{"id":21294,"date":"2021-06-11T12:36:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T10:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.praim.com\/?p=21294"},"modified":"2021-06-29T18:10:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T16:10:48","slug":"what-are-kiosks-and-how-to-easily-create-them-with-agile4pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.praim.com\/en\/news\/what-are-kiosks-and-how-to-easily-create-them-with-agile4pc\/","title":{"rendered":"What are kiosks and how to easily create them with Agile4PC"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have ever been to an airport, a bank, or a mall you surely have seen or used a special-purpose screen that allows you to do specific tasks such as a flight check-in, information searching, or some other functions. If so, you have seen or used a kiosk.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s look closer at the world of kiosks. What are they? How are they used? And how can they be easily created and managed also remotely?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a kiosk?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A kiosk is generally a small special-purpose digital interface placed in public areas that offer easy access to digital resources and information. Kiosks also allow their users to be self-sufficient and solve their requests and needs in a self-service way.<\/p>\n

It is, basically, a\u00a0system\u00a0designed for offering\u00a0basic services\u00a0or\u00a0access to information<\/strong>\u00a0(generally to the\u00a0Internet),\u00a0an enclosed system to prevent other user interaction and activities. The system replaces the look and feel of the operative system it runs over, allowing for customization and limited offering of ad-hoc services. Kiosks usually are numerous, thus their software usually offer remote monitoring.<\/p>\n

It has multiple benefits: it leads to faster time to resolution for end-users; it can be cost-effective for enterprises to provide services and information without needing an employee to provide the information or services to a guest or client. It leads to businesses using a much leaner operation without excessive headcount for customer service.<\/p>\n

Common use cases<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many use cases come to mind when thinking about interacting with a kiosk to have quick access to information: checking in at an airport, checking the timetable or buying train tickets, viewing a library catalog, withdrawing money, or checking balances.<\/p>\n

A lot of businesses find that using kiosks provides a great way to empower customers to view the information<\/strong>\u00a0they need in a quick and efficient way and don\u2019t need to involve human interaction. It provides many benefits across the board. One of the most widespread use cases is\u00a0digital signage<\/em>, where digital screens are distributed and used in public spaces, large\/corporate buildings, transportation systems or retail stores to display, etc.\u00a0The advantage over usual (static) signs is that the information can be changed at any time, even remotely.<\/p>\n

The most effective kiosk interfaces are those that emulate the look and feel of the touchscreen interface. Using this type of workflow is intuitive and familiar to most users who need to access their information or services in public locations.<\/p>\n

Summarizing, depending on the use-case and the nature of the business, the main deployment types of kiosks are:\u00a0(a)<\/strong>\u00a0Information kiosks<\/strong>,\u00a0mostly used to provide specific information.\u00a0(b)\u00a0Internet kiosks<\/strong>, systems\u00a0that run a browser with an active internet connection in public places\u00a0(c)\u00a0Self-service kiosks<\/strong>,\u00a0interactive and customized to complete specific tasks, and\u00a0(d)\u00a0Digital Signage kiosks<\/strong>, used for advertising in public spaces.<\/p>\n

Main features of kiosks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating a kiosk interface is not as easy as it may seem. Most operating systems on the market today, including Microsoft Windows, were designed to be desktop operating systems with all the graphical tools and workflows needed to satisfy that use case, based on the direct user control and interaction. However, for most businesses needing to create a kiosk interface, it requires a heavily configured client operating system with sometimes hundreds of policy settings to achieve the required locked-down environment for kiosk implementation, so that any other possible use outside the kiosk case is blocked and impossible for the user.<\/p>\n

Kiosks are often exposed to misuses or threads that can make them out of services or turn them into endpoints out of any control, e.g. to show to the public undesired information, or even worst,\u00a0used as open systems to access the internet or even the corporate network.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0first<\/strong>\u00a0critical property for a kiosk, thus, is being a\u00a0\u201cclosed system\u201d<\/strong>, i.e. being locked-down to ensure the\u00a0maximum security<\/strong>. The main security feature of kiosks are:<\/p>\n