrative offices or dedicated service counters. One of the major drawback of traditional service mechanisms is that these channels are subjected to long waiting and several administrative hurdles which undermine student’s experience and also cause many problems. The student kiosks or campus kiosks or also known as student information kiosks are digital solutions, which digitalize various internal processes, it integrates with other IT infrastructure and synchronize various different system and databases.

These abilities coupled with various hardware features enable educational institutions to streamline their internal workflows and business processes, resulting in elevated student experience and simplified service deliver mechanisms. When campuses transitioned from manual to digital and automated management practices, their operational efficiency can greatly improve, resulting in improved campus services delivery and excellent user experience.

See Also: Leveraging Payment Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

Improved Campus Services
Improved Campus Services

Flexible Customization and Integration

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or any other student information kiosks are all running on a backend application which is a kiosk management program that manages the data, information and everything at the kiosk. The kiosk management program is installed on a server and it manages all connected student kiosks automatically. It further provide a control panel or administrative dashboard providing control of various kiosk features, functionalities and information. This system is developed on cutting-edge technology platforms, which enable organizations to customize them as per their unique business needs and challenges.

Furthermore the student kiosks can be integrated with the third-party system, solutions and business tools. It can seamlessly be integrated with student information system, financial system, educational system, database and central information system. The integration allow student kiosks to communicate with other systems and cater up-to-date data and information. Furthermore the internet access, student portal and access to campus resources, or various other campus services can greatly elevate student experience.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

Flexible Customization and Integration
Flexible Customization and Integration

Higher Operational Efficiency

Every university, college, school, library or educational institution have faced one of the most common challenge which is about operational efficiency. Especially when the new classes are starting, or during new enrollments, or during exams or any other such activity. The human resource is limited, the long waiting lines are evidence of the inefficiency and poor performance in the traditional management practices. From organizational point of view the student kiosks or campus kiosks are a great digital transformation tool which not only benefits students but also greatly benefits the educational institutions.

A student kiosk serves as a mini administrative office, offering a multitude of services via an excellent self-service experience. This not only improve service delivery practices but also enhance internal business processes and workflows. The digitalization of internal workflows and business process automation help boosting operational efficiency and also the staff performance. Where it offer convenience to students, parents, faculty and guests, the campus kiosks or student kiosks can offer great features to administrative and management staff as well, resulting in a significant increase in performance and efficiency.

See Also: Dubai Police Acquire Interactive Signage from RSI Concepts

Higher Operational Efficiency
Higher Operational Efficiency

Analytical Data Collection

The student information kiosks or campus kiosks comes with a specialized kiosk management software application which has in-built smart algorithms and data collection tools. The student kiosk management software collects valuable analytical data and system usage stats which can be processed and analyzed with in-built analytical and reporting tools. The data help management understand the system usage trends, student and other user’s behavior and analytical data from various touch points. This data is very helpful in personalizing the user experience as well.

For example, the student might be performing a certain set of tasks, and they might be interested in a certain type of information, hence these can be made more accessible and understandable to enhance student experience. Similarly the user experience for other user groups can be greatly enhanced by collecting analytical data. Furthermore the analytical data collection and customized reports help management take informed decisions. This data is also very helpful in improving and enhancing user experience and adding innovative features for better performance and higher efficiency.

See Also: Directorate of Islamic Affairs Sharjah Acquired RSI Concepts for HR Self-service Kiosk Solution

Analytical Data Collection
Analytical Data Collection

Cost-Effective Solutions

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or student information kiosks or any other educational kiosk is a great tool to optimize and minimize the cost. These solutions offer higher returns over a long term usage. Usually these kiosks can last for many years without requiring any upgrade or modifications. However, the longevity and flexibility are the two main trait of any customized kiosk solution. The student kiosks might have slightly higher initial cost, however, in the long run these kiosk can significantly reduce operational cost. Offering alternative service channels, reduce the workload of the staff hence offering better human resource management.

Reducing human resource cost without compromising service quality is a great advantage. In fact the customized interactive self-service kiosks offer even better service quality and elevated user experience. These kiosks require very less maintenance and could operate 24/7 without requiring any rest time. Furthermore the student kiosks can be customized and upgraded in order to support emerging needs down the road which make them relevant for many years. The operational cost of student kiosks is also very low which make them ideal for educational institutions.

See Also: DP World Acquired RSI Payment Kiosk

Cost-Effective Solutions
Cost-Effective Solutions

Future Trends of Student Kiosks

The rapid adaptation of the student kiosks all around the globe shows a promising future for the student kiosks. Furthermore the technological platforms are also developing rapidly which is evident of more innovation, modernization and effectiveness of the student kiosks in coming days. The information management platforms are revolutionizing with the unprecedented advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and mobile technologies. Similar will going to enhance student experience along with a wide spectrum of business advantages. The wireless communication has completely revolutionized various aspects of digital experience.

In the coming future the personalized experience will be dominating the digital interaction, hence advanced data collection methods, analytical tools and IoTs would be dominating the student kiosks, enabling students to get instant access to the required information, simplifying registration and enrollment processes, enhancing payment process, enabling new methods to conveniently access campus resources and much more. All these features will not only revolutionize the student kiosk but such features will make them essential for modern educational institutions.

See Also: Why smart kiosks are the future?

Future Trends of Student Kiosks
Future Trends of Student Kiosks

Conclusion

A student kiosk is a digital computer terminal equipped with various software and hardware tools that enable students, parents, guests, and faculties to perform certain tasks via self-service experience which are traditionally done through admin office or relevant service desks. The modern student kiosks also offer printing, scanning and payment facilities supporting various tasks and enhancing user experience.

The student kiosks, student information kiosks or campus kiosks all are the same thing, these are customized solutions designed to enable convenient and easy access to information and services. These kiosks digitalize various internal processes and work flows, which reduce the dependency on the traditional and paper-based slow administrative processes, adding value to student experience and overall operational efficiency.

The student kiosk are placed strategically all across the campus premises, enabling easy reach and quick access to information and services. Furthermore the campus kiosks are a great tool to welcome guests, newcomers, parents and visitors, offering them vital information and access to various services and resources. Furthermore the integration of advanced payment features enable easy enrollment, payment for various services and even for tuition fees, etc. All such features are great at enhancing user experience. The student kiosks are also great at offering personalized experience to various user groups, catering them with the services and information according to their needs and behavioral patterns.

A customized interactive self-service kiosk is a very cost-effective solution, the operational cost and maintenance requirements are also very low and the student kiosks can operate 24/7 non-stop offering more flexibility and easy access. The scalability, customization and upgrades are also very inexpensive which makes them relevant for many years and even afterwards these kiosks can be repurposed too which ensures excellent ROIs.

In this blog we have discussed what a student kiosk is and what key advantages it can offer for students and the organization. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a customized student kiosk for your university, school, college, library or educational institution, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: Harmony Medical Center Acquire Customer Feedback Kiosk Stand from RSI Concepts


Designing User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosks [Guide]

The interactive self-service kiosks have been deeply integrated in modern service sector, helping both businesses and customers. In some industries the self-service kiosks has become essential part of customer services. For example, the ATM machines are the most widely used interactive self-service kiosk, and they have become an essential part of the customer service. Similarly we also see self-check-in kiosks at the airports, although they offer excellent experience but are not considered mandatory.

It means different industries and service sectors have different needs. However, one thing is common among all which is that every industry is adopting these modern technology marvels to enhance and elevate customer experience and to raise customer satisfaction.

The interactive self-service kiosks are also great at achieving higher operational efficiency which makes them more valuable. If you are living in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other region of UAE, you would have seen these flashy screens everywhere, these interactive kiosks have gained huge popularity and this trend is getting stronger every year.

As the software and hardware technologies keep improving the adoptability of the interactive self-service kiosks is also increasing. Now a days, these kiosks can offer most complex services involving, customer identification, documents printing/scanning, making payments and much more. In this blog we will discuss some crucial aspects of designing user-friendly self-service kiosks to ensure satisfactory customer experience and to boost operational efficiency.

Designing User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosks
Designing User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosks

User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosk Designing Process

The designing process of an interactive self-service kiosk is very simple. It starts with requirement analysis and once the objectives are clear you can move toward the actual designing process. Usually businesses acquire services of a reputed interactive self-service kiosk provider in Dubai and they built the kiosk as per their needs. However, it is also crucial to understand the nitty-gritty of the designing process to build a user-friendly kiosk. Businesses often overlooked this part and in order to save time and cost they prefer selecting any ready-made design with a little bit of customization in the software and hardware.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

This could work sometimes but if you want to leverage the true potential of an interactive self-service kiosk you should be able to customize both the software and the hardware as per your unique business needs. The design of the kiosk and the UIs depends on the purpose of the kiosk. In order to design a user-friendly self-service kiosk you must also understand different types or categories of these kiosk machines as well. Here are a few major categories of the kiosks based on their purpose and design:

  1. Information Kiosk
  2. Payment Kiosk
  3. Registration Kiosk
  4. Self-Checkout/Check-in Kiosk
  5. Retail Kiosk
  6. Queue Management Kiosk
  7. Wayfinding Kiosks
  8. Document Processing Kiosks
  9. Government Services Kiosk
  10. Outdoor Kiosks

The list goes on and on, there are a lot more which can be categorized as unique but most of the time all interactive self-service kiosks are just a combination of features borrowed from above listed categories.

User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosk Designing Process
User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosk Designing Process

Furthermore all interactive self-service kiosks are available in both indoor and outdoor versions. The outdoor kiosks are equipped with special weather proof features which make them able to withstand the harsh environment and natural elements. Moreover the self-service kiosks also have certain features which are associated with their application. For example, if you are building an ATM, then you must have to add CCTV cameras and other security features in it. If you are designing an airport check-in kiosk then it must be able to print boarding pass or scan passports and other relevant features.

See Also: Why smart kiosks are the future?

Here are the steps of designing a self-service kiosk:

  1. Set Objectives: Clearly define goals and purpose of the self-service kiosk
  2. Self-Service Kiosk UIs: Start building the UIs of the kiosk (it is crucial to determine the screen size)
  3. Determine Peripherals: It is important to shortlist all hardware peripherals and components
  4. Kiosk Drawing and 3D: Design the Kiosk using 3D tools and prepare engineering diagram with all dimensions and details along with a 3D model
  5. Chose Vendor: Chose a reputed vendor to produce the required kiosk – the software and hardware both should be developed by a single vendor for better performance
  6. Produce PoC: Start with a PoC or limited quantity at the beginning
  7. UAT: Deploy the full system both hardware and software and perform a through UAT
  8. Full Production: Once the UAT is done, make changes if required and go for full-on production
Furthermore all interactive self-service kiosks are available in both indoor and outdoor versions.
Furthermore all interactive self-service kiosks are available in both indoor and outdoor versions.

Designing a self-service kiosk and designing a user-friendly self-service kiosk are not as that different. However, designing a user-friendly self-service kiosk involves considering various factors that elevates the user experience and enhance the operational efficiency.

