Hello,
Since quite some time, the Railways has introduced smart cards that can
be used on touch screen kiosks to book tickets with varying choices like
destination, single/return, number of adults/children and class of
travel. The card costs only Rs.100/- and you get a free initial usage of
Rs. 50/-. It is a pure cash card with no ID or papers required and is
purchased across the counter. To recharge it, simply pay amounts like
50/-, 100/- upto 500/- and you get it recharged across the counter.
I find this technology has tremendous potential for use in various Govt.
as well as private organizations where there are long queues on manned
counters. For example bill payments for MTNL, BEST. The Post Office is
another department that would benefit very much from this. Multiple PO
kiosks inside the PO could offer services like stamps, money-order as
well as registered letters. Just like the current manned counters, you
simply enter the sender and destination address and 2 identical sticker
labels with bar codes will pop out. One is to be pasted on the letter
and the other is the sender's copy. A smart plate on top of the machine
can be the weighing scale for determining the postage as per the weight
of the letter/parcel. The letter/parcel is then dropped inside a
designated box. An extra feature would be to optically scan the movement
of the letter inward as proof of dropping. This kiosk can also be placed
in banks and enterprising shops who can be given....say 5% of all
earnings through that kiosk. so now the Post Office is not far away but
right near your home and the Postal Dept. does not have to invest in
land or office manpower to extend its reach. The same technology can be
used by courier companies too. MTNL's telephone exchanges too can use
these kiosks for bill payments and adding/removing extra services to
their subscription like changing plans, enabling CLIP. The kiosks can be
linked with wireless networking so that it is immune to cable problems.
So any office that experiences long queues for payments can take
advantage of this technology.
--
Regards,
Rony.
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