The airports are normally very chaotic, especially if you are traveling overseas, there could be endless queues snaking towards the traditional counters. We usually tend to arrive very excited and happy, however, when we see long slow moving queues, the anxiety starts creeping in. This is the case with almost all international airports, especially if you are traveling from Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, these all are very busy airports. This lead to the development of the most innovative and high-tech airport self-check-in kiosks. These interactive self-service check-in kiosks are proven to be very effective and efficient in improving various airport processes while greatly elevating passenger experience and raising satisfaction.
The traditional passenger check-in process involves long waiting line, tedious paperwork, and frustrating experience. However, with the passenger check-in kiosks these processes can be automated and delivered via self-service. Which offers unmatched convenience and ease for the passenger. Furthermore these check-in kiosks are not only limited to check-ins or printing boarding passes, but it can also offer various other services. The passenger self-check-in kiosks are not only beneficial for the passengers but it also offer various benefits for the airport and airline staff.
These check-in kiosks tend to reduce crowd formation, streamline passenger flow, reducing work load from traditional service counters and eventually improving passenger experience. In this blog we will discuss the role of airport check-in kiosks in transforming the airport experience and enhancing passenger satisfaction.
The Role of Check-in Kiosks in Transforming Airport Experiences
What is an Airport Check-in Kiosk?
An airport check-in kiosk is a specialized type of interactive self-service kiosk which enable passengers to avoid traditional check-in counters and let them do the entire process by themselves via self-service. An interactive self-service kiosk is a computer terminal which have specialized software and hardware peripherals that facilitate a certain functionality. Similarly the airport check-in kiosk too is essentially an interactive self-service kiosk how it incorporate much more components and offer unmatched security and functionality. Passenger can check-in, print boarding passes, check flight information, change their tickets, chose the desired seat, and even upgrade or cancel their flight through airport check-in kiosks.
Technically the airport check-in kiosks are very sophisticated with various technical complexities. A typical airport check-in kiosk has a wider touchscreen with an intuitive multi-lingual UI (user interface). It also have passport scanning facility with boarding pass printing and luggage stickers along with a thermal printer to print receipts. Furthermore some airports also offer payment features enabling passenger to make payments directly from the kiosk.
Moreover since these check-in kiosks are placed at the airports hence the security is paramount. Usually these kiosks have in-built CCTV security and surveillance system along with additional physical security features. The data communication between the airport, airline and other connected services is also done through secure and encrypted connections to ensure highest level of security and data protection.
See Also: What is a Self Service Kiosk? Here’s All You Need to Know
What is an Airport Check-in Kiosk?
How Airport Check-in Kiosks can Enhance Passenger Experience at the Airports?
The airport check-in kiosks offers unmatched self-service experience with intuitive and multi-lingual user interface (UIs). These kiosks enable passenger to effectively and efficiently perform various tasks that are traditionally done by the airline and airport staff.
Here are some key features of the airport check-in kiosk which make them ideal for the modern airports:
- Intuitive User Interfaces (UIs): The check-in kiosks offer intuitive multi-lingual user interfaces (UIs), specifically designed for the touchscreens which makes them more user-friendly. Passengers can chose the language of their choice, then they can follow the on-screen prompts to perform the desired tasks.
- Third-party Integration: The airport check-in kiosks are built around a software application which is integrated with other third-party systems, airport management tools, airline systems, security and other vital systems which enable these kiosks to offer innovative features. The third-party integration also made them one-stop-shop for all required tasks.
- Hardware Peripherals: The airport check-in kiosk offers a variety of hardware peripherals and features such as Passport Scanners, ID scanner, QR Code and Barcode Scanners, Receipt Printers, Boarding Pass Printer, Cash Acceptor, Change Return, Luggage Sticker Printer, IRIS Scanners, Facial Recognition tools, Biometrics, etc. for quicker service delivery and better passenger experience.
- User-Friendly Payment Process: Another great features of interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk is its ability to offer multiple payment methods. The international payment gateways with ability to pay via QR Codes or on-screen for international customers. Ability to accept cash in local or international currencies and POS integration to accept credit/debit cards can greatly simplify the payment process and make it more user-friendly.
- Customization and Scalability: The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk can be customized as per the business needs. These kiosks are built on very flexible technology platforms which makes it more adoptable and scalable. Adding new features, customizing existing features or updating/upgrading the kiosk is a seamless and cost-effective process.
See Also: How to Design User-Friendly Interactive Kiosks: Best Practices and Tips
How Airport Check-in Kiosks can Enhance Passenger Experience at the Airports?
Here are some key advantages of an interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk which help greatly enhancing the passenger experience and convenience:
- Shorter Wait Time: The self-check-in kiosks can offer an alternate and quicker service delivery channel. The traditional service counters mostly have long queues, however, the airport check-in kiosks are much quicker, and offers simplified user journey and an excellent passenger experience. This not only reduce wait time at kiosk but also help reducing the workload of the service counters, resulting in lowering the wait time at traditional service counters as well.
- Empower Passengers: The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk offer more control, freedom and convenience, empowering passengers and delivering excellent experience. The passengers can check-in through these kiosk anytime, without fearing to stand in long waiting lines. The passengers have full control over their booking, they can customize their bookings, and modify their tickets along with various other features which empowers passengers.