See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

Here are some crucial factors that you should consider during the designing process to build a highly user-friendly self-service kiosk:

Designing the UIs (User Interfaces)

The UI or user interface is the soul of a self-service kiosk, no matter who good the physical design is, what tools and gadgets are added to it, if the UI is not user-friendly then everything else is pointless. So the UI (user interface) is the most crucial component to work on while designing user-friendly self-service kiosk. The UI (user interface) must have simple and easy navigational structure, minimum steps to perform a task and it should have on-screen prompts and instructions to guide the customers through the process.

As in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE there is a large population of expats is residing so adding multiple languages is important. It also depends on your services too, most of the time Arabic and English suffice but sometimes as per your targeted audience more languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Bengali or other regional languages can be added too.

See Also: Security Challenges and Solutions in Payment Kiosk Systems

One of the most important factor to consider while designing a user-friendly UI is to understand your targeted audience. Consider following factors while studying your audience:

  • Age Group: One of the most important factor is the age of your targeted audience, whether you are targeting teenagers, adults, or senior citizens. Different age groups interact differently and have different preferences, considering these aspects is crucial.
  • Language: Language is one of the most important aspect in user experience. If you offer your customer’s native language or multiple language and let them chose the language which they understand the most, it will simplify everything for them.
  • Technology Proficiency: Furthermore it is crucial to understand if you targeted audience is comfortable in interacting with smart technologies? This will help you to prepare appropriate designs and prompts which aligns with customers’ needs.
Designing the UIs (User Interfaces)
Designing the UIs (User Interfaces)

Once you acquire adequate understanding of your audience and targeted groups, the next important aspect is to design the UI screens for all workflows. Considering the following UI features will help you building the user-friendly self-service kiosk:

  • Clean and Clear Design: It is extremely important to use the white spaces wisely and keep the screen uncluttered to make all buttons and information more visible. Always use high-contrast colors and adequate font size and font typography.
  • Simple Navigational Structure: The navigational structure should be simple, avoid building complex information structure. The on-screen prompts and tips should be logical, short, simple and in easy-to-understand language.
  • Use Visual Cues: Chose words and visuals carefully, sometime the words could be a barrier, however, the visuals are universally understood. Use a blend of words and visual iconography to represent different functions and ensure consistency throughout the entire UI.
  • Touch-Friendly Structure: The UI must be properly optimized for the touch screens. This means tha the placement of the icons, the distance and gaps between different design elements should be logically set to support touch screen interaction.
  • Multilingual UIs: The multilingual UIs have great potential to elevating customer experience. However, when a multilingual UI is designed the UI should be able to adjust as per the language structure to keep it simple and easy-to-understand.
  • UI Feedback: The UI feedback is when a user tap on the screen or give an instruction the interface provides feedback, which acknowledges user’s command. The UI feedback should be visual such as changing the color of the button or auditory such as a beep.
  • Audio Instructions: A good UI must have audio instructions for people with special needs. Both text-to-speech and audio instructions are a great way to improve accessibility. The voice commands or audio instructions can greatly elevate customer experience.
  • Clear Messaging: Whenever a task is completed the UI should display a proper and clear message such as the ID card is scanned, or the payment is received, etc. Same is for the error messages, the error message should be descriptive with instructions to fix it or an appropriate solution.
  • Review and Confirmation Steps: For every crucial step a review and confirmation screen should be added. For example, after a multi-step data inputs, the final review and edit features should be provided or upon making payment the confirmation screen should be added.

The user-friendly UI is one of the most important and impactful aspect of self-service kiosks. It is the gateway to access all features, hence the UI should be carefully crafted and designed keeping the audience and best industry practices in mind.

See Also: Dubai Police Acquire Interactive Signage from RSI Concepts

Once you acquire adequate understanding of your audience and targeted groups, the next important aspect is to design the UI screens for all workflows.
Once you acquire adequate understanding of your audience and targeted groups, the next important aspect is to design the UI screens for all workflows.

Designing the Self-Service Kiosk Body

The self-service kiosk body is also important as the users must have to interact with the kiosk and depending on the features and peripherals installed on it. One of the most common mistake is the placement and size of the touch screen. The touchscreen size and placement could empower the UI or it could completely undermine the effectiveness of the UI causing frustration among the users. The UI should be optimized as per the screen, but if you have more features to display in the UI then the screen size should be capable of properly rendering the UI.

See Also: DP World Acquired RSI Payment Kiosk

Furthermore various hardware devices such as Emirates ID card scanner, POS machine, cash acceptor, receipt printer or dispensers all should be placed at appropriate height and should be easily accessible. The visual aesthetic and branding should also be presentable as the kiosk shape and colors help building a good first impression. Moreover the screen should be adjustable, and special features should be added to make the kiosk more accessible. Security features such as CCTV security cameras and strong body frame also help improving customer experience.

Designing the Self-Service Kiosk Body
Designing the Self-Service Kiosk Body

Bridging the Gap for Human-touch

Typically the self-service kiosk lacks human-touch. The automated instructions on screen, the navigational structure and all user-friendly elements can greatly elevate customer experience, but there could be some customers who might not be as that comfortable with self-service experience. Sometimes customer could stuck on a particular step, and sometimes some workflows are complex in nature which might make it difficult for some customers to perform certain tasks at the self-service kiosk. This could seriously hinder the performance and will undermine your efforts to deliver a satisfactory customer experience.

See Also: RSI Interactive Kiosks for MAF Carrefour MyClub Customer Loyalty Program

The modern day interactive self-service kiosks comes with specialized features which provide direct access to customer support and service teams. For that IP phones, intercoms or even onscreen chat assistants are added to provide instant support. The customer support team is usually linked with the kiosk management system which enables them to perform certain tasks for the customer from a remote location. This bridges the gap for human-touch while ensuring excellent and satisfactory customer service through the self-service kiosks.

Bridging the Gap for Human-touch
Bridging the Gap for Human-touch

Leveraging the Advanced Hardware Devices

An interactive self-service kiosk is a combination of software and hardware components. These hardware devices, peripherals and various components plays crucial role in customer experience. Using older or sub-standard devices will definitely undermine user experience however, using modern and advanced devices with latest features will not only improve user experience but it will also help you develop innovative features in the self-service kiosk. Here are some commonly used devices:

  • Touchscreen: There are tons of different types and qualities of touch screens. Instead of using older single touch screen you can use multi-point touch with IR or capacitive touch with adjustable screen position for better user experience.
  • Receipt Printers: There are tons of different types of printers that are used in different self-service kiosk applications. Instead of using a low-cost printer, which are slower and the customers has to rip the receipt you can use a modern receipt printer which automatically cut the receipt and prints faster.
  • Document Printer: Instead of using a typical monochrome printer you can use a colored printer and even in color printers you can use a high-quality printer which prints faster and has high quality color prints.
  • Document Scanners: Instead of using a traditional document scanner you can provide facility to plug-in a USB stick to copy documents to the kiosk, which will save time and it will also make the job easier for the customers.
  • Payment Options: Instead of providing only cash payments, you can add credit/debit card based POS. You can also include multiple payment methods such as online gateway, digital payment, mobile payment and contactless payment for better customer experience.
  • Card-based Sign-ins: If customer sign-in is required, instead of asking them to input their username and password or OTP you can enable Emirates ID card based sign-ins. You can include QR Code scanners, RFID scanners and more intuitive methods to simplify the sign-in process.

These are just a few most commonly used hardware devices, peripherals and components in self-service kiosk based solutions. Similarly whenever you are choosing a hardware component you should explore better options and alternates which can help you enhancing the customer experience.

See Also: EDPU Technologies Acquired RSI Interactive Kiosks

Leveraging the Advanced Hardware Devices
Leveraging the Advanced Hardware Devices

Conclusion

Designing a self-service kiosk is a fairly simple and straightforward process however, if you really want to design a user-friendly self-service kiosk which can deliver exceptional experience, you should carefully consider various important aspects of both software and hardware during the designing process. The advancement in the technology played a crucial role in the wider adaptation of these interactive self-service kiosks. Most of the businesses are overlooking these crucial aspects of designing process which ultimately result in undermined customer experience. The UI is one of the most fundamental and impactful component, therefore it is important to ensure your UI is equipped with all advanced features that not only simplify user journey but also elevate their interaction.

Similarly the backend software and the hardware is also important. Businesses often overlook the importance of hardware components and focus more on the UIs and kiosk design. However, it is also important to choose the right hardware device which not only get the work done but also do it in a user-friendly manner. In this blog we have discussed the designing process of self-service kiosk and enlist all crucial elements that a business should consider in order to design a user-friendly self-service kiosk. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design a bespoke user-friendly self-service kiosk for your organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: RSI Interactive Kiosk Machines for Carrefour loyalty program in UAE


Mobile Queue Management: The Rise of App-Based Solutions

The smartphone app-based mobile queue management systems are gaining popularity due to their advanced features and ability to meet the needs of the modern more tech-savvy population. The UAE is a technologically one of the most advanced nation in this region. Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the country are always eager to modernize their digital solutions and customer service practices to gain competitive advantage and to optimize their operational efficiency.

For service sector the large customer inflow is always a big challenge, for that businesses adopt to various technologies and solutions to maintain acceptable wait time and optimum customer experience. A digital queue management system is an extremely effective digital transformation tool. The modern day digital queue management systems are powered by smart algorithms and AI which make them more effective and efficient.

A queue management system streamlines customer flow, it is fully integrated within existing IT infrastructure and central information management system. Businesses can not only minimize customer wait time but they can also offer innovative features to enhance customer experience and to improve service delivery mechanisms. The queue management system optimize the entire customer journey, adding value to customer experience and it also help improving branch performance.

The mobile queue management is a latest form of digital queuing, it integrates a dedicated smartphone application which aids queue management system and it also offer more features and convenience to the customers. In this blog we will briefly discuss mobile queue management and its key benefits.

Mobile Queue Management: The Rise of App-Based Solutions
Mobile Queue Management: The Rise of App-Based Solutions

What is Mobile Queue Management System?

When it comes to the Mobile Queue Management System, people often think that it is a smartphone application that is exclusively designed to support queuing processes and typical queue management systems. That is true at some extent, however, it is not entirely about a dedicated mobile queue management application.

The mobile queue management system supports smartphone apps, QR code based queuing, SMS queuing and even WhatsApp queuing, all are part of a Mobile Queue Management System. The queue management systems have evolved a lot over the time, initially starting with humble paper pencil, later with incorporating basic digital devices and then matured into a full-fledged digital transformation tool.

See Also: Qualities of a Good Mobile App for Queue Management System

In past few years the rise of contactless queuing results in a lot of modernization and innovation. The mobile queue management system is the result of that evolution. It incorporate several remote channels in the queuing process, offering unprecedented convenience, enabling customers to sign-up remotely for virtual queues and empowering both customers and the service agents with various innovative features.

