David Keene– In a private conference call yesterday with Simon Wilson and Mike Foster of MediaTile, I got a look at MediaTile’s Human Kiosk. (While MediaTile has shown demos of this earlier this year, they are now signing on partners and doing some innovative rollouts.) With all the press releases that fly in daily, it’s often hard to sort out the wheat from the chaff, but a few new trends are emerging, and this new MediaTile release bears interest. Because the platform stands at a kind of confluence of several trends: SaaS management of content; Cellular delivery of content; and the combination of live “human” interaction with canned digital signage content. We’ll follow up with more coverage as this news develops, but suffice to say that MediaTile’s “Human Kiosk” platform is a different kind of platform– it combines programmed content with Live shopper/brand agent interaction; it is display hardware-agnostic; on the “agent end” i.e. the end where the “brand agent” is fielding live queries from an in-store shopper, it is browser-based–you could video enable existing video conference equipment, or, agents could be remote (e.g. home based… or from a tablet…). MediaTile is rounding up some unique partners in the retail space– stay tuned. Here, below, is the official press release from MediaTile, unedited.
(and here is a link to a YouTube video demo: www.humankiosk.com )
MediaTile launches “human kiosk” digital signage solution – brings direct personal engagement to point-of-sale and point-of-service environments with remote video attendants
Enables businesses to use “HumanKiosk-staffing” to deliver expert personal services virtually anywhere, extending market reach by 5x, at 1/5 the cost of “human staffing”
Scotts Valley, CA, October 5, 2011– MediaTile, the recognized leader in 3G and 4G cloud-based digital signage solutions, today announced the first commercial release of its cloud-based MediaCast Video Presence system, and a new generation of HumanKiosk interactive digital signage displays from certified partners. The “HumanKiosk Solution” revolutionizes in-field customer service for point-of-sale or point-of-service environments by combining the capabilities of interactive digital signage with on-demand, virtual experts and face-to-face interaction. With the HumanKiosk Solution, marketers can humanize their brand interaction, improve the customer experience, and deliver their messages with absolute control and precision. In development for more than 2 years, the HumanKiosk has undergone field tests, trials, and pilots in both the US and internationally, receiving awards and customer and partner accolades.
“MediaTile’s HumanKiosk and MediaCast solution is in exact alignment with today’s requirement for brands to have an in-market promotional system that delivers a localized and tailored experience for the consumer in order to optimize sales,” said Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council. “This new level of consumer personalization combined with the brand’s ability to deliver accurate and immediate information, regardless of where the consumer is located, will certainly usher in game changing results across many retail markets.”
The HumanKiosk Solution attracts, influences, and engages consumers in dynamic new ways. In a familiar, but oversized smartphone and tablet-like format, it attracts consumers to scheduled and dynamically generated media and engages with interactive touch-based digital promotions. The breakthrough in personalized service is achieved through MediaCast Video Presence. At the touch of an on-screen button, consumers can instantly enter a 2-way, high-definition, face-to-face conversation with a remote expert agent. These trained remote experts are available on-demand, and are automatically matched with the consumer’s on-screen selections, which might include product, specific features, services, or language.
“The HumanKiosk is an innovative and ground-breaking solution whose time has now come,” said Dave Treadway, President and CEO of MarketStar. “The HumanKiosk is an extension to our current offerings as it enables us to cover our clients��� secondary and remote markets with an equivalent level of personal service and expert knowledge with the addition of multi-language support.”
The HumanKiosk Solution delivers true business value. By fulfilling the customer’s need for immediate information, and delivering a personal approach to service and support, in many cases brands can realize the following advantages:
Increase viewer relevance by 4x to 6x over traditional display and print messaging
Heighten customer engagement with face-to-face conversations and dynamic media
Extend market reach by 4x to 6x using cloud-based, on-demand video agents
Realize faster time to market by 2x to 3x by eliminating manual processes
Improve personnel utilization by 2x to 4x though centralized staffing and virtualization.
Deploy virtually anywhere via 4G / 4G LTE networks
“With MediaCast Video Presence and certified HumanKiosk hardware platforms, brands are now able to directly engage consumers, deliver their expert knowledge virtually anywhere, and control the brand-bias in conversations,” said Simon Wilson, CEO of MediaTile. “Our cloud-based system also captures the consumer’s touch-based interactions – providing an invaluable source of consumer intelligence collection at a fraction of the cost as compared to traditional interview methods. We are also seeing evidence that this solution enables brands to create an influential experience while increasing their market reach by a factor of 5 times, at 1/5 the cost of traditional on-site staffing.”
The HumanKiosk Solution will be featured in the upcoming release of the CMO Council’s research report titled “Localize to Optimize Sales Channel Effectiveness,” as an emerging technology solution. The research report is compiled from leading brands, and will be made available to more than 40,000 senior brand managers, and global marketing executives. Findings from the online survey of 300-plus CMO Council members and qualitative discussions with marketing executives across leading industry sectors indicate traditional print and broadcast/cable media are losing ground to more targeted, personalized, interactive and measurable forms of local engagement across diverse audiences and communities.
About MediaTile:
MediaTile is the worldwide leader in cloud-based digital signage solutions. MediaTile is transforming traditional B2C communications into B2Me communications – delivering information and personal interaction tailored to a viewer’s specific wants and needs. A digital signage innovator, MediaTile was the first company to deliver the advantages of cloud-computing using the unique combination of Cellular connectivity and a SaaS-based application. Our MediaCast Content Management and revolutionary MediaCast Video Presence systems enable you to attract, engage, and directly influence your audience with a unique ”personal advantage.” Digital signage networks powered by MediaCast are simple to deploy, easy to use, and enable you to achieve your communications goals and ROI faster. Our solutions have garnered customer praise and industry awards for increasing market reach and viewer interaction, while reducing costs and complexities. The MediaTile Company
www.mediatile.com
info@mediatile.com
(t) 831-439-8786
