Opal Hardware

PINS have long been used in the telecommunications business for long distance cards. Each card had a unique number (the “PIN”) that and this number was used by the telephone company’s billing system to track the value on the card. In the same way, PINs are being used for prepaid top up ePIN vending is simply the vending of a PIN by printing it on a card or on receipt paper at the time of sale.

The PIN system can be used for a variety of prepaid applications including long distance calling, prepaid mobile cellular account top up, prepaid electricity or water payments, internet café username & password etc. Opal has designed and manufactures a number of solutions that will print, cut and deliver the PINs on thermal paper ,or card stock.

Product Description

We have two basic approaches for Kiosks to sell prepaid ePINs and the ability to flexibly load time/funds onto prepaid handsets.

The first is a button to consumer interface (EP 50 Series):
 
The machine appears like a typical "vending machine". Each button is labeled with a specific denomination($) and product, this is typically either prepaid Wireless/Mobile or Long Distance time (but can also include ringtones, prepaid IP (as well as many other potential Prepaid applications).

The consumer inserts the amount or corresponding cash equal to their choice of product and then pushes that button. In previous machines we would vend a card with a live PIN on it. With the EP series today this would typically be a SIM card.

Within our EP series of machines we print the prepaid PIN when it is purchased.
Within the “software” descriptions we refer to several ways you can send and manage these PINs within each machine …in some cases they may simply have been loaded (remotely) into the machines’ memory as inventory. In other cases they may have to go off and retrieve the product/PIN from a platform with a database of PIN products loaded on it. We currently manufacture these EP 50 series/button machines with 4 to 12 selection buttons.

As mentioned earlier, we also manufacture machines/Kiosks that employ an LCD touch-screen interface with a GUI (graphical user interface) that communicates with the consumer. (EP75,100,200 and 300)
The primary benefit is that there is virtually no limit to the number of products, previously defined by (and limited by) the number of buttons. The slight negative is the increased costs associated with the LCD, touch-screen and computer that are required to drive this series of kiosks.

The ability to create an intuitive custom GUI or interface that "speaks" to the consumer can be invaluable. This allows you to easily “lead” them through the sale process. The screen also allows you to advertise time based sales and promotions on the screen in between transactions.

The EP70,75 and 100,200 and 300 machines vary in price depending on the options chosen, the size of the LCD screen and computer needed for the specific application, as well as the money handling capabilities.


 

There is also an option for printing PINs onto a thermal card. These cards can be 4 color process on the face and blank until printed on the back. This can be instead of or in addition to the thermal roll receipt printing, (found in our standard solution for ePIN machines).
Options include vending SIM cards and prepaid handsets.

Typically real-time refresh or top-ups, are best suited on these touch-screen models, whereas strictly selling PINs is best suited for a fixed button interface. In other words, in some cases, there may be a need for a few different solutions.