August2021 - 32

from vending machines, equipped
with Microtronic US readers. Readers
are offline so they cannot be hacked;
they read and write by directly interfacing
with the card. Reports provide
full accountability of both sales and
loads using a small statistic key.
While the company's offline jail
two Ethernet ports and an LED array
to indicate signal strength.
" We've taken everything customers
vending system is mainly intended
for visitors, it can also integrate with
Advanced Technologies Group's
Offender Management Suite for use
by inmates. While Microtronics US's
transfer station, introduced in 2017,
is becoming prison staple, it's also
suitable for any location type with
similar needs.
CONNECTIVITY
Connected vending machines require
strong and reliable communication
applications to process transactions,
track inventory, and perform maintenance
and repairs. A weak Internet
connection can hinder a vending
operation, frustrating customers and
reducing profits.
A not uncommon practice is to use
a router and a data plan, leaving the
maintenance and management up to
the operator. This strategy might save
on monthly fees, but result in lost sales.
There are several solutions specific
to vending and other unattended
points of sale (jukeboxes, ATMs,
kiosks, etc.) to fully manage locationbased
connections. The right conlove
about the original neo and made
it twice as good. Customers are now
connecting more devices that need
faster access to the cloud and to data, "
said OptConnect's chief experience
officer Kevin Dalton.
Downtime is always bad, but as
connectivity to the cloud becomes
more critical, any interruption becomes
more costly, Dalton emphasized.
" Neo2 adds connections, speed
Microtronic US's transfer station.
MicrotronicUS
nectivity product will improve uptime
and provide an online dashboard that
allows an operator to manage equipment
portfolio. Naturally, a reliable
connectivity service must be backed by
a support program that's available 24/7.
Introduced late last year, neo2 is
OptConnect's " next evolution in fully
managed cellular connectivity for the
Internet of Things. " Neo2 is said to
deliver nearly twice the speed, twice
the carrier coverage and twice the connectivity
power as its predecessor.
The distinguishing feature of the
neo2 device is failover
switching to a redundant
network. It's equipped
with two onboard cellular
connections, AT&T and
Verizon, and if one connection
fails, the other
takes over. The compact
LTE (Cat 4) neo2 also has
Neo2 is the next evolution
of OptConnect's fully
managed cellular
technology.
OptConnect]
and carrier redundancy to ensure
high uptime, " Dalton explained. " And
it is a truly compact, full-featured
high-speed cellular router that fits
almost anywhere, enabling equipment
connections to cloud services. Dual,
redundant cellular connections give
peace of mind while full integration
with managed wireless service makes
for a headache-free experience. "
B2B OCS INTEGRATION
IT authority Tech 2 Success helps convenience
services companies leverage
technology to accelerate and automate
their business processes and achieve
goals. A new Tech 2 Success service is
an e-commerce integration for office
coffee delivery services, which enables
OCS operators to give their clients
the same online shopping experiences
they would receive from Amazon,
Staples and Walmart.
According to Tech 2 Success's
John Hickey, operators can leverage
cross-sell and upsell opportunities
with an e-commerce solution
integration into their backend system.
Operators can also automated messages
to promote additional and
larger more orders. And they can
create direct-to-consumer programs,
which could be subsidized by savvy
employers looking to retain talent
working from home. " This is a true
B2B e-commerce platform for OCS
operators, " Hickey said. ■
32 Automatic Merchandiser * August 2021
August2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August2021