The mobile queue management system is superior as it supports virtual queuing where the customers are not required to be physically present in the premises to be eligible for the queue. Furthermore the mobile queue management system provides real-time updates to customers and send them timely alerts and notifications which help improving customer interaction.

What is Mobile Queue Management System?
What is Mobile Queue Management System?

How Mobile Queue Management System Works?

A queue management system has two parts, one is its hardware part which usually has an interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk, a digital signage and an audio announcement system, the usage of digital counter name plats is also common. The software included a server-side queue management software application which is the brain of the system, it also have many components such as UI at interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk, digital signage management tools, and administrative dashboards. The service agents are provided with specialized dashboard which provides them necessary information and control over the customer flow.

See Also: Customer Experience Improvement with Mobile Queue Management System

The mobile queue management system contains additional components, such as dedicated queue management system mobile apps, QR Codes, and integration with other communication channels such as SMS and WhatsApp, etc.

  • QR Code Based Queuing: The QR Codes can be generated from within the queue management system which can be pasted in places where most of your customers can see them. The customer will have to scan it and it will take them to the online sign-up page which generate a digital ticket for them and other queuing information and updates can be provided at the same page.
  • WhatsApp Queuing: The WhatsApp number can be provided through website, social media or any other channel which take users to an automated WhatsApp chat and let them sign-in. The service agents can also access this chat if necessary and provide updates to the customer or allow them to talk with support team through the same chat.
  • Dedicated Mobile Apps: A dedicated queue management system smartphone application is provided to users which they can download from Android Play Store or Apple (iOS) App Store. Customers can sign-in to the application, then they can book an appointment or sign-up for the queue from within the applications. Several other features can be provided through dedicated mobile apps for queue management system which help empowering customers and elevate customer experience.
  • SMS Based Queuing: The customers are provided with a dedicated number for the SMS which is automated and help businesses collect basic information, it also issue the e-ticket through the SMS and help customers sign-up for the virtual queues. The customers can also get alerts and updates through the SMS and the SMS are also used along with other queuing methods to send alerts, instant updates and notification through the SMS.

From all of the above mobile queuing components the queue management mobile applications are the most advanced and impactful. The mobile application not only facilitate virtual queuing but it also offers a multitude of innovative features which further help businesses and customers.

See Also: From Chaos to Control: How Queue Management Systems Can Improve Your Business

How Mobile Queue Management System Works?
How Mobile Queue Management System Works?

What are the Features of Queue Management Mobile App-Based Solutions?

There are two types of queue management mobile app-based solution, one is integrated mobile app and the second is the dedicated queue management system mobile app. The integrated mobile app is not exclusively designed for queue management system, although it could have all the features but the integrated app has other purposes too. Both solutions are fully customizable and allow businesses to incorporate all the features they want. Both app-based solutions are just like an extension to the on-premises digital queue management system and the primary objective is to allow customers to sign-up remotely via the smartphones.

See Also: Queue Management System with Facial Recognition Technology

This features enable businesses to greatly reduce the customer wait time, in fact it can literally be reduced to none. The long wait time is one of the most crucial factor in customer service which undermine customer satisfaction and make them unhappy. Here are some key features of queue management mobile app-based solutions which benefits both customers and businesses.

Mobile Queue Management: Remote Sign-ups and Virtual Queuing

The virtual queuing is a modern form of queue management which enable businesses to let customers and visitors sign-in in a virtual queues, this means the customers can be considered in queue without being physically present in the waiting line. This is a remarkable feature and it offer a lot of freedom to customers and visitors which greatly elevate their experience and raise customer satisfaction. The remote sign-ups or sign-in is a feature that allow customers and visitors to remotely sign-up for a queue without being physically present on business premises.

See Also: What Is Virtual Queuing? A Guide to Virtual Queues

The remote sign-in and the virtual queuing allow customers to sign-up for the queue while they are on the way to customer service center or even before that. The customers are also not bound to wait in the waiting areas, they can spend time anywhere else, and arrive only when their ticket is called. This empowers customers and it also help improving their waiting experience, with virtual queues and remote sign-ups the customers only have to wait for minute or two at maximum, and this can also be avoided which is a great advantage of mobile queue management.

Mobile Queue Management: Remote Sign-ups and Virtual Queuing
Mobile Queue Management: Remote Sign-ups and Virtual Queuing

Mobile Queue Management: Appointment Booking and Visit Scheduling

Another remarkable feature that mobile queue management offers is the ability to integrate appointment booking system and visit scheduling tools. A queue management system is a very smart solution with advanced data collection and analysis tools. The queue management software has in-built smart algorithms and AI (artificial intelligence) which enables it to analyze the real-time data with context of historical data. This enable the queue management system to predict the expected footfall and wait time at any particular day or time. When the customers are booking appointment from their queue management system mobile application this data can be provided to them to let them make informed decisions as per their needs.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

For example, if every last Wednesday of the month is the least busy day, or the footfall reduced during the noon, this information can help customers choose the right time for their appointment. In case if the customers fail to arrive or know they won’t be able to reach in time, they can immediately reschedule to the next available slot or to another day and time form within the mobile application. These features enhance customer experience and raise customer satisfaction.

Mobile Queue Management: Appointment Booking and Visit Scheduling
Mobile Queue Management: Appointment Booking and Visit Scheduling

Mobile Queue Management: Branch Locator

The mobile queue management offers various innovative features such as the branch locator. That is a very useful feature and it helps customers and visitors to find the route/location map to the nearest branch. Businesses with multiple branches in a city could guide their customers and visitors to a particular branch as per their needs and current circumstances. For example, if a branch is full, and is expected to remain full, then the customers and visitors could be redirected to the next branch even before they initiate the sign-up processes, they can be asked to choose the branch nearby.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

The information can be provided in an interactive UI where they can see all available branches on a live map along with basic information such as the timing, current pending tickets, and expected wait time, etc. Furthermore the in-built smart algorithms can also suggest customers which is the closest branch or which branch has the quickest expected wait time and so on. The appointment booking module and the ticket-scheduling features can be integrated within the branch locator to enhance customer experience. The branch locator feature is excellent for banks, pharmacies, healthcare, retail and government offices.

Mobile Queue Management: Branch Locator
Mobile Queue Management: Branch Locator

Mobile Queue Management: Enhanced Customer Experience

The biggest advantage of having a mobile queue management system with smartphone app-based solution is the elevated customer experience and higher customer satisfaction. For any business the customer satisfaction is the most crucial factor in their success. In service sector the major cause of customers’ unhappiness is the longer wait time and inefficient service delivery practices. A modern digital queue management system with mobile app-based solutions can greatly improve these two factors.

See Also: Importance of Queue Management System for Government and Public Offices

It not only reduce the wait time but it also help minimizing the impact of perceived wait time and it offers more freedom and control to customers over their interaction which raise their happiness. The dedicated queue management system mobile applications offer several intuitive features to simplify and enhance customer experience while empowering them and giving them more control. It also provide more control and flexibility to the service staff which boost their efficiency and further improve customer experience.

Mobile Queue Management: Enhanced Customer Experience
Mobile Queue Management: Enhanced Customer Experience

Mobile Queue Management: Better Human Resource Management

A digital queue management system can completely transform your customer service centers and open up new horizons for innovation and improvement. The mobile application based queue management solutions not only elevate customer experience but also offer valuable features which empower service staff and boost their efficiency. The staff can have more control over customer flow and they can get updated information in their dedicated service agent dashboard. The branch managers and even the head office can get live queuing data and updates which help them effectively utilize the available staff.

See Also: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

When the customers have choice to sign-in virtual queues, they tend to arrive on time of their call, which reduce the workload of the staff and also help preventing crowd formation. More customers waiting in waiting areas cause more distraction for the staff and undermine their efficiency. However, with limited number of customers in the waiting areas and more control over customer flow the staff can work under fairly balanced workload which boost their morale and greatly improve their performance enabling businesses for better human resource management and it also reduce human resource cost.

Mobile Queue Management: Better Human Resource Management
Mobile Queue Management: Better Human Resource Management

Mobile Queue Management: Business Intelligence Data Collection

Business intelligence data is one of the most important factor in planning and decision making. Modern day businesses heavily rely on data to take important strategic decisions and without a strong and solid data analysis the decisions could easily go wrong. Therefore businesses always strive to collect analytical and statistical data which they can incorporate in their decision making process. A modern queue management system with mobile app-based solution is equipped with smart data collection tools and AI which makes it a great source of valuable business intelligence data.

See Also: The Importance of Actionable Data in Queue Management System

The management can effectively monitor the customer flow, they can track staff performance and KPIs, along with analytical and statistical data from each and every customer touch point throughout the entire customer journey. Businesses can collect customer feedback and also identify the bottlenecks and pain points to resolve them for better customer experience. The queue management system mobile app enable businesses to request for customer feedback at the end of each interaction or even afterwards. The business intelligence data and customer feedback can be a great asset for a business.

Mobile Queue Management: Business Intelligence Data Collection
Mobile Queue Management: Business Intelligence Data Collection

Mobile Queue Management: Scalability and Customization

A queue management system itself is a very flexible tool towards customization and scalability. Every business grows over the time so does their needs, challenges and business processes. A queue management system is built on very flexible software stack which makes it very convenient and cost-effective for a business to scale them up or customize them to meet the emerging needs and challenges. The queue management system software is a server-side application which has ability to integrate with other software, applications, solutions, databases and central information system.

See Also: What are the Basic Components of Queue Management System?

The integration allow queue management system to talk to other systems and help businesses incorporate innovative features which enhance customer journey and also have positive impact on overall operational performance. The queue management system mobile apps are typically hybrid apps which are easy to maintain, customize and upgrade. Even if you are using native apps, you can always modify them to add new features, customize existing UIs and much more. The ability to scale and customize makes queue management system with mobile app-based solutions ideal for modern businesses.

Mobile Queue Management: Scalability and Customization
Mobile Queue Management: Scalability and Customization

Conclusion

The rise of mobile app-based queue management solutions is a significant milestone in customer service industry. The modern queue management systems with smartphone apps have completely changed the way businesses were managing their customer flow and branch performance. In fact a modern day queue management system is a full-fledged branch transformation tool which can greatly boost the branch performance and elevate customer experience while saving a lot on operational cost.

In the competitive markets such as Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of UAE where the customers are normally very tech-savvy and the digital interaction is highly regarded as the sign of better quality the modern day queue management system equipped with smartphone application can gain you a great competitive advantage. It is not only about making an impression but in fact it has become an essential for optimum performance and efficiency. The customer flow management is one of the most critical factor in customer experience and the customer experience is extremely important for a long term and sustainable success.

See Also: Queue Management System for Trucks and Logistic Centers

The mobile app-based queue management solutions are equipped by smart algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) which make them superior and it also help businesses incorporate innovative and intuitive features for their customers and visitors. The queue management system mobile application can deliver a satisfactory customer experience while optimizing customer journey and enhancing staff performance.

