AURES Touch Spring 2016

AURES SPRING NEWSLETTER 2016

T UCH THE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL POS INSTALLATION

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR POS VENDOR EXITS SELF-SERVICE

THE EVOLUTION OF THE KIOSK

PRODUCT IN FOCUS THE YUNO KIOSK 22 AURES.COM

IT NEWS BUSINESS

WELCOME

What a year 2016 has been so far.

If I had to describe the year so far in one word I would say “busy�.

We started the year with a new brand in AURES. We have continued to grow our sales. Our staff numbers are up. We have expanded our warehouse to now take up three buildings.

Our staff need a great big pat on the back as they have worked hard as the AURES business goes from strength to strength.

Pinpointing our success is actually very simple for us, with the key word being simple.

I’m not saying that it has been a simple task to achieve the growth we have but at our core is the belief to keep our business model and focus simple.

POS terminals are our core business and making sure they are delivered on time, with the necessary software configured and supported promptly post implementation is our focus.

We have never tried to overcomplicate what we do. This simplicity makes it easy for our customers to do business with us.

There is no denying that the quality of our solutions has been a major contributor to our success. We do not get distracted with large, diverse, complicated product ranges. Our solutions are simply functional and benefit from world class design. Our solutions simply work.

Like any growing business, we have many operational challenges that we slowly chip away at. We have just implemented a new accounting system that brings the AURES Australian business in line with head office in France. We have expanded our warehouse and are currently going through a process review to ensure we maintain the service levels our customers have become accustomed to as we grow.

We take a very proactive approach to managing the growth of the business but keeping it simple is at our core.

As we race towards the end of the year with our busiest trading period on our door step, we hope you are benefitting from our simple approach.

Yours sincerely, Phil Wild Managing Director

NEWS

SYSTEM UPDATE FOR AURES TECHNOLOGIES As part of the further consolidation of the AURES Group globally, the AURES Australian office has just upgraded to the Navision accounting system.

Changing accounting systems involves considerable work and process reengineering but with the help of AURES Finance Director Sabine De Fusyt, IT Manager Francois Grollet and Karen Whyte from the AURES UK office, our implementation went through smoothly without any impact on customer deliveries.

Our new system provides us with improved inventory control and accuracy as well as reporting that is needed when managing an expanded warehouse operation.

AURES TECHNOLOGIES EXPANDS WAREHOUSE The expansion of AURES Technologies continues with the addition of a new warehouse.

Located next door to our current premises, our third warehouse is now online.

With a total of three warehouses we now have ample space to hold increased stock levels as well as a massive increase to our staging areas. All this will assist in improving our capacity as we continue to experience sales growth.

FOREVER NEW EMBRACES THE YUNO If you live in Melbourne and have had the chance to visit the newly renovated Eastland shopping centre, you will be amazed at the brightness and roominess of the new layout.

Women’s fashion retailer and proud tenant of Eastland, Forever New, has introduced the AURES YUNO terminals into their new store to great effect.

Choosing the YUNO in white allowed Forever New to integrate their POS terminals into their fitout, matching their modern look all the way to their POS terminals.

If you are shopping at Eastland be sure to drop in to Forever New to take a look at their great fashion range and of course their new YUNO terminals.

aures.com spring 2016

IN FOCUS

YUNO KIOSK 22 The YUNO integrated touch terminal has become a very popular choice for retail and hospitality outlets and now it’s bigger brother for kiosk and self-serve applications is available.

The YUNO KIOSK 22 shares the same look as its smaller brother but features a 16:9 ratio, 21.5” touch screen.

The shock and scratch proof, projective capacitive touchscreen is perfect for kiosk applications and with multi-touch capabilities caters for all content types and usability requirements. A 1920 x 1080 resolution screen supports full HD video and graphics commonly seen in kiosk applications.

Fanless technology is employed with the choice of an i3 or Quad-Core Bay Trail processor platform.

Model Processor

A 64GB Flash disk provides fast read/write speeds and without moving parts provides the ultimate in reliability.

SSD LCD

4GB of memory is included as standard but for heavy processing needs can be boosted to 8GB.

Touchscreen

Flexibility of mounting is provided via a VESA bracket making it suitable for wall or pole mounting installations.

