Standalone IT Peripheral & Mobile Accessory Vending Solution

Intelligent Vending supply advanced secure distribution IT management solutions, which control the supply of IT peripheral & mobile accessories to staff. A key advantage of this system, other than its ease of use and management, is that detailed tracking information is provided to show who used the machine, when they used it, and what products were dispensed. Together, these elements provide a valuable resource for businesses and a high level of management information for back-office analysis.

Intelligent Vending offers two types of solution in this category:

1. a 'standalone' it peripheral vending machine system which is self-contained and reliant on discrete data specifically provided by the company for the purpose; and
2. a 'fully integrated' system which links the IT vending machine to a clients live database, thereby ensuring any validation uses fully up-to-date information about staff or users.

This secure distribution page covers our 'standalone' IT vending solutions. A separate page (fully integrated IT management solution) provides more detail on the 'fully integrated' option.

'Standalone' means the IT peripheral dispensing machine is separate and does not link to other company database systems. A separate 'standalone' user database is created specifically for the IT vending machines, using names and other information provided by the company for this purpose. This is checked prior to any vend taking place to validate the user. This type of solution can be set up to accept standard user ID access cards, mobile phones, fobs, PIN entry, barcodes, or new issue cards specific for use by the vending service.

To remain up to date for 'standalone' systems, the client must manage the database to add new joiners or remove leavers from the system. This would also include any staff still in post who are no longer authorised to access the machines.

This IT peripheral vending machine secure distribution system is usually preferred by our SME clients, or where clients do not have a suitable on-site system available for integration, and is a relatively simple and cost-effective to implement. Its downside is that information held in the database has to be kept fully up to date. If the data is kept accurate, however, the 'standalone' solution provides a very effective system, including the potential to provide management with a range of data regarding usage of the machine.

For both 'standalone' and 'fully integrated' systems, we use our own hardware and software. We pride ourselves in tailoring our IT peripheral and mobile accessory vending solutions to what our customers need rather than adopting an 'off the shelf' only approach. In our experience, all clients want something slightly different, and we are able to respond to their specific needs. For this reason, we supply machines on a project basis which means close communication and support for any client that decides to purchase one of our solutions.

We are also not an IT peripheral, component, or accessory supplier, so our clients can continue to use their existing supply chain for product sourcing if they wish. We will provide the hardware, software, and technical support to make sure the whole package is delivered smoothly.

Our IT peripheral vending machine hardware runs from our own software & electronics platform. This is a fully Internet of Things (IoT) solution running on a Windows embedded PC that sits inside the dispense equipment. All controls and system management are via our core platform only (local & cloud), and this enables us to manage and access data (i.e., from components through to transactions and the front-end user interface, etc.) across the whole system. All of the reports we provide are also tailored to clients' needs with data fields added as applicable for the customer.

All of our IT vending machines include large 55" UHD touch screens as standard, and the information/content displayed is flexible and specific to each client. Options are available for either a generic approach (i.e., using a standard template) or bespoke user interfaces which are developed specifically for the client. For both options, images of products, pricing, descriptions, media, etc., can be managed & updated directly via the cloud without the need to visit the machine.

Our user interfaces are intuitive and easy to use, both by the users requiring access to items and staff responsible for day-to-day management of the equipment.

For detailed insights into our IT peripheral and mobile accessory secure distribution solutions, please explore our dedicated Quros® technology website at www.quros.io.