In this blog we have briefly discussed what is a mobile app-based queue management solution is and how businesses can leverage its advanced features to drive performance and customer excellence. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a bespoke mobile application-based queue management system for your organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: Queue Management System for Banks in 2022


Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

The interactive self-service kiosk industry is rapidly expanding its scope in multiple industries. The educational institutes and establishments are eagerly seeking solutions to boost efficiency and efficacy. Similar to any other typical kiosk the student kiosks are also a computer terminal consisting of various devices and peripherals enabling students, teachers, parents, guests and new comers to perform various tasks conveniently and efficiently. The student kiosks or student information kiosks are not only offering quick access to various services but also improving the workflows and processes which greatly enhance student experience.

The student kiosks act as a mini administrative office offering a ton of services and easy access to information along with sing-ins, scanning, printing and in some cases payment services too. The student kiosk are typically installed on various places at the campuses, so more people can access them conveniently. The traditional campus services involve tedious processes majorly based on paper-pencil based systems, long queues and administrative bottlenecks which undermine the student experience.

Although universities, colleges and schools are proactively managing their front offices, receptions and administrative offices, but the large influx could be very frustrating for both the students and the staff as well. The student kiosks on the other hand offers instant access to various services with highly organized information structure and above all the digitalization brought automation and efficiency which enhances student experience. In this blog we will briefly discuss how student kiosks are completely revolutionizing user experience.

Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks
Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

What is a Student Kiosk?

The student kiosks are interactive self-service kiosks which hare widely used all across educational institutions in UAE. Schools, colleges, universities and libraries in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the country are proactively seeking technologies to improve educational system. There are various different types of informational and transactional student kiosks or campus kiosks are widely used to provide instant access to information or to deliver various services via self-service experience.

These interactive self-service student kiosks are not only facilitating students but also offering various services to teachers, faculty, administrative staff, and even guests which can greatly improve the overall business productivity and performance.

See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

Student kiosks or Campus Kiosks offer simple and easy registration process, ability to access student portals, internet access, and easy access to university resources, well-organized information repository, and a multitude of features. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks are very helpful for the visitors, newcomers and guests, offering them required information, navigations and way finding, and various other services.

These kiosks are strategically placed in various places across the campus, such as at class rooms, near administrative offices, common areas, libraries, cafeterias, etc. The university administration can also utilize these kiosks for sharing information, making announcements, and for general communications. These features greatly enhance student experience and also help optimizing operational efficiency.

See Also: The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency

What is a Student Kiosk?
What is a Student Kiosk?

What are the Key Advantages of a Student Kiosk?

With the rise of technology businesses and customers have adopted modern ways to interact, same is applicable at universities, schools, colleges and other educational institutions. Traditionally these establishments have large facilities, sometime even navigating them could be difficult for visitors and guests. Similarly if a student has to visit an admin office which might located on the other side of the campus and he/she has to attend a class at the other coroner. This will disturb their schedules, and it is common for students to skip the classes or be late due to such matters. However, when all these services and information are provided at kiosk located at easily accessible spots within campus, the students can easily access it.

See Also: Security Challenges and Solutions in Payment Kiosk Systems

Here are some key advantages of student kiosks:

Streamlining Registration Process

The registration is one of the most crucial process, often student and parents find themselves stuck in these complex administrative processes. A student kiosk or campus kiosk offers various features such as ability to take student data, scan student documents, and integrate the data with other relevant systems. The student kiosks offers intuitive user interfaces with on-screen instructions, which take students, parents and any user through the required process. The students can easily scan their documents, IDs, and even QR Codes/Barcodes which ensures highest level of security and convenience.

Even the most modern campus kiosks also offer payment facility enabling student to pay for their enrollments or other dues. Furthermore for the students who are already enrolled, they can print their documents, schedules, timetables, assignments, and much more. Students can also update their information, apply for schedules, check available laboratory slots, and much more through these student kiosks. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks can be linked with the central information systems of the organization to offer more up-to-date information and data.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

Streamlining Registration Process
Streamlining Registration Process

Enhancing Accessibility

The modern day educational system have completely transformed, now a day’s the accessibility and inclusivity are the two crucial aspects of any educational establishment. Now a days the educational culture is more inclusive and accommodating, especially in UAE where there are a lot of international students are studying, the need of an inclusive and diverse educational culture is even more. A campus kiosk or student kiosk is well-equipped with advanced features such as multi-lingual user interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart algorithms which ensures an excellent personalized user experience.

Furthermore these kiosks are also equipped with the features that caters to the needs of students and users with disability or special needs. Furthermore these kiosks can also offer voice-activated features, screen readers and various other such features which help users with special needs. By enabling enhanced accessibility and inclusivity features universities, colleges, schools and other educational establishments can foster a culture of inclusive and highly student-friendly educational environment.

See Also: DP World Acquired RSI Payment Kiosk

Enhancing Accessibility
Enhancing Accessibility

Improved Campus Services

In a typical university, college or school environment the organization offers a multitude of services, which often are accessible through the administrative offices or dedicated service counters. One of the major drawback of traditional service mechanisms is that these channels are subjected to long waiting and several administrative hurdles which undermine student’s experience and also cause many problems. The student kiosks or campus kiosks or also known as student information kiosks are digital solutions, which digitalize various internal processes, it integrates with other IT infrastructure and synchronize various different system and databases.

These abilities coupled with various hardware features enable educational institutions to streamline their internal workflows and business processes, resulting in elevated student experience and simplified service deliver mechanisms. When campuses transitioned from manual to digital and automated management practices, their operational efficiency can greatly improve, resulting in improved campus services delivery and excellent user experience.

See Also: Kiosk for Queue System – Aster Clinic

Improved Campus Services
Improved Campus Services

Flexible Customization and Integration

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or any other student information kiosks are all running on a backend application which is a kiosk management program that manages the data, information and everything at the kiosk. The kiosk management program is installed on a server and it manages all connected student kiosks automatically. It further provide a control panel or administrative dashboard providing control of various kiosk features, functionalities and information. This system is developed on cutting-edge technology platforms, which enable organizations to customize them as per their unique business needs and challenges.

Furthermore the student kiosks can be integrated with the third-party system, solutions and business tools. It can seamlessly be integrated with student information system, financial system, educational system, database and central information system. The integration allow student kiosks to communicate with other systems and cater up-to-date data and information. Furthermore the internet access, student portal and access to campus resources, or various other campus services can greatly elevate student experience.

See Also: RSI Interactive Kiosk Machines for Carrefour loyalty program in UAE

Flexible Customization and Integration
Flexible Customization and Integration

Higher Operational Efficiency

Every university, college, school, library or educational institution have faced one of the most common challenge which is about operational efficiency. Especially when the new classes are starting, or during new enrollments, or during exams or any other such activity. The human resource is limited, the long waiting lines are evidence of the inefficiency and poor performance in the traditional management practices. From organizational point of view the student kiosks or campus kiosks are a great digital transformation tool which not only benefits students but also greatly benefits the educational institutions.

A student kiosk serves as a mini administrative office, offering a multitude of services via an excellent self-service experience. This not only improve service delivery practices but also enhance internal business processes and workflows. The digitalization of internal workflows and business process automation help boosting operational efficiency and also the staff performance. Where it offer convenience to students, parents, faculty and guests, the campus kiosks or student kiosks can offer great features to administrative and management staff as well, resulting in a significant increase in performance and efficiency.

See Also: EDPU Technologies Acquired RSI Interactive Kiosks

Higher Operational Efficiency
Higher Operational Efficiency

Analytical Data Collection

The student information kiosks or campus kiosks comes with a specialized kiosk management software application which has in-built smart algorithms and data collection tools. The student kiosk management software collects valuable analytical data and system usage stats which can be processed and analyzed with in-built analytical and reporting tools. The data help management understand the system usage trends, student and other user’s behavior and analytical data from various touch points. This data is very helpful in personalizing the user experience as well.

For example, the student might be performing a certain set of tasks, and they might be interested in a certain type of information, hence these can be made more accessible and understandable to enhance student experience. Similarly the user experience for other user groups can be greatly enhanced by collecting analytical data. Furthermore the analytical data collection and customized reports help management take informed decisions. This data is also very helpful in improving and enhancing user experience and adding innovative features for better performance and higher efficiency.

See Also: RSI Interactive Kiosks for MAF Carrefour MyClub Customer Loyalty Program

Analytical Data Collection
Analytical Data Collection

Cost-Effective Solutions

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or student information kiosks or any other educational kiosk is a great tool to optimize and minimize the cost. These solutions offer higher returns over a long term usage. Usually these kiosks can last for many years without requiring any upgrade or modifications. However, the longevity and flexibility are the two main trait of any customized kiosk solution. The student kiosks might have slightly higher initial cost, however, in the long run these kiosk can significantly reduce operational cost. Offering alternative service channels, reduce the workload of the staff hence offering better human resource management.

Reducing human resource cost without compromising service quality is a great advantage. In fact the customized interactive self-service kiosks offer even better service quality and elevated user experience. These kiosks require very less maintenance and could operate 24/7 without requiring any rest time. Furthermore the student kiosks can be customized and upgraded in order to support emerging needs down the road which make them relevant for many years. The operational cost of student kiosks is also very low which make them ideal for educational institutions.

See Also: Directorate of Islamic Affairs Sharjah Acquired RSI Concepts for HR Self-service Kiosk Solution

Cost-Effective Solutions
Cost-Effective Solutions

Future Trends of Student Kiosks

The rapid adaptation of the student kiosks all around the globe shows a promising future for the student kiosks. Furthermore the technological platforms are also developing rapidly which is evident of more innovation, modernization and effectiveness of the student kiosks in coming days. The information management platforms are revolutionizing with the unprecedented advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and mobile technologies. Similar will going to enhance student experience along with a wide spectrum of business advantages. The wireless communication has completely revolutionized various aspects of digital experience.

In the coming future the personalized experience will be dominating the digital interaction, hence advanced data collection methods, analytical tools and IoTs would be dominating the student kiosks, enabling students to get instant access to the required information, simplifying registration and enrollment processes, enhancing payment process, enabling new methods to conveniently access campus resources and much more. All these features will not only revolutionize the student kiosk but such features will make them essential for modern educational institutions.

See Also: Why smart kiosks are the future?

Future Trends of Student Kiosks
Future Trends of Student Kiosks

Conclusion

A student kiosk is a digital computer terminal equipped with various software and hardware tools that enable students, parents, guests, and faculties to perform certain tasks via self-service experience which are traditionally done through admin office or relevant service desks. The modern student kiosks also offer printing, scanning and payment facilities supporting various tasks and enhancing user experience.

The student kiosks, student information kiosks or campus kiosks all are the same thing, these are customized solutions designed to enable convenient and easy access to information and services. These kiosks digitalize various internal processes and work flows, which reduce the dependency on the traditional and paper-based slow administrative processes, adding value to student experience and overall operational efficiency.