Peripheral connectivity is extensive with 3 serial and 6 USB ports as well as provision of a 2nd customer display port with support for HDMI, DVI and VGA mini Display Port.

An internal loudspeaker is included as is wireless connectivity.

A range of optional extras are available including MSR, 1D and 2D barcode scanner and RFID reader.

Designed for customer facing applications, the YUNO Kiosk 22 has to be tough yet still provide the performance required for kiosk and self-serve applications. It delivers on this brief by utilising clever design and proven components.

Nice features such as the fanless design and heatdissipating aluminium structure will see this terminal operating day in day out.

RAM

Brightness INPUT-OUTPUT PORTS Serial USB LAN 2nd Screen Audio Power Supply Mini-PCI Express MISCELLANEOUS EMI Safety Operating Temperature Front Colours Materials VESA Dimensions (W x D x H) Weight Compatible OS

Whether you choose to use the YUNO KIOSK 22 as a kiosk or as a large screen POS terminal, you can’t go past the slimline, stylish looks.

The YUNO KIOSK offers a large screen perfect for POS or Kiosk solution with the performance and reliability that AURES terminals are synonymous with.

Contact the team at AURES to find out more.

aures.com spring 2016

OPTIONAL EXTRAS MSR RFID / Addimat / Dallas readers Fingerprint reader Barcode reader 2nd Screen WiFi

YUNO KIOSK 22 i3 or Bay Trail J1900 Quad-Core DDR3 SODIMM 4 GB as standard (up to 8 GB) 2.5’’ 64 GB (2 slots) 21.5’’ TFT (1920 x 1080) LED back-lighting Flat, zero bezel multi-touch screen – with projected, capacitive panel (PCAP) 250 cd/m2 3 serial ports (+ 5/12 V power supply for COM3 / COM4) 6 USB 2.0 ports + 3 USB 3.0 port 10/100/1000Base-T Port with support for HDMI, DVI and VGA (mini Display Port) Internal loudspeaker, headphones, micro jack plug + external 19 V DC 1 Mini PCI Express slot (WIFI) CE/FCC Class A LVD, external adaptor UL c/us, CE, TUV 0-40 °C Dust- and splash-proof Black or White Polycarbonate (cover) + aluminium (structure) 75 x 75 517.44 x 54.08 x 313.31mm 5.75kg / 7.73kg Windows 8.1 Industry Pro, Windows 7 Pro, POSready 7, Linux, Androïd.

3 ISO tracks, OPOS support 1 slot, at right of EPOS terminal Yes 1D and 2D 10.1’’ - 16:9 1024 x 600 Flat LED screen (EPOS digital signage) Internal, 802.11 b/g/n

TECHNICAL

Vendor gone? Hardware unsupportable? What can you do?

It’s a fact of life that businesses change over time and the POS industry is not immune to these realities.

In the POS hardware space, we often see established vendors change. This change could be anything from change of ownership, going out of business or a change in focus away from POS hardware for those organisations that have multi-faceted manufacturing businesses.

It’s a fact of life that businesses change over time and the POS industry is not immune to these realities.

In the POS hardware space, we often see established vendors change. This change could be anything from change of ownership, going out of business or a change in focus away from POS hardware for those organisations that have multifaceted manufacturing businesses.

If you experience a change in your vendor landscape, the good news is that your world has not come to an end and you don’t need to rush out and purchase new hardware just yet.

At AURES we have extensive experience in supporting sites that have lost their vendor or hardware that is no longer supportable by the source vendor. Our approach towards such installations focuses on maximising return on investment which does not necessarily mean doing away with old hardware.

Continuity of the solution is critical so the first stage of supporting legacy systems is understanding the state of play across your POS installations in order to put in measures to deal with any POS hardware downtime.

Keeping the site operational is critical so a common first step is to develop hardware solutions that can be hot-swapped into sites quickly in the event of a system failure. Having hot-swap hardware ready to go provides the business with the peace of mind that in the absence of their traditional vendor, a solution is ready to go when required.

For some large multi-store customers, AURES will stock hot-swap hardware at strategic locations around Australia to ensure that hardware can be accessed an implemented as quickly as possible.

Once a backup plan has been implemented, the next step is dealing with the integration of new hardware.

New hardware is not implemented unless it needs to be so keeping the existing hardware operational is a key focus.

