What is the Dispensing process
When a company deploys Android devices for its business applications, it is essential to establish an effective and controlled user assignment strategy for such devices. Users to whom the devices are deployed are identified and profiled, whether they are customers who receive a service (for instance, a Self Scanning solution) or company operators (for instance, for warehouse activities or store activities such as picking, inventory or reordering). A correct assignment policy ensures that each user is assigned the optimal device.
To assess the performance, the quality of the service and monitor the life cycle of the device, it is recommended to measure the operating time of each device and the number of different users who have used the same. This operating process is known as “Dispensing”.
The importance of assigning the best device to each operator depending on the assigned tasks
As far as the company is concerned, it is more important to focus on the development of the applications for its own business so, more often than not, it ignores the enormous added value that the Dispensing process is able to provide by assigning the devices in an uncontrolled and random manner, and not considering the various advantages provided by this system.
More specifically, a Dispensing system provides the following features which:
- records, profiles, identify those who access a company service or an application via a kiosk, tablet or terminal via different access modes (reading a barcode, an identification card, an NFC tag or a data entry touch screen interface);
- interfaces with the company systems to manage the identification, profiling and enabling of users for a specific service or application in different access modes (preferably via web services);
- selects, once the user is enabled, the most appropriate device model depending on the assigned tasks, releasing it up from its cradle where a security system is foreseen (or adopting other processes including illuminating it, making it ring, vibrate etc.) and automatically enabling the application dedicated to the same;
- selects the device in the best conditions, according to one or more criteria with configurable priority (for example the one with the highest charged battery, the least used device etc.);
- starts the application customised for use by a certain operator or displays in secure mode (in kiosk mode and without the possibility to browse the device settings) a list of selectable applications or visible only by certain profiles;
- knows when the operator has finished the task (or if the application is terminated with a certain outcome, tracking it) and renders the device available for use by other operators, restarting it automatically if necessary.
Dispensing also allows the company not to interact with the hardware (for example the interaction with a kiosk, the release of devices docked in a cradle, the restart of a device or the protection of the device by enabling the kiosk mode and lockdown) and renders it compatible with any application with the Android industrial devices without the cost of integration with the specific hardware.
What advantages does the Smartilio innovative solution offer?
Smartilio Dispensing provides a comprehensive and flexible Dispensing solution that can be used on the main Kiosks, Tablets and PDA.
Smartilio features an implementation process that starts from the definition, shared and designed with the company, of the rules and configurations required to obtain the solution which meets the demands of the specific processes and requirements. The Smartilio Dispensing dashboard displays statistics and information that allow device administrators to control their use and exploit them to the full; it also makes it possible to analyse and monitor the strategic KPIs for the specific business (for instance, the average operation time of a device, the number of times it has been used, the category of the operator who uses it) and build customised reports.