The student kiosk are placed strategically all across the campus premises, enabling easy reach and quick access to information and services. Furthermore the campus kiosks are a great tool to welcome guests, newcomers, parents and visitors, offering them vital information and access to various services and resources. Furthermore the integration of advanced payment features enable easy enrollment, payment for various services and even for tuition fees, etc. All such features are great at enhancing user experience. The student kiosks are also great at offering personalized experience to various user groups, catering them with the services and information according to their needs and behavioral patterns.

A customized interactive self-service kiosk is a very cost-effective solution, the operational cost and maintenance requirements are also very low and the student kiosks can operate 24/7 non-stop offering more flexibility and easy access. The scalability, customization and upgrades are also very inexpensive which makes them relevant for many years and even afterwards these kiosks can be repurposed too which ensures excellent ROIs.

In this blog we have discussed what a student kiosk is and what key advantages it can offer for students and the organization. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a customized student kiosk for your university, school, college, library or educational institution, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.


Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

Can you imagine running a business solely with paper pencil? Today, the idea seems laughable, however about a century back all businesses were efficiently working and maintaining information using the humble paper pencil. Modern technology has become the invisible backbone of our daily lives, both personal and professional.  Just as we rely on our smartphones to stay connected, businesses rely on sophisticated software and IT solutions to achieve peak performance.  No matter your industry, embracing technology is no longer optional – it’s the key to unlocking operational efficiency and it a key aspect of establishing a unique brand identity which gains you a competitive edge.

Businesses ranging from SMEs to large enterprises and government establishments are utilizing several software applications. The need of the software never ends, in fact it keeps growing with the passage of time. There are mainly two categories of software applications, one is the commercial off-the-shelf or commonly known as COTS and the other is the custom software development. Both are just two methods to implement a solution that can address to your problems and help you improve operational efficiency. In this blog we will discuss how custom software can greatly enhance user experience, performance and overall operational efficiency for your business.

Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience
Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

What is the Difference between Custom Software and Commercial Off-the-Shelf Solutions?

Software are everywhere! In fact the web-browser you’re using now, the operating system on your computer (Windows or Mac), even the machine you swipe at work to clock in and out. But as the saying goes, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, it is already invented! Business don’t have to create everything from the scratch. However, when it comes to business tools and software application, there are two road to go forward, the commercial off-the-shelf software or COTS and the custom software development. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, however, we have to understand which is more suitable as per our needs.

Let’s assume you need to streamline your document approval process for clients or suppliers? Here, the two roads diverge. You can search for existing software that fits your needs, or consider acquiring services of a custom software development company like RSI Concepts.

The commercial off-the-shelf software solution might seem popular, catchy and having international development companies behind them, but it won’t perfectly fit your specific and unique business needs. At best, it gets you 80% of the way there, but the other 20% might be features you don’t need or missing functionalities you crave. However, that is not the case with custom software development.

The bespoke software solutions are exclusively designed for your business keeping all your business needs at forefront. That is why a customized software perfectly aligns with all you needs, it can fit like a glove, it works exactly the way you want it to, which can greatly boost your user experience, efficiency and performance.

See Also: What is custom software development?

What is the Difference between Custom Software and Commercial Off-the-Shelf Solutions?
What is the Difference between Custom Software and Commercial Off-the-Shelf Solutions?

How Custom Software Development Enhances User Experience?

Have you ever used an application or a webpage which felt clunky and confusing? Maybe you spent a lot of time looking up for a button, or maybe the information are not presented in a well-organized manners, or the entire experience is poor! That is what a user experience or UX is, if you are unhappy you won’t efficiently perform the task you wanted to. But what if there is a way to make that app or website intuitive, easy-to-navigate and enjoyable? That is the power of custom software development. It lets you design the application and software the way you want it to, you chose the buttons, colors, functionalities and even how each functionality works.

The custom software development is known for its ability to greatly enhance user experience which boost efficiency and performance. Here are some key factors which make user experience very crucial for the success or failure of any software application:

  • User Engagements: Users tend to use and interact with software and applications that more easy to work with, intuitive and have enjoyable experience.
  • Efficiency and Performance: When the users can easily find the options they need and they can easily navigate through the software they tend to complete tasks very quickly.
  • User Trust: When users have a seamless interaction with a software or application they start trusting it and vice versa. Intuitive software are always admired by the users.
  • User Satisfaction: When users have satisfactory experience with a software, either your employee or customers they are more likely to use it more frequently.
  • Brand Loyalty: You customers tend to come back again if they have had a satisfactory interaction with your software applications and they are more likely to recommend it to others.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

How Custom Software Development Enhances User Experience?
How Custom Software Development Enhances User Experience?

By leveraging modern technologies and advanced design practices businesses can develop intuitive and user-friendly interfaces (UIs) for their software application which will delight the users. Whether an application is built for employees or for customers, the intuitive and user-friendly design is an essential component to ensure the success.

Here are some key advantages of custom software development which are very helpful enhancing the user experience and ensuring user satisfaction:

Customization and Personalization

One of the greatest advantage of custom software development is its ability to allow businesses to customize and personalize the user experience as per their needs. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are built as per industry standards, hence have a generic interface which might not properly optimize to enhance the workflows that you are aiming to improve. However, with the custom software development you can decide which functionality you want, how you want it and how it should work.

You can customize the names of design elements, buttons, features, menu items, etc. as per your convenience which also minimize the training needs and it is a great way to enhance user experience. You can personalize the interface and functionalities to align them with your existing internal workflows. You can customize the color scheme, design style to make it more familiar and understandable. All these factors greatly help enhancing the user experience and boost efficiency.

See Also: Custom Software for Improved Business Efficiency

Customization and Personalization
Customization and Personalization

Scalability and Flexibility

One of the biggest drawback of commercial off-the-shelf software is its limited ability to support scalability and offer the flexibility which is necessary for growing businesses. However, the custom software development is done keeping scalability in mind. As it is already designed exclusively for the business to meet their specific needs, it also offer easy upgrades and customization. As the needs grow and more features are needed, and over the time some existing features might also need changes or improvements, all this can be done seamlessly with custom software development.

Adding new features or integrating it with more third-party software, databases and application can be done easily. However, the COTS fell short at offering this level of scalability and flexibility. The customized software evolve alongside the business and can grow as the needs grow, offering the ultimate flexibility a business needs to stay ahead of the curve. Adding new features or customizing existing features with ability to integrate with other tools can greatly enhance functionality adding value to user experience.

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project

Scalability and Flexibility
Scalability and Flexibility

Streamlining Workflows

Think of a software or application that help you performing your tasks and have specialized features that you need to achieve your goals? Obviously that would be very comforting and happy experience. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions lack the ability to offer exclusive features that perfectly align with your needs, this could sometime make user frustrated. The custom software development on the other hand is all about improving user satisfaction and boosting efficiency.

The customized software are designed to optimize the workflows by directly addressing to bottlenecks, user pain points and by eliminating repetitive work from the process. Where this greatly optimize the business processes it also minimize the user efforts and help them achieving their goal very quickly and effortlessly. The custom software development empowers employees with reducing their efforts, automatically pushing data, performing routine tasks through automation, and by facilitating communications and collaborations. All these factors greatly enhance user experience.

See Also: Why the Custom Software Development is Good for Your Business?

Streamlining Workflows
Streamlining Workflows

Easy System Integration

One of the major drawback of commercial off-the-shelf software is their limited ability to support third-party system integration. As these software are generic and designed for masses, they are slow to evolve hence failing to keep up the pace with your emerging needs. Furthermore the COTS are built on standard technologies with a lot of restrictions and limitation to access the source code of the application, this realty limit their ability to integrate with other third-party software and businesses usually end up spending large sums on intermediary applications to enable integration.

In some cases businesses have to move to a completely new software solution due to its inability to offer required integration, which have huge cost and complications. The custom software development doesn’t have any such problem, it is very easy to integrate them with third-party software, tools, databases, and central information system of the organization. The business owns the entire source code and database, which give them full control over the application and enable them to integrate it with any other third-party tool as per their needs.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Healthcare Industry

Easy System Integration
Easy System Integration

Superior Security and Control

One of the biggest advantage of the custom software development is that the software is exclusively designed for the business. Hence the business owns all ownership rights including source code, and databases with full control over software hosting. This provide businesses ability to make their applications more secure as the customized software can be hosted at on-premises data centers as well as the cloud of your choice. This empower businesses and give them full control over their data and sensitive information. When the users are aware that their data is protected and will not be hosted with a third-party they tend to be more confident and have more trust on the software.

Businesses can also implement their own security policies to ensure superior protection. Furthermore since the customized software are exclusively designed for the business, the software is not available to anyone else. However this is not the case with the commercial off-the-shelf software, as they are designed and marketed to masses they are widely available, this means their structure and technology is known to masses and this also make them more vulnerable. Furthermore your data is stored with the software supplier, which offer you limited control over you data and sensitive user information.

See Also: Top Trends in Custom Software Development: What’s Shaping the Industry?

Superior Security and Control
Superior Security and Control

Cost-effectiveness

Most of the time businesses think the custom software development is expensive, and it is due to its higher upfront cost, however, when you analyze the long-term cost you will know the customized software are much more cost-effective and have higher ROI. The commercial off-the-shelf software have less upfront cost and can be deployed within days or even hours. However there are several reoccurring costs, fees and charges. If you need customization, you will have to pay extremely high cost, and the customization too is very limited.

The scaling and upgrades are also very expensive with limited scope. This make them more expensive and over the time the COTS become less effective due to certain limitations. However, the custom software development on the other hand offers easy customization with very less or no cost if you have in-house team. The scalability and flexibility is superior too, you don’t have to pay any reoccurring cost, the maintenance is very less expensive and you got the full ownership of the application as well.

All these factors make customized software much more cost-effective and reliable.

See Also: Common Mistakes to Avoid in Custom Software Development Projects

Cost-effectiveness
Cost-effectiveness

Conclusion

The business landscape in UAE is very competitive, each year we got hundreds of new businesses registering (both startups and international organization) in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of the country. This makes market even more competitive, and in order to survive and thrive businesses must have highest possible level of operational efficiency and optimized operational cost. When it comes to software solutions, the decision of selecting between a commercial off-the-shelf software solution and custom software development could have huge impact over business’s success. Where the COTS offer quicker deployment and convenience they often fell short at aligning with exclusive and unique business needs.

Custom software development on the other hand empowers businesses. It helps them innovate unique and exclusive features to gain competitive advantage and superior efficiency. There are two major factors the cost and the performance which determine the success or failure of a software project. The commercial off-the-shelf solutions fell way behind on these two scales, the custom software development is very cost-effective in long-term and it can tremendously boost business performance.