Onsite support for legacy hardware can be provided. If the hardware is not repairable or reached end-of-life, then new hardware will be implemented.

Decommissioning old hardware is a service that can be provided that not only removes old hardware but can assist in keeping legacy equipment working and reduce your capital costs.

Older hardware that may still be operational or could be valuable for spare parts is kept and used to extend the life of legacy hardware.

Part of installing new hardware is staging the right software. Staging is done at the AURES head office by experienced technicians. AURES works with the customer and software vendors to make sure that the software is installed and operational prior to delivery to a site.

If your stress levels start to rise when your POS vendor may have fallen by the wayside, keep in mind that all POS hardware has a limited life. You will therefore be faced with the decision to replace your hardware at some point in time. Experienced POS people have the ability to support legacy equipment as well as help businesses roll out new hardware, utilising the experience of AURES through your transition period.

You might be surprised how easy it actually is to continue to support your POS installation in the event of your vendor going south. With a little planning and partnering with the right organisation, your business will be unaffected by a sudden change of vendor.

aures.com spring 2016

THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL POS INSTALLATION

When it comes to your Point of Sale implementation, the last thing you need is for it to fail or operate unreliably.

Maximising your POS system stability starts with selecting the right equipment but it is the support and maintenance from your POS vendor that can make the difference.

AURES Key Account Manager, David Ferguson, is a veteran of the POS industry and has worked with some of Australia’s largest retailers. We sat down with him to learn from his experiences in supporting POS installations and to understand what are the keys to a successful POS installation.

FEATURE When did you start working in the POS industry?

I’ve worked within the IT Industry from the mid 90’s, I joined the POS industry when employed by distributor Vantex in 2000, and stayed there for eight years prior to moving to work with Digipos in 2008. I joined AURES in early 2015 and am enjoying the quality, breadth and innovation of AURES technology and support from the local team.

You’ve worked with a host of retail and hospitality business across Australia, what do you see as the critical factors to a successful POS installation?

The formula for a successful POS installation is actually very simple. I break it into a number of key success factors.

1. Understanding requirements through listening and consultation.

2. Selection of hardware through determining and understanding of scope and environment.

3. Deployment.

4. Operate and maintain.

5. Review.

Determining your requirements is a critical part of the AURES philosophy to ensure we listen and form the correct understanding and foundation for implementing the right POS solution for you.

It is great when businesses have understood and map out exact requirements they need for their current POS solution and, importantly, consider future needs. This will develop a basis to effectively evaluate all the different options that are available to them.

Selecting the right hardware is critical as it is the backbone of a POS installation. This may sound simple but if you take away the hardware you don’t have a POS system. Hardware not suitable for the environment and application or is not meeting requirements will end up having an unwanted financial cost to the business, both tangible and intangible.

Deployment is also significant to a successful implementation, knowing where and how the POS is to be installed within the store counter and how it is interconnected to other IT assets enables you to plan and design the most suitable operating environment for your POS. Without consideration to how the equipment is installed or accessed can create support issues.

One area, that is often overlooked, is selecting your support requirements post implementation. Many businesses stop thinking about their POS hardware once it has been implemented when in fact a more holistic view of your POS installation is required.

Your hardware may be in operation for up to five years and maybe more. The aim over the life of the hardware is minimise down time and maximise up time. This is where hardware selection, deployment, counter design and having a responsive support service is important.

I like to also review the installation after it has been in use for a while to ensure that the solution offered is meeting the objectives of the business. We can either fine tune the solution or as is the case most often, stamp the installation as being a success.

You’ve assisted hundreds of businesses over the years in selecting hardware, what do you look for when matching hardware to a client need.

As technology has developed, the underlying rationale about selecting the right hardware has been consistent.

I’ve never had anyone give me an unlimited budget so the main criteria is choosing hardware that provides the most value.

The value comes in matching the business requirements to the right terminal, at the right price.

I look at the client’s needs, their POS software, future needs and environment to understand the hardware requirements. If you can use a lower or higher specification processor or more or less RAM you can select the right hardware that meets the requirements and budgets. Other installations need complex considerations such as those that require more power to drive multiple peripherals or multiple software solutions.

