Editor's note: This is the third in a series of profiles on winners of the Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards from KioskCom 2003 in Las Vegas. The awards recognize the best kiosk implementations over the past year. This story is on the winner of the "most innovative/creative kiosk software application."

Sylvia Berens is not at all shy about the category her company, Apunix Computer Services, won recently in Las Vegas. "Yes, it is the toughest award to win," she said firmly. "And for a number of reasons."

First, said Berens, Apunix vice president, "You don't just show one customer implementation. You have to win on a total solution, showing your capabilities over a breadth of projects." Second, Apunix had to demonstrate its overall track record in the industry. And third, according to Berens, the category had the most entries from the most-established companies in the industry. "These companies make software development their businesses." Provisio's SiteKiosk 5.0 was the runner-up in the category. See related story, "Marconi, Apunix, KIS win big at awards show."

Berens said she is honored and excited by the win, the company's second in two years in the category. "This category is our greatest prize. It validates for potential customers our technology story, and the success of our implementations. It's part of our track record."

The software that wowed judges at KioskCom, Apunix Kiosk for the Java Platform, won for several reasons, Berens said. The reasons include:

• Java technology allows the software to be platform independent;
• The software is scalable, meaning it works the same on any device from a handheld PC to a server to an embedded system;
• The software is not Web-browser based, meaning it has a high level of reliability;
• The product's toolkit approach allows it to be integrated into back-end systems.

Apunix Kiosk for the Java Platform costs a one-time license fee, which varies on quantity. "A project can range from $5,000 to $150,000," said Berens. "Pricing is difficult to discuss because you need to understand the customer requirements."

The software has changed since its KioskCom victory in 2002. Said Berens, "The architecture is the same, and the core of the toolkit is the same, but we've worked hard to tailor the software for a new generation of kiosks."

For one thing, the software now runs on compact-flash modules, meaning that the flash can be popped out if the kiosk hardware has a problem, and the unit replaced without loading any software. Installation is completely keyboardless.

Apunix also added new Java components that allow the software to interface with XML datastreams. "Before it was all APIs. This just give us another method of communication," said Berens. The company also added new content-management tools.

Berens said the award was based on Apunix's software platform. "Customers were icing on the cake." The Apunix entry included case studies on customers including TravelCenters of America, the Evviva Virtual Art Gallery in the Home Depot Expo Design Center, Technology Portals Inc., and Riviera Hotel and Casino. See related story, "High-rollin' kiosks."

TravelCenters of America kiosk screen

Keep on truckin'

Dave Hanzal, IT project manager at TravelCenters of America, has 155 Apunix-driven kiosks across the United States. The kiosks process about 65 transactions each per day. See related story, "Shopping the software scene."

Hanzal said he checked Apunix's customer references when he was researching his kiosk project and "never looked back."

"Sometimes you purchase a tool and discover as time goes on that you want to do more and more. You don't want a vendor that says, `Well, that's all our tool does.'"

Hanzal said he first used Apunix to tie a customer-loyalty program to a central database. "Now the kiosks talk to systems at all of our facilities. I haven't come across anything Apunix can't do."

The TravelCenter system is database driven with Oracle transaction processing. The company itself was a runner-up in the "best retail kiosk application" category at KioskCom.

See related KioskCom stories, "Award-winning self-service kiosk a real 'Livewire,'" and "Netkey-Fleet deployment earns KioskCom award."