Marketing the product in Canada...

[Minesh_P]

Hi,

I am very interested in marketing your product in Canada (Montreal, QC to be exact). However, I have a few questions...

1. Are the weather, stock and other updates available for this market?

2. If clients want to display there content in french (utilizing a french keyboard) on the pages - is this possible?

3. If a location is using a dynamic IP, is there an IP forwarding service that can be used to distribute the content? (Or is Static IP absoluteley required?).

4. What is the basic hardware required at the clients end? Please briefly describe the set up process on my clients side and on your server. In addition, what screen res's can be used - are there limitations in screen size (is it pixel to pixel?).

5. Do you currently have any "Installers" in Canada - if so, in what regions?

Please briefly respond to the above questions at your earliest convenience, thank you.

kind regards,

Minesh Perera

[mjstrand]

Minesh, thanks for the question. Sorry it took so long.

1. At the present time, the weather and stock information is for the united states only. If you know of web sites that provide this type of content for Canada for a reasonable charge, we can incorporate it within a week or two.

2. Since the system is a playback type of system, most content can be entered using the french keyboard, and it should be displayed properly on the kiosk screen. If it turns out that the characters do not come across correctly, we may be able to allow a character set to be specified in the preferences area to have it display properly.

3. The content is stored on the Online-Kiosks.net server, so any computer that has a dynamic or static IP connection can utilize the system. In the future, we will be providing automatic content downloading. That is designed to work on the same dynamic IP system with a separate program downloaded on the workstation to facilitate the content downloading.

4. Almost any computer (200 mhz or faster) can be used for standard kiosk playback. To utilize scrolling text and newsfeeds, a 750 mhz computer with 256 meg ram is recommended. To play video, a 2 Ghz computer with 512 meg of ram is recommended.

To setup the system for a customer, you create the free trial account. That sends an email with a link to activate the account. Following that steps you (or your customer) through a wizard to add the content. Once that is done, the kiosk can be viewed and instructions can be printed out on how to setup the kiosk playback computer. You can find a copy of these instructions at http://www.online-kiosks.net/?setupkioskinstructions .

Since our system utilizes Macromedia Flash, any size screen can be used. It currently works best on horizontal format screens. We are going to be working on changing the formats to better accomodate vertical format screens. Any input that you have on layout would be welcome.

5. Right now, we have no installers in Canada. If you are interested, you can apply at http://www.online-kiosks.net/add_reseller.html.

Thank you. Mike Strand

[mjstrand]

Minesh, I am repeating your question and the response here also.

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the quick response, I will definitely look into the available websites offering such services in Canada. Weather updates shoud not be a problem and its just a matter of locating news & stock update providers. I will also take a closer look at the contents of the links you provided me with for the set-up process. As for your experience thus far with the product, which industries have been your key targets for your service - or rather what would you recommend?

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Several industries see good return on their investment. Offices and clinics of MD?s, Dentists, Chiropractors use it in waiting and exam rooms to provide health training and supplier funded product marketing content. Grocery stores use it in entrances and aisles to display their specials and supplier funded product advertising content. Automotive service centers (including oil and tire change shops) use it for waiting rooms where area business funded promotions, store promotions and training information is displayed. Fitness centers provide member recognition, upcoming events and related product promotions in their entrances. Hotel lobbies and in-room channels provide area restaraunt and store funded product advertisements and information on in-hotel amenities. Commercial banks use it in the lobby, teller lines and drive up lanes to show additional products and services that they offer, loan specials and community involvement. And pretty much any business with over 15 employees can see great intangible benefits by regularly communicating upcoming events, company mission, personal and departmental achievements, community involvement and customer testimonials.

I hope this helps! Please let me know what you find out regarding the weather. We use weather.gov for the US weather information, and it has a policy that the information can be re-broadcast. It will be important to find a similar site for Canada.