Retail : How to Maintain Self-service Kiosks

The beauty of automation is that it has the potential to expedite processes. A prime example is retail, where businesses are investing heavily on self-service kiosks for customer support and checkout. These can help customers with fewer items quickly check themselves out rather than having to wait in line. Moreover, self-service kiosks have become a big part of a brand’s user experience strategy, as they enable businesses ensure 24/7 service and engagement.

Research from Technavio suggests that retailers and customers alike find this approach favorable: The global market for self-service kiosk technology is expected to reach $18 billion by 2020.

The caveat of automation, however, is that the systems that make it possible, are not impervious to faults, or more importantly, to cyber threats. There has been no shortage of reports about point-of-sale malware or payment processing units rigged with card-stealing skimmers. Additionally, downtime can negatively impact the user experience.

That said, the convenience of self-service kiosks shouldn’t be overlooked because of the ancillary inconveniences that come with them – especially when these caveats are so easily addressed with computer management software like Faronics Deep Freeze Cloud.

Application Control and Lock-down Made Easy

One of the chief concerns about giving customers access to self-service kiosks is that in theory, they could insert a USB flash drive while no one’s looking, or attempt to tinker with the settings. Cyber criminals, for instance, might do this in an attempt to upload or download malware that would misuse customer data.

The good news is that there’s a very simple way around this. Deep Freeze Cloud’s application control feature enables admins to white-list applications, while the lock down functionality allows disabling endpoints. Admins also get the additional ability to use  kiosk mode, which ensures optimum access, specifically designed for kiosks. This way, company computers can easily be transformed into self-service kiosks. This gives retailers the ability to control all and any applications that may attempt to run on their digital kiosks. Moreover, admins can manage this functionality through an easy-to-use, remote management console, that is accessible from mobile devices.

Kiosk Maintenance Simplified

Maintaining kiosks can be a time-consuming and resource intensive effort. Its an even bigger challenge maintaining them across multiple locations, especially if it involves re-imaging solutions. Deep Freeze enables admins to easily set and remotely manage a auto-maintenance schedule, for multi-location kiosks, using the management console.

The ‘reboot to restore’ functionality of Deep Freeze Cloud helps admins ensure high system availability with minimal efforts. To prevent long-term/ dormant malware, admins can leverage this functionality, on a regular basis. As long as the set maintenance schedule is in place, any malicious changes that may have been introduced since the last freeze can be easily eradicated.

Deep Freeze Cloud simplifies management of self-service kiosks across multiple locations, with minimal time and efforts. Learn more today by contacting Faronics.