- Updated Flight Information and Travel Guides: Passengers are usually interested in knowing their entry gate numbers, flight timings, and other relevant information. The airport check-in kiosk offers real-time updated information to cater to the passenger’s needs. Furthermore it can also offer tips and recommendations about the airport, airline, destination airport, destination city, and even local travel guides of information about the local attractions.
- Entertainment and Shopping Options: While passengers are waiting for their flight they can come to the airport check-in kiosk to get entertainment and shopping options available at the airport terminal. Furthermore the access to various airport services and even way finding features can also be incorporated within the airport check-in kiosks to enhance passenger experience. The airport check-in kiosk is a fully integrated solution which provides real-time data and updates.
- Boosting Staff Performance: Since the check-in and check-out processes are lengthy and passengers always have to wait in long slow moving queues. This have toll on staff performance as well, large influx can be tedious for the service staff. However, offering alternate channels to passengers who prefer digital experience could reduce the workload of the service agents which result in better performance and high quality services.
- Collecting Valuable Analytical Data: For any business or organization it is crucial for success to make informed decisions. The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk can produce a wealth of valuable business intelligence data. It can capture analytical data from every touch point along with statistical and system usage data which help management understanding the passenger behavior, preferences, trends and even pain points. Furthermore passenger feedback can also be collected. This data can be integrated in strategic decision making to drive growth and success.
The interactive self-service check-in kiosks are a great tool to drive efficiency and performance at airport check-ins and border control offering a multitude of benefits for both airports and the passengers.
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The interactive self-service check-in kiosks are a great tool to drive efficiency and performance at airport check-ins and border control.
What Makes Self-Service Airport Check-in Kiosks Cost-Effective?
Whenever a business or organization decide to acquire a new system or solution the first thing that they consider is the ROI of the project. The return over investments is a crucial aspect of any project and the airport check-in kiosks offer excellent ROI over the longer period of time. Here are some key aspects of the airport check-in systems which make them better at delivering higher ROIs:
- Longer Life Cycle: The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosks are built on very reliable and lasting technology platforms which make their life cycle longer and with regular maintenance and small upgrades it can further extended for many years.
- Low Operational Cost: The airport check-in kiosks consists of a server-side application, user interface at the kiosk and integrated components which have upfront cost, but doesn’t have much operational cost. The application can be hosted in cloud or on-premises data center which makes them more cost effective and minimize the operational cost.
- Low Maintenance Needs: The interactive self-service airport kiosks require very less maintenance. The kiosk itself contains some mechanical components which might require regular servicing but apart from that most of the components comes with extended warrantee and very less maintenance needs, making it much more cost-effective.
- Flexible Scalability: Most of the time the interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk systems are customized as per unique business needs. Which make them more flexible towards scaling the system. Whether you want to add more kiosks, more features or modify an existing functionalities, everything can be done with convenience and ease.
- Easy Upgrades: For any digital solution it is crucial to keep it up-to-date whether it is its infrastructure, source code or software stack, the digital solution must be up-to-date to ensure seamless functionality and highest level of security. The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk can easily updated whenever required, moreover, the server and the core application can also be upgraded with literally no or very less cost.
- Easy Customization: The technology evolve at a rapid pace, and in an airport IT eco system multiple applications are running to support the entire operations. A typical airport check-in kiosk requires to be integrated with multiple other systems, platforms, data centers and enterprise tools. Hence in order to add more features or to align it with other required systems the airport check-in kiosk system can be customized easily with very little efforts and cost.
All these technological advancements, flexible structure and customization make airport check-in kiosks more convenient and cost-effective to deploy. Furthermore as the emerging business needs arises the interactive self-service airport check-in kiosks can scale and customized which extend their life cycle and make them cost-effective. The kiosk itself also requires very less maintenance and can operate 24/7 enabling it to serving more passengers, effectively reducing the service delivery cost. Overall the airport check-in kiosk solution is very cost-effective and tend to offer very high ROIs over longer run.
See Also: What is Employee Self Service Kiosk?
What Makes Self-Service Airport Check-in Kiosks Cost-Effective?
Conclusion
The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk have completely revolutionizing the passenger experience by replacing the long frustrated queues with a streamlined, digitalized, and a self-directed check-in process. The airport check-in kiosks elevate passenger experience by enhancing passenger journey, optimizing the check-in process, and empowering passenger with a multitude of several other benefits for both airports/airlines and passengers. The airports and airlines can greatly enhance performance and operational efficiency by implementing interactive self-service solutions.
The interactive self-service airport check-in kiosks offers a fast-paced alternate counter to greatly reduce the waiting time while providing various other features, real-time information and flight data and much more to delight your valuable passengers. The intuitive and multi-lingual UIs are excellent to make it user-friendly for international passengers. These kiosks are very reliable and are built on durable technologies which make their life cycle very long, in fact these kiosks can remain relevant for many years with very low maintenance need and very less operational cost.
The extraordinary features and exceptional benefits an interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk can offer, makes them an ideal solution for modern passenger-centric airports. In this blog we have briefly discussed the role of check-in kiosks in transforming airport experience. If you want to learn more or if you want our help to deploy a bespoke interactive self-service airport check-in kiosk solution for your airport or organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.