The custom software development enable businesses to incorporate innovative features with out-of-the-box approach which address to their unique and exclusive challenges. When it comes to performance the user experience of a software application plays a pivotal role in boosting efficiency and performance. The custom software development enable businesses to customize and personalize the user experience to empower and improve their internal workflows. Full control over the software and its source code enable businesses to customize features as per their needs while significantly reducing the effort to complete a task. This help users achieve their goal easily and quickly.

In this blog we have discussed how custom software development can enhance user experience which is a key to success. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build your next bespoke software solution, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai 

See Also: Why custom software is more cost efficient in UAE?

See Also: Emerging Trends in Custom Software Development


The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency

The customer service experience has been revolutionized with the modern interactive self-service kiosk. The customer behavior and expectations are also changed over the time, since past few years with the rise of smartphone and digital technologies, the customer behavior is getting changed. The customers are more inclined toward digital experience and appreciate quicker service delivery. This gives rise to interactive self-service solutions and the self-service kiosk is one of the most effective and impactful self-service solution for both customers and businesses. An interactive self-service kiosk is a computer terminal with some specialized components such as touch screen interfaces, payments, Emirates ID scanner, integrated customer support, biometrics, facial recognition, and a multitude of other software and hardware components.

These interactive self-service kiosks are adopted by almost entire customer service sector, whether it is a hospital or clinic, an airport, bank, retail store or educational institution, these flashy screens are popping up everywhere. These interactive self-service kiosks digitalize various internal processes to facilitate self-service operation. The digitalization drives automation and the automation help boosting efficiency and performance. In this blog we will discuss how self-service kiosk are impacting business efficiency and helping many businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE.

The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency
The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency

How Self-Service Kiosks Impact Business Efficiency?

The self-service kiosks can greatly boost business efficiency, there are several features and tools which can be customized too to achieve exclusive business goals. Think of long waiting lines, when you are waiting the time seems to pass slowly, how frustrating it is. The self-service kiosk is a highly effective solution to minimize the customer wait time. Businesses utilizes various different types of interactive self-service kiosks for a wide spectrum of applications and utility.

Here are some key benefits of an interactive self-service payment kiosk which greatly help businesses from all industry sector to scale up their growth by offering satisfactory customer experience and advanced features which puts them apart from the others.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

Self-Service Kiosks Reduce Wait Time and Improve Customer Experience

One of the biggest advantage of the interactive self-service kiosks is their ability to significantly reduce the customer wait time. These kiosks are either installed on-site or in remote locations to maximize the access. In any case an interactive self-service kiosks offers quicker and instant service. These kiosk are automated, doesn’t require assistance from the staff and are excellent at delivering self-service experience. This helps minimizing the wait time and it also help eliminating the impact of perceived wait time. The perceived wait time is often not considered by most of the businesses, however, it could have huge impact on customer experience.

Furthermore during peak hours, the waiting line could get very long, putting extra strain on staff and negatively impacting the entire customer flow. An interactive self-service kiosk can serve as an alternate service channel. Especially in countries like UAE where most of the population is very tech savvy, adding a digital experience could delight most of your audience. It can greatly help improving customer experience during the peak hours.

See Also: Introduction to Digital Signage Kiosk and Smart Kiosk

Self-Service Kiosks Reduce Wait Time and Improve Customer Experience
Self-Service Kiosks Reduce Wait Time and Improve Customer Experience

The interactive self-service kiosks are good at streamlining customer flow, it help distributing the influx between self-service and traditional service channels, keeping the performance of the service agents at maximum. When the service agents have balanced workload it not only speed up service delivery but also help boosting the service quality. Moreover the interactive self-service kiosks are computer terminals, running on customized software applications and can operate effectively 24/7 without any interruption. This helps businesses make information and services more accessible and it also help reaching out to unexplored markets without making huge investments in opening up new branches or regional offices.

With ability to integrate with other existing system such as queue management system, ERP, customer relationship management (CMR), queue management system, online booking management system, multiple payment methods (cash, coins, credit/debit cards, etc.), Emirates ID scanner, RFID, and a variety of other software and hardware tool can greatly enhance the performance and customer experience over in the busy service centers.

See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

The interactive self-service kiosks are good at streamlining customer flow
The interactive self-service kiosks are good at streamlining customer flow

Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Improve Business Processes and Operational Efficiency

Where interactive self-service kiosks are beneficial for customers these technological marvels offer a great operational efficiency and are known for their ability to automate and simplify internal business processes. Any business process that involves serving customers could be a combination of various different tasks. For example, when a customer made a payment, the cashier collects it, he or she then update the internal books, which are later processed by the accountant and then the relevant staff takes action and ensure a quality service while also ensuring a smoother customer experience.

These all processes involve several different employees who belongs to various different business functions and teams. However, when a customer makes a payment on the kiosk, the accounts are updated automatically, the customer service team is updated, the service is delivered in no time and all records get updates instantly.

See Also: Leveraging Payment Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Improve Business Processes and Operational Efficiency
Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Improve Business Processes and Operational Efficiency

The interactive self-service kiosks are great at automating internal workflows and digitalizing repetitive tasks. For example, the order processing and payment collection is a routine task at any customer service center. With interactive self-service kiosks such processes can be automated saving a lot of staff effort, boosting productivity by reducing staff workload, and driving efficiency with making service delivery incredibly quick and convenient.

Furthermore the interactive self-service kiosks can operate 24/7 which makes them more superior and offer higher convenience. If you are living in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other region of UAE you would have known sometimes how difficult and time consuming it could be to visit a customer service center. This takes time, and above all most of the service centers have limited operating hours, however, the interactive self-service kiosks offer services 24/7 and enhance customer experience. Businesses can also utilize self-service kiosks to extend their areas of operation as it is much convenient and cost-efficient to deploy an interactive self-service kiosk rather than opening up a new branch or regional office.

See Also: Dubai Police Acquire Interactive Signage from RSI Concepts

Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Improve Business Processes and Operational Efficiency
The Interactive Self-Service Kiosks can Operate 24/7

Self-Service Kiosks Offer Personalized Customer Experience and Improved Accuracy

Personalized customer experience and accuracy are the two key factors to improve customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction is crucial for any business, and it is difficult to every time offer personalized customer experience with certain level of efficiency and optimum quality service with the traditional customer service center. The accuracy also declined especially during the peak hours. Here in UAE there is a huge expat population living, hence the customers sometimes require support in their native languages.

That is not always possible and could also be expensive at some times. However, with the interactive self-service kiosks all these problems can be rectified. There is virtually no barrier in kiosks, you can build UIs even in 10 different languages and the kiosk management software is intelligent enough to deliver consistent and personalized customer experience.

See Also: Digital Branch Transformation Trends

Self-Service Kiosks Offer Personalized Customer Experience and Improved Accuracy
Self-Service Kiosks Offer Personalized Customer Experience and Improved Accuracy

Every interactive self-service kiosks comes with a kiosk management software which is usually a server-side application. This application integrates with all internal systems, databases, and central information system. It also has in-built smart algorithms which are capable of identifying the customer and also very effective at managing customer profiles and groups.

Moreover the kiosk management software enables it to identify the customer, it let customer interact in their language of choice and it can recall their past interaction which helps it to deliver a personalized customer experience as per their preferences, past interaction and their profile group which can greatly enhance customer experience and raise satisfaction.

See Also: Security Challenges and Solutions in Payment Kiosk Systems

Personalized Customer Experience Help Increasing Customer Satisfaction
Personalized Customer Experience Help Increasing Customer Satisfaction

Interactive Self-Service Kiosks Collect Data and Offer Simple Integration

The interactive self-service kiosks are a great tool to collect valuable business intelligence data. It is also capable of integrating with other business tools, software, databases and central information center. Businesses can integrate it with their accounts, sales, inventory management system, customer relationship management system (CRM), enterprise resource planning system (ERP), performance management system (PMS), facility management system, third-party services, payment gateways, customer call centers and much more. There are endless possibilities which enable businesses to innovate features and enhance customer experience to gain great competitive advantages.

These smart software solutions are capable of collecting business intelligence data from each and every touch point. The interactive self-service kiosks capture customer behavioral data along with their preference and it is also capable of effectively implementing business policies according to customer groups, or pre-set instructions.

See Also: Dubai Police Acquire Interactive Signage from RSI Concepts

Interactive Self-Service Kiosks Collect Data and Offer Simple Integration
Interactive Self-Service Kiosks Collect Data and Offer Simple Integration

The business intelligence data is not only limited to analytical data and statistical data but business can also collect customer feedback data directly from customer with a simplified feedback tools. The interactive self-service kiosk software also offer in-built analytical tools, customized reporting and integrated data sharing tools. Which help businesses integrating business intelligence data in their strategic decision making hence improving the productivity and performance.

Businesses can base their decisions on the analytical data which will improve their decision making and also help them understand customer trends and behavior. The customer feedback is very helpful it help businesses directly ask customer about any aspect of the customer service or business and help them understand customer sentiments. The modern day business landscape is heavily driven by the business intelligence and data, which is why the interactive self-service kiosks can be a great source of valuable business intelligence data with higher accuracy and literally no additional cost.

See Also: RSI Interactive Kiosks for MAF Carrefour MyClub Customer Loyalty Program

The Third-Party System Integration Help Driving Automation and Innovation
The Third-Party System Integration Help Driving Automation and Innovation

Conclusion

The interactive self-service kiosks have completely revolutionized the business operation and how customer interacts with the business. These solutions empower customers, give them more control, freedom and privacy. Furthermore the interactive self-service kiosks are a great tool to streamline customer service and boosting operational efficiency. Whether you deploy them in manned or un-manned setups, these technological marvels drive efficiency and boost productivity. Along with traditional service counters, the self-service kiosks help minimizing the impact of higher influx, reduce employee work load in peak hours, and help improving customer experience.

With the ability to streamline internal business processes and workflows along with 24/7 operation, the interactive self-service kiosks are and ideal solution for modern fast-paced customer oriented services. The customer-centric businesses are rapidly adopting to interactive self-service kiosks and tend to perform well comparing to traditional businesses. Furthermore the interactive self-service kiosks are very cost-effective, require less maintenance and can remain operational for many years without requiring any upgrade or modification, resulting in higher ROIs.

This is the reason why many industries such as retail, food sector, educational institutions, airports, healthcare, hospitality sector, and even government organizations are rapidly adopting to interactive self-service kiosks. If you are ready to embrace the revolutionary power of interactive self-service kiosks, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.


The Future of Performance Appraisals: 6 Innovations and Changes [Quick Guide]

The performance appraisal is a crucial aspect of performance management, businesses are proactively seeking ways to maximize their performance. Traditionally the performance appraisal is a once in a year exercise associated with a lot of paper work, yearly meetings, and little bit of frustration. Both the managers and employees felt the pressure during the appraisal process. However, things have changed rapidly, businesses have started adopting more modern and advanced performance appraisals systems to boost the performance and employee engagements. Since past decade we have witnessed a wide-scale adoption of modern performance appraisal methods and systems all around the world.