All AURES terminals come with numerous ports to drive peripherals, some with powered ports. Generally, we don’t have an issue with ensuring that there are enough ports to handle a sites peripheral needs but this is a consideration we do take.

Even though we do have a leading range of integrated terminals, they are not always the best fit for some sites. In this case we offer one of our POS PC’s. The great thing about our POS PC’s is that they use the same componentry as our integrated touch terminals so you know that they are up to the task of driving POS solutions and also allow for a standardised operating environment if mixing touch terminals with POS PC’s.

Peripherals add another dimension into the POS hardware mix. What do you look for in POS peripherals?

Peripherals are a necessary component to your POS installation so I always like to see good quality, reputable hardware installed.

At AURES we are lucky to be able to provide a range of peripherals from the biggest brands in POS such as, Zebra, Datalogic, Honeywell and, Epson as well as our own AURES peripherals.

Too many times I see retailers choose unproven hardware that either underperforms or fails prematurely. A failed peripheral has the same impact as a broken POS terminal. You need to make sure that there are no weak links in your POS chain to build a solution that offers the reliability required in retail and hospitality businesses.

After sales support has been a strong passion of yours.

Why? The task of selling POS equipment is not overly complex. We can relatively easily select the right hardware, have it staged for implementation and get it all installed ok. We do this every day so you get quite good at it after a while.

For me, the job does not end once the hardware has been shipped from our warehouse.

aures.com aures.com spring spring2016 2016

FEATURE

I think that businesses need to firstly understand the impact of down time to a store. If they consider the role of their POS in their business they will shift their thinking to allow for a preventative, focus and proactive support approach.

When you think about it, the hardware we sell could be in use for five to ten years. Part of my agenda, which aligns with the AURES philosophy, is to offer the ability to support that hardware over its effective life.

When a client makes an initial investment in hardware the key is to provide a solution that can offer a standard operating environment, hardware that is available now that can be available in 3 – 5 years’ time, that aids forward planning of rollouts and more importantly support. When you take a look at investment in training and knowledge or the return on investment and total cost of ownership challenges, the main differentiator is to keep the hardware working at its optimum, over its life. Maximise uptime and minimise downtime by having great support.

For this to happen you need to invest in all those things that keep hardware running overtime.

It’s possible for many businesses to initially neglect to understand the cost to their business of unreliable hardware. The focus on initial purchase price and the idea that IT assets should be set and forget throughout their usable life can be problematic and disruptive. There is always pressure to keep initial costs down, but in general the cost to a business of a non-operational POS system can mount into many thousands. This cost adds up due to lost sales, manual trade, and disruption in business, reduction in customer service, increase in staff or reactive contractor costs and, in a worse case, the shutting down of trade completely.

aures.com spring 2016

“

“

What are your support suggestions?

I think that businesses need to firstly understand the impact of down time to a store. If they consider the role of their POS in their business they will shift their thinking to allow for a preventative, focus and proactive support approach.

At AURES we offer end to end service, from project management and consultation, pre-staging, deployment and installation, IMAC’s (Install, Movements, Add-On & Changes), corrective and preventative maintenance and onsite support contracts.

This broad range of services allows us to develop support plans that suit each individual business. For example, some business need a 7 day a week, responsive support service where others, that may only trade 5 days a week do not. We are lucky to have the breadth of support solutions to allow us to be flexible to meet different needs.

Onsite support services have been around for a while in POS but what are they all about?

Many customers ask what does it mean to have a specific and tailored onsite support contract. AURES onsite support is aimed at reducing downtime to enable you the maximum time to transact.

“

I look at the client’s needs, their POS software, future needs and environment to understand the hardware requirements.

“

Our onsite support methodology involves understanding the response time required, the geographical coverage needed, spares placement and software image and system restoration procedures. It is about understanding the physical process required to bring a store back online.

A great example of what we can do is some work we have done for one of our retail customers.

The client, who has a very small IT support staff but large store number, wanted to improve support services, minimise down time and provide proactive services to each store which only had a single lane. They required a 4-hour, onsite response and swap out service to cover multiple sites across each state in metro and regional areas. We provided spare parts to each of the holding locations which covered 87% of the fleet to meet a required 4 response time. The onsite support covered newly installed AURES equipment and an umbrella agreement to provide support for legacy equipment including provision to support ADSL Modem/Router.

