Americans adopt self-service tech

North American consumers continue to embrace self-service technology, as transactions at self-service kiosks will surpass $740 billion in 2010, states Tekrati.

However, the rate of growth going forward may be tempered in favor of enabling consumer smartphones in the future, according to a new research study conducted by the IHL Group, an analyst firm and consultancy that serves retailers and retail technology vendors.

"Self-service continues to grow, and clearly DVD kiosks are driving huge increases in the number of units in the market. However, the rise of consumer mobile devices will have an adverse effect on many new kiosk installations within the next two years," says Greg Buzek, president of IHL.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has installed self-service kiosks that integrate with its Ascribe patient administration system, says Health Insider.

The trust, which has recently opened new sites in Pontefract and Wakefield, wanted to improve the way in which its hospitals were notified of patient arrivals and they way patients were directed to the correct consultation.

James Rawlinson, assistant director IT services and medical records, says: “We looked at a number of ideas on how to improve the experience for the patient and also to look at a cost effective way of arriving patients and improving patient flow.”

Web analytics provider Webtrends today announced its acquisition of self-service and full-service Web, mobile, and social app creator Transpond, writes Inside Facebook.

Webtrend clients can now use Transpond, rebranded as Webtrends Apps, to build, publish and measure performance of content, engagment, and conversion-centric apps for platforms including Facebook, MySpace, iPhone, Android, Facebook Connect Web sites, and mobile optimised sites.

The acquisition combines with its existing analytics, segmentation, and optimisations services to allow Webtrends to carry clients through the entire digital marketing process.