Interactive Kiosks

A kiosk used to be basically a stand or a booth where simple services were provided to the general public. Today's kiosks perform the same function, what is absent is the presence of a human being manning the kiosk. Computers have replaced him to provide certain specific and specialized services.

An interactive kiosk is one where the user gets responses to his queries almost instantaneously and gets his job done. Most computer manned kiosks are interactive kiosks. Such interactive kiosks may be either for the purpose of providing information or for completing a few specific transactions that the computer has been programmed for.

Interactive kiosks that provide information can be seen at railway stations, airports, bus terminals and the like. The latest computers that are used in such kiosks are touchscreen kiosks and are very user friendly. The interfaces of the programs fed into these kiosks are made to be very simple and user friendly so that common people face no trouble using them. Such interactive kiosks usually give information about bus, train and flight schedules; information about any delays; a facility to view where a particular bus, train or flight is using GPS systems; and several other pieces of related information.

Interactive kiosks that are used for completing transactions are put up by banks. ATM centers are prime examples of such kiosks. Customer identification is done through the use of user ids and unique PINs. Interactive kiosks that are set up by banks for use by their customers are also used for cash withdrawal. The customer can access his bank account through the kiosk and withdraw money from his account. Banks have a system of checks and balances to ensure that no fraudulent means are used to take advantage of kiosks.

An upper limit on the amount of cash that can be withdrawn in one transaction, the number of transactions allowed in a specified time period, an alert on the use of wrong PIN and the like are a few precautionary measures set in place.