Businesses in UAE are also rapidly adopting to modern performance management trends. In this blog we will discuss how a modern performance management system can greatly elevate your performance management process. The modern software-based performance management systems digitalize the process, offer advanced data collection tools, and boost employee engagements and satisfaction. The modern workforce have different priorities and require a completely different performance management approach. This is why the traditional annual reviews and performance appraisal systems are failing, compelling businesses to embrace the innovation and automation.

The Future of Performance Appraisals Innovations and Changes
The Future of Performance Appraisals Innovations and Changes

The Evolution of the Performance Appraisal System

The traditional performance appraisal system focuses on annual reviews majorly focused on hierarchal feedbacks, which proven to be ineffective for the modern workforce. The major reasons of its failure are the revolutionary change in the workforce behavior alongside rapid and sudden changes in the business landscape. Businesses started realizing that they need a more frequent and continuous performance assessment framework which is very responsive and it aligns with the modern workforce mindset. Now a days businesses are more focused on continuous feedback and real-time assessments which led to real-time development and improvements.

See Also: Why Organizations need Performance Appraisal System in UAE

Moreover the one-size-fits-all approach also faded away, as businesses have realized that this method is no longer fruitful. Instead of that businesses started adopting personalized and robust assessment methodologies that are flexible and harmonious with individual employee needs and goals. Instead of appraisals being an annual event the modern performance appraisal system offers a bi-weekly or monthly assessments and a continuous feedback framework which keeps employee engaged and promote a highly collaborative and highly efficiency development system. The regular check-ins are a great way to discuss ongoing progress, give constructive feedback and align employees with organizational goals and objectives.

The Evolution of the Performance Appraisal System
The Evolution of the Performance Appraisal System

1. The Blend of Modern Strategies and Technology

The technology is the backbone of the modern performance appraisal system, it completely revamped the entire process making it more efficiency and effective. A technology infused performance appraisal system is built around a performance appraisal software or performance management software (PMS). From integration of AI (artificial intelligence) and smart analytical algorithms to advanced real-time data collection tools, businesses are embracing the power of technology to elevate performance appraisal process which ensures highest levels of efficiency and accuracy. The modern performance appraisal systems offer intuitive online platform where the both managers and employees can access to the relevant performance data in real-time enabling them to take actions, when and wherever needed.

See Also: Characteristics of a Good Employee Appraisal System

These tools can greatly enhance the efficiency and eliminate the tedious paperwork from the process. Businesses can not only automate several administrative tasks but they can also get real-time updated data to understand various employee performance trends and deeper insight. This insight helps them identifying the area of improvements and taking timely actions to keep everyone on track towards achieving high-level organizational goals and objectives. Furthermore the modern performance appraisal system software are super-accessible, employees and managers both can access the system from online or even via their mobile phones. The self-assessment tools, advanced skill development modules and accurate KPIs can significantly improve the accuracy, efficiency and impact of the system.

The Blend of Modern Strategies and Technology
The Blend of Modern Strategies and Technology

2. Shift towards Continuous Feedback and Focus on Employee Alignment

The traditional performance appraisal system lacks two major and most crucial factors, one is frequency of the feedbacks, in fact it only has once a year feedback and assessment system and the other most important aspect is the inefficient and ineffective approach towards employee alignment with their individual goals and in long term towards the high level organizational goals and objectives. The traditional annual reviews and feedbacks are prone to develop a gap and disconnect between the employees and the managers which results in delays in feedbacks and actions. Once a year feedback couldn’t course correct and align employees with their goals, however, the course correction and addressing to performance hindering issues is required in real-time.

See Also: How to Develop Custom Performance Appraisal System in UAE?

The bloodline of performance management and main objective of appraisal process is to align individual employee’s goals with high-level organizational strategic objectives. The annual appraisal reviews and feedback lacks this connection which results in disengagement of employees from the high-level strategic goals and objectives. This requires intense communication and a strong bond between the managers and the employees. A modern performance management system promotes communication, continuous feedback and give ownership to employees boosting engagements and cultivating a culture of collaboration, communication and collective growth. The modern performance appraisal system ensures every employees clearly understand their goals, success parameters, and how their goals and work will contributes to the higher-level organizational goals and strategic objectives.

Shift towards Continuous Feedback and Focus on Employee Alignment
Shift towards Continuous Feedback and Focus on Employee Alignment

3. Shift from Fixing the Weakness towards Focusing on Strength and Development

The primary focus of the modern day performance appraisal system is not focusing only on the past performance but it also has to be a catalyst for the growth, development and improvements in the future. Now a day’s businesses are more focused on employee development and retention. This help businesses gradually grow their workforce and skillset to build strength which drive performance and efficiency. Another most important and impactful advantage of the resent day employee appraisal system is to give ownership to the employees and empower them to shape their development journey. This system gives employee power, resources, support and tools to build strength, identify their weaknesses and focus on learning and continuous development.

See Also: Modern Methods of Performance Appraisal

Businesses need to build and retain a skillful workforce that can improve operational efficiency and help businesses achieve their goals and drive long-term sustainable success. The managers can leverage the inbuilt advanced tools to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the individual employees with contextual performance insights. This insight is crucial in further enhancing the employee’s skills to make them more productive and fruitful for the organization. This also help businesses and HR leaders to take informed investment decisions in development programs which help businesses build a resilient workforce which ensures high-quality products/services and satisfactory customer experience.

Shift from Fixing the Weakness towards Focusing on Strength and Development
Shift from Fixing the Weakness towards Focusing on Strength and Development

4. Flexibility and Data-Driven Insights

In today’s modern market landscape businesses have to be very vigilant and proactive towards the rapid market changes emerging needs. This demand agile performance appraisal and data collection system which is flexible enough to enable businesses to make instant adjustments. This helps businesses align with the emerging needs and help them to be more responsive towards rapidly changing market trends. This is only possible when the business leaders and managers have highly accurate performance data and critical insights which help management identify trends, correlations and patterns which help making more accurate and informed strategic decision to improve the performance.

See Also: 5 Challenges to face if Performance Appraisal is not customized as per Organization’s Policies

Furthermore the performance appraisal system is a software based solution which enable businesses to customize their performance management system to accommodate their unique business needs and to deal with unique challenges they face. The ability to customize the performance parameters, goals, KPIs, and even the entire framework help management proactively take actions to respond to the rapidly evolving trends, customer demands, and needs. This also prepare businesses to deal with unprecedented and unexpected situation while minimizing or eliminating the disruptions. Whether it is adjusting to the goals, assessment criteria, feedback and review process or integration of the new technologies, the inherent flexibility and customization of the performance appraisal system helps businesses deal with challenges with no or minimum disruption in progress.

Flexibility and Data-Driven Insights
Flexibility and Data-Driven Insights

5. Performance Beyond Numbers – Accountability with Transparency

Traditionally the performance appraisal was focused on KPIs and achievements, lacking contextual analysis and behavioral competencies. However, the modern performance appraisal system is measuring performance beyond numbers, and recognizing the importance of accountability with highest transparency. Businesses have realized that achieving goals is important but there are several other personality traits and qualities which also plays a crucial role in overall performance as well as fostering a high-performing and engaging organizational culture. Here are a few most important qualities:

  • Teamwork and Collaboration: Today’s work environment demand higher collaboration and teamwork in order to effectively achieve the strategic objectives.
  • Adoptability: Today’s market landscape is driven by technology and the technology evolves rapidly furthermore the customer demands and market trends are also subjected to change quickly, therefore it is crucial for an employee to be able to adopt to emerging changes.
  • Ethics and Responsibility: A modern day employees should have to be ethically strong and they should exhibit exceptional ability to take ownership, responsibility and initiatives. This will make them a valuable asset for the organization.
  • Creativity and Innovation: Businesses are always facing challenges either with emerging needs, or rapid advancement in the industry, therefore an employee with higher level of problem solving skills and a creative and innovative mindset to bring new ideas to the table.

See Also: How to Design a Modern Performance Management System?

The KPIs, OKRs, and the evaluation based on above qualities and other such qualities will help businesses and organizations to build a performance appraisal framework which can precisely evaluate the true potential and abilities of an employee.

The accountability and transparency is the soul of an employee performance appraisal system. This is also one of the biggest reason why business leaders and organizations are adopting to modern performance appraisal system and methodologies. The traditional performance appraisal system lacks transparency and is prone to biased evaluation furthermore the insufficient performance data also hinder the transparency and cause lack of trust on the system. The employees are more concerned about transparency, fair evaluation, clear evaluation criteria, performance expectations and clarity in goal and objectives. This is only possible with modern performance appraisal system, continuous feedback, 360 degree feedbacks, customizable performance dashboards, and various other advanced analytical and data collection tools to promote fair accountability and transparency in the system.

See Also: The Role of Performance Management in Employee Engagement

Performance Beyond Numbers – Accountability with Transparency
Performance Beyond Numbers – Accountability with Transparency

6. More Focus on Reward and Recognition

The employee motivation is one of the most crucial factor contributing to the entire performance of the organization. If the employees are rewarded for their performance and their achievements are adequately recognized and well-appreciated, they tend to perform better. A regular annual raise or bonuses are not enough, businesses are finding more creative ways to reward and recognize their employees such as:

  • Public Recognition: Public recognition is one of the best way adopted by modern organizations to appreciate their employees. When employees are appreciated publicly either in marketing, social media, newsletter or internal meetings, it will not only boost their morale but it will also result in inspiring and motivating others.
  • Development Opportunities: The learning and development opportunities are a great way to raise employee retention and to boost employee skills which eventually contributes to improving performance. Employees who doesn’t found enough learning and development opportunities they feel their growth is limited and are tend to leave the organization.
  • Fair Reward Process: Fairness in the reward process is crucial, the employee who is rewarded must know on what criteria he or she is rewarded and the other employees must also know what he or she did exceptionally which make them eligible for this particular reward. The fairness and transparency is crucial for keeping everyone’s morale high.

See Also: What are the Features of a Best Performance Management System?

The fair and transparent reward and recognition program can greatly benefit both employees and the business by fostering a culture of appreciation and encouragement. Furthermore the modern employee performance appraisal system provides a systematic framework for communication which helps employees understanding their goals, business’s expectations, performance criteria and it is also very helpful in strengthening the relationship between the managers and employees which itself is a great way to increase employee engagements and boost the organizational performance.

More Focus on Reward and Recognition
More Focus on Reward and Recognition

Conclusion

Traditionally the employee performance appraisal process comes with a lot of paperwork, efforts, and some frustration as well. Furthermore the traditional performance appraisal system also fell short of meeting the modern need of performance management and the accuracy of the process is also questionable. Therefore businesses are now adopting to modern performance management and appraisal practices alongside software aided solutions. The modern performance appraisal system comes with a comprehensive software application which not only digitalize the process but also help automating it and offer many additional benefits which enable businesses to conduct more frequent evaluations, even project-based evaluation and bi-weekly assessments are also effectively done through it.

