Tot Builds Intelligent Kiosks

[george]

TOT builds Intelligent Kiosks

BANGKOK: -- Wouldn’t it be great if you could make a public phone call, access the Internet, send video-mail, buy a movie ticket, reserve transport services or pay utility bills, all from a single point in real time? The establishment of TOT Corp’s Intelligent Kiosk will make all this possible in the near future.

Being developed as a multi-propose machine, services to be offered from the kiosks will also include photo centres, media advertising, PIN Phone 108 points of sale, interactive information service centres and counter services.

The kiosks will also allow shoppers to find the shops they need, along with promotion campaigns at the shopping centres.

Sawat Pranom, vice president of TOT Corp’s research and development department, said the Intelligent Kiosk has been developed by TOT’s internal research and development team which has been working on the project since last year. The kiosks are based on .Net Framework and XML technology and can support a range of electronic transactions.

The first Intelligent Kiosk will be set up at IT Square, and launched in October. By the end of 2007 more than 1,000 kiosks may be operating, depending on the demands of the market.

New machines at the kiosks will come with advanced payment technology that allows users to pay service fees with a smart card, without the need for regular credit cards or cash. The kiosks are in the process of patent registration.

Sawat said that users could reserve movie tickets for the evening after they finish shopping. The displays at the kiosks would show movie titles and a map of the cinema. Movie goers could then move direct to their seats, bypassing the cinema’s box office.

Customers could reserve and pay for transport tickets. The firm is now testing the service with Nakornchai Air.

--The Nation 2005-08-22