This example represents a very intense support plan but one that fits with the businesses requirements. Of course we adapt plans to suit different needs and response times.

If you could give one tip to businesses looking at investing in new POS hardware what would it be?

I would say you need to consider your investment more holistically over the life of the solution and not just the initial purchase and installation.

These solutions are operational for many years and there are costs associated with having them beyond the initial purchase price. Just

Generally, we don’t have an issue with ensuring that there are enough ports to handle a sites peripheral needs...

“

“

like owning a car, we service them to keep them reliable. We pay for road side assistance plans just in case we break down. A POS installation is no different albeit that the costs associated with failed POS hardware could add up to the cost of purchasing a car very quickly.

Broaden your thinking and your investment in POS hardware will give you a positive return.

aures.com aures.com spring spring 2016 2016

EDUCATION

Self-service The evolution of the kiosk.

The concept of a kiosk in retail is not new but as computer technology has advanced, the ease to implement such a solution in your business is better than ever.

All in one, large screen touch terminals, such as the new AURES YUNO 22, make the installation of a kiosk solution simple and cost effective with wall or pole mounting capability in almost any location.

The combination of simple to install kiosk hardware, the internet, cloud solutions, payment technology and online stores has combined to herald a new era in kiosk selfservice.

The traditional concept of a kiosk was to provide information to customers. Now the kiosk is becoming an interactive tool that allows customers to engage with a business in new ways.

Self-service is an apt name as that is exactly what customers can do.

Here are some of our self-service ideas that allow your customers to interact with your business in new ways. aures.com spring 2016

Loyalty portal If you run a loyalty programme, it is important for you to maintain customer engagement for it to be valuable to them.

Using a kiosk can allow customers to interact with their information including updating their contact details, reviewing purchase history or seeing what rewards they have earned.

For new loyalty customers, they can easily sign up to your programmes from within your store via the self-serve kiosk.

The options are endless. If you have the data, you can now let customers interact with it from within your store.

Ordering point Touchscreen kiosks are starting to make their way into the hospitality industry to be used as a self-serve ordering points.

A great example is Mcdonalds new create your own burger offering. The customer uses a large touchscreen computer to select what they wish to have in their burger and this is then sent to the kitchen to fulfil.

Using the kiosk technology could be used for special offerings, such as the create your own burger scheme, or for all ordering of food in a hospitality environment.

Using touchscreen technology at a table or designated ordering point can streamline the ordering process from taking the order to fulfilment.

Automated check in If you’ve flown from a major airport in recent times you would be accustomed to the airline self-check in systems.

These systems have revolutionised passenger check in,

allowing for a quicker and more streamlined process.

With affordable touchscreen kiosks now available, the concept of self-check-in can be extended to retail and hospitality environments and more.

Imagine visiting your local medical centre and being able to check yourself in?

What about hotel check in? No more waiting at reception to get your key. Simply check yourself in and a key is provided via the kiosk.

When you think about it, a self-serve check in can be utilised in almost any business where people must identify themselves prior to obtaining a service.

Ticket or gift card sales A self-serve kiosk is a perfect solution to automate simple sales such as gift cards or tickets.

Whether it is selling tickets at an entertainment venue, such as a cinema, or gift cards in retail, the kiosk can reduce the need for additional staff to process what is a very simple and automatable process.

The numerous kids play and activity centres that have popped up could greatly benefit from an automated self-serve check in.

Where there may be one staff member processing entry, one person at a time, adding self-serve kiosks can rapidly expand the capacity to process entry at a relatively low cost.

The concept of self-service is growing in society. Online shopping is the ultimate in self-service but we now see it in physical stores such as our local supermarkets at airports and in restaurants. As we become accustomed to “helping ourselves� the adoption of self-serve kiosk can only grow.

The technology is readily available so now it is up to retail and hospitality businesses to make the choice as to whether a selfservice kiosk is part of their future.

aures.com spring 2016

Ph (02) 9584 5222 Email ausales@aures.com

aures.com

Every care has been taken in compiling the contacts of this newsletter, but we assume no responsibility for the effects arising therefrom.

AURES Technology Pty Ltd do not accept any responsibility arising in any way (including negligence) for errors in, or omissions from, the information provided in TOUCH newsletter. All information was correct at the time of print.