The modern performance appraisal system offer continuous feedback loop, communication framework, goals and objective setting facility, highly accurate KPIs monitoring tools, real-time performance data collection, personalized assessment methodologies, and specialized tools to focus on reward and recognition while boosting transparency, accuracy and efficiency. Furthermore the modern performance appraisal system also focus on higher employee alignment with organizational goals and strategic objectives. This helps businesses achieve their long-term goals and sustainable success.

Furthermore the modern performance appraisal system also focus on fostering highly collaborative organizational culture which not only boost communication but also help businesses keep employees more engaged and proactive. Businesses also want to achieve higher employee retention which is only possible when the organizations are able to identify the areas of improvements, employee problems, their needs and expectations. In this blog we have discussed how the future of performance appraisal will look like in the coming years. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and deploy a modern and customized employee performance appraisal system exclusively designed to meet your unique business need, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: How Performance Management Impact on Organization’s Culture?


Leveraging Payment Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

In today’s modern world, everyone is busy, waiting in long and slow-moving queues could be very frustrating for your customers. In such circumstances the customer flow management could also become very challenging. Businesses always seek ways to improve their internal business processes as well as customer experience. The customer experience is the most crucial factor in a business’s success. Now a days an average customer is very tech savvy comparing to around a decade back, this led to rapid adoption of digital experience and the rise of self-service solutions. The self-service interactive kiosks are a great tool to effectively manage the higher influx while delivering a great digital experience.

The payment kiosks are also a type of self-service kiosk which are majorly used to enhance customer’s transactional experience. The interactive self-service payment kiosk is a computer terminal with specialized components and features which facilitate and improve transactional interactions. These kiosks run on a software application and are proven to be very effective in queue management system. These cutting edge kiosk machines are revolutionizing the way businesses are used to of conducting transactions and managing customer flow. In this blog we will discuss how a business can leverage payment kiosks for effective queue management and optimum operational efficiency.

Leveraging Payment Kiosks for Effective Queue Management
Leveraging Payment Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

Payment Kiosk and Queue Management

An interactive self-service payment kiosk is essentially a computer terminal with special components added to facilitate the payment process. Usually a regular payment kiosk has cash deposit feature and it also accept credit/debit cards, however, coin acceptance, change return, digital payment, contactless payments, and payment via online gateway are also widely used in UAE. The payment kiosk offers a personalized and completely independent user experience. The self-service experience not only offer convenience to customers but also expedite the internal processes resulting in quicker service delivery time which enhances customer experience.

See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

The queue management is a very sensitive subject for customer facing environments. Having customer wait for longer period of time could seriously harm their experience. There are two ways to integrate a self-service payment kiosk with a queue management system. Either you offer your customer a full service through the payment kiosk or you can offer them to sign-up for the queue and make a payment before arriving to service counter. In both cases the service time and quality is improved. Furthermore the payment kiosks are also a great tool to transform the customer service center. Due to flexibility and ability to customize the payment kiosk are equally effective in a wider spectrum of the industries.

Payment Kiosk and Queue Management
Payment Kiosk and Queue Management

Payment Kiosk Help Reducing the Customer Wait Time

Different industries have different needs, the interactive self-service payment kiosks can cater to a wider range of needs with their cutting-edge technological frameworks and customized features. Whether you deploy a payment kiosk in existing service centers or at remote locations, the payment kiosks tend to reduce the customer wait time. The customers are free to perform the tasks independently, the staff assistance is not required. Furthermore the customers can choose the language of their choice which where add value to customer experience also help expediting the service delivery. Businesses can redistribute the staff further improving the overall operational efficiency and minimizing the wait time.

See Also: Introduction to Digital Signage Kiosk and Smart Kiosk

The payment kiosk can also offer integrated queue management features such as allowing customers to sign-up for the virtual queues through the kiosk while taking payment to minimize the service delivery tasks. The digitalization and software integration also help improving internal business processes effectively reducing the customer wait time. The service agent dashboard are also integrated with the payment kiosk and queue management system which help service agents swiftly retrieve the customer data and information resulting in quicker service delivery and a happy customer experience.

Payment Kiosk Help Reducing the Customer Wait Time
Payment Kiosk Help Reducing the Customer Wait Time

Payment Kiosk Elevate Customer Experience

The payment is a crucial part of the service for that businesses either have separate counters or they collect payment separately via banks, this could be very time taking and could have various complications, however, with the payment kiosks the customers can make payment seamlessly, furthermore some businesses can also transform their services into self-service which can also be done through the same payment kiosk making the process quicker and less complicated. The intuitive multi-lingual UI (user interface) with on-screen instructions and guidance can greatly enhance customer experience.

See Also: What is Queue Management? Beginner’s Guide to Queuing Systems

The customers can not only make payments through payment kiosk but they can also perform several tasks such as updating their information, profile, or managing their subscriptions. Customers can conveniently pay bills, print slips and tickets or even they can scan and upload documents if needed. Furthermore the payment kiosk offer full freedom and control, empowering the customers. The customer service centers, offices and help centers operate within working hours, however, the payment kiosk can operate 24/7 giving more freedom to the customers.

Payment Kiosk Elevate Customer Experience
Payment Kiosk Elevate Customer Experience

Payment Kiosk Collect Valuable Business Intelligence Data

For any modern day business the business intelligence data is crucial. It help businesses understand customer behavior and gives them a deeper understanding of the customer mind. The data is crucial for strategic decisions and also help businesses improve their long-term policies and goals. The payment kiosk comes with a management software application. This application is hosted on a server and it is often called payment kiosk machine server or payment kiosk machine management software. This software comes with advanced algorithms and smart technology which is capable of collecting statistical and analytical data from each and every touch point giving an unparalleled insight to customer interaction.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

Businesses can utilize the in-built analytical tools and customized reporting to further refine the data and make it usable for decision making. The business intelligence data help businesses understand customer’s demands, expectations, pain points, market trends and it also help them gauge the efficiency of various processes. This insight coupled with direct customer feedback data could be a game changer for businesses. Businesses can greatly elevate customer experience and make their processes more efficient by making informed decisions.

Payment Kiosk Collect Valuable Business Intelligence Data
Payment Kiosk Collect Valuable Business Intelligence Data

Payment Kiosk Offers Advanced Security

The payment kiosks are designed to adhere the highest standards of the safety and security, both digital and physical. If a self-service payment kiosk is deployed in an existing service center or any other indoor environment then the physical security is optimum, however, if these kiosks are deployed in remote locations or outdoors then the maximum physical security is required. As per the local regulations and industry standards a payment kiosk whether deployed indoor or outdoor must have certain security features such as anti-theft, anti-vandalism and protective frame/body. As for as the digital security is concerned these kiosks comes with advanced data encryption technology to prevent any data breach.

See Also: What is CXM (Customer Experience Management)?

The self-service payment kiosks are built on advanced technologies, equipping it with data encryption, secure connection, and various protective measures against malicious actor or internet exploitation. The customer data is always authenticated and verified before letting them access the system. Furthermore Emirates ID scanner, Facial Recognition and CCTV Security systems are added to ensure highest levels of security and protection. This not only make the system secure but also help gaining customer trust. Any breach in security could lead to catastrophic impact on brand’s reputation that is why advanced security and protective measures are absolutely essential.

Payment Kiosk Offers Advanced Security
Payment Kiosk Offers Advanced Security

Payment Kiosk Offer Higher ROI

The self-service payment kiosks are easy to deploy and can easily integrate with the existing IT infrastructure. The initial cost could be high, but an ordinary payment kiosk can last for many years without requiring major maintenance or replacement of the parts, which make them very cost-effective. These kiosk machines are very reliable, they can work 24/7 without requiring much maintenance, only regular service and preventive maintenance is enough to ensure long term operation. Furthermore the self-service payment kiosks comes with highly advanced software, which can be upgraded and updated easily with very little cost, making them workable for another few years.

See Also: Improve Customer Journey with Queue Management System Business Intelligence

The less operational cost and ability to last long for many years make them highly cost-effective. A payment kiosk can help businesses reduce the amount of workforce required to operate their service center hence enabling them to redistribute the employees for better human resource management which also saves a lot of cost. Opening up new branches or regional offices is a very expensive process however, installing a self-service payment kiosk instead would cost you a fraction of that. All these traits makes them very cost-effective and enable payment kiosks to offer higher ROI in long-term.

Payment Kiosk Offer Higher ROI
Payment Kiosk Offer Higher ROI

Payment Kiosks are Easy to Integrate and Scale

Whenever a business is aiming to deploy a new IT solution the first thing that they should consider is its ability to integrate it with existing IT infrastructure and third-party system. Furthermore the scalability and upgradable structure ensures longevity and effectiveness of the system. The payment kiosks are built on commonly available technologies and software frameworks. This makes them ideal for integration and scalability. A payment kiosk usually have to be able to integrate with customer database, internal payment or accounts system, and central information center of the organization. This integration is usually done through secure APIs, which is the ideal way to let two software solutions interact with each other. Thi ability also help businesses incorporate innovative and creative features to enhance user experience.

As businesses grow their needs grow, as the market trend changes businesses require more features and this gives businesses a competitive advantage too. An interactive self-service payment kiosk offers easy upgrade even if you want to add more hardware features that can also be done. The UI of the kiosk can be customized easily, more features can be added with software customization and integration with other business tools and third-party software enable businesses to create more features within the system. This enable the payment kiosk to evolve alongside with emerging business needs and this ability keeps them relevant for many years adding value to their operational life which is a key to higher ROIs.

Payment Kiosks are Easy to Integrate and Scale
Payment Kiosks are Easy to Integrate and Scale

Conclusion

In today’s modern world where the customer satisfaction is a key to success and the importance of customer experience is paramount. Businesses find themselves often in very challenging situation managing their customer service centers. One of the biggest challenge is to streamline the customer flow while keeping the wait time at minimum. Because the customer wait time is one of the most crucial factor that can completely ruin customer experience. The queue management systems are often used to streamline customer flow, however, where businesses also require payment collection they traditional queue management system lags behind, the service delivery time is usually higher at the cash counters. Furthermore there are several unexpected scenarios which could hinder the customer flow and require immediate response from the management.

An interactive self-service payment kiosk is the ideal solution to deal with such situations, as it offers fully integrated queue management system which not only streamline customer flow but also offer them a self-service channel to improve their transactional experience. By offering independent self-service experience the payment kiosks not only empower customer but also help reducing the customer wait time. When the payment kiosks are deployed the workload of the staff is reduced too, enabling businesses to reallocate staff for better human resource management. The advanced data collection tools help businesses collecting valuable insights and business intelligence data which is vital for informed decisions.

The payment kiosks are also very flexible and can evolve alongside the emerging business needs which keeps them relevant for many years. Longer operational life, low maintenance requirements, and flexible scalability results in higher ROI. In this blog we have discussed how businesses can leverage the interactive self-service payment kiosk to elevate their queue management system. If you want to learn more or if you want us to develop a bespoke payment kiosk solution for your organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.