INDOOR/OUTDOOR
The greatest impact on kiosk cost is whether the kiosk is for indoor or outdoor use. Outdoor kiosks by definition cost considerably more than indoor kiosks because of the many upgrades and changes needed for a kiosk to operate in wide temperature ranges and weather.

Outdoor kiosks require water-sealed, outdoor powder coated enclosures, internal heating and cooling systems, wide-temperature RAM and wide-temperature solid state drives, high-brightness LCDs with cooling technology to allow exposure to sunlight, and several other outdoor kiosk modifications.

MOUNTING
The next fundamental question is how is the kiosk mounted? To a wall, or on a stand? Or maybe a counter top/desktop? A wall-mount is lower cost and works great if you happen to have a wall in the right place, while a stand can be deployed anywhere but is more costly and does require some available floor space.

There are also different types of kiosk stands. There are lower-cost alternatives that are small and typically do not securely enclose any peripherals, and higher-end kiosk enclosures that have internal locking compartments for peripherals and accessories. Kiosk stand choice can also affect custom decals or branding that may be wanted on the kiosk.

PC
This cost can vary from a low-end J1900 CPU with 4GB RAM and onboard video to an i7 CPU with 32GB RAM and a 4GB video card.

The PC used in the kiosk is no different from a functional perspective than any desktop PC. Like a desktop PC, there are configuration choices including CPU, RAM, graphics, connectivity, and operating system that must be tailored to the software application that will be running on the kiosk.

Also, does the kiosk need to connect to the internet? How? WiFi, wired LAN, or 3G/4G cellular? All of these choices impact the price.

TOUCHSCREEN
The choices made can vary the cost from no touch or keyboard (display only), to both touchscreen and keyboard.

The choice to use a touchscreen, keyboard, or both should be based on the application software and how much data the user may be expected to input. A touchscreen works best on a larger screen size when the user is presented with clear touch choices on the kiosk screen, with little or no keyboard input required. If some keyboard input is required, a virtual keyboard can be used for that.

If the user is required to input a lot of data, a keyboard with pointing device like a trackball may be mounted on the front of the kiosk.

PERIPHERALS:
Kiosk peripheral choices can range from none to many including kiosk printers, credit card readers, barcode scanners, keyboards, RFID readers, cameras, and more.

Peripheral choice is tied to the application. For example, a payment kiosk may require a credit card reader, a bill acceptor, or a chip reader while an internet access kiosk or information kiosk usually has no peripheral requirements.

What are the benefits and applications for touch screen kiosks?

Touch screen interactive kiosks, also known as self serve kiosks, place 24/7 access to products and services in any location for the benefit and convenience of users and customers. Kiosks are a force-multiplier and allow owners to broaden and enhance their reach to their customers. Below are just a few examples of indoor and outdoor kiosk applications:

INFORMATION KIOSKS and INTERNET ACCESS KIOSKS
Information and internet access kiosks are a broad application area. These kiosk applications usually allow users to browse and interact with information on websites in a controlled way that would give the kiosk user the ability to visit certain selected pages. This is done by using a product referred to as “browser lock-down” software, which is available from several providers.

Some common information kiosk applications include:

Wayfinding Kiosk: This provides a map and directory to the user for use in parks and recreation areas, events, building lobbies, cemeteries, etc. These touch kiosks usually do not require any additional kiosk peripherals.

Product Lookup Kiosk and Price Check Kiosks: Provides online access to product information and/or pricing. These kiosks may include a barcode scanner for easier product and price lookup.

Trade Show kiosk: Touch kiosks are perfect to take to trade shows because they can present booth visitors with a huge amount of product information along with marketing material, photos, videos, etc. And the kiosks can capture visitor information for follow-up using a barcode scanner or magnetic card reader. These kiosks usually include a barcode scanner and/or magnetic card reader to capture visitor information for lead follow-up.

Museum Kiosk: Museums love interactive kiosks. What better way to enhance and deepen a museum exhibit than with a large-screen, interactive touch kiosk that can display a wealth of information to the visitor? From hi-resolution photos to HD videos, these kiosks can be any size but usually tend to be larger, 32” and up, to present the user with greater impact.

Check-in Kiosks
Hotel check-in, flight check-in, community event check-in, healhcare check-in, and child-check-in are among dozens of kiosk check-in applications in common use. These kiosks typically have peripherals like a label printer, barcode scanner, and card reader for check-in verification and validation, but could also just be a touch screen with no additional peripherals.

Visitor Kiosks
Many companies require visitors to log in when they arrive, confirm their appointments, and to wear visitor badges while in the building. A kiosk can perform all of these tasks for the user including taking a picture of the user and even creating the visitor badge. A webcam, barcode scanner, card reader, and specialized printer can all be used by the kiosk for this application.

Access Control Kiosks
Access control and security kiosks are used to verify a user’s identity, and then allow access to a building, room, or other secure area. Gate control kiosks are outdoor kiosks that control gate access. These kiosks may have peripherals that include biometric scanning, such as fingerprint or palm, barcode and magnetic card readers, and cameras.

Payment Kiosks
Accepting payments is a natural self-service application for kiosks. If a website can accept a payment, so can a remote kiosk. Usually a credit card reader is used for most applications, but a bill acceptor can also be used and even more exotic peripherals such as check readers and bill recyclers can also be used in the high-end machines. Bill payment kiosks with these kinds of peripherals need to have specific software developed exclusively for their use.

Donation Kiosk
Donation kiosks are another form of payment kiosk. Typically a donation kiosk is simpler, and most commonly may only use a card reader to accept the donation.

Point of Care Kiosks
Used in hospitals and assisted living facilities and retirement homes, point of care kiosks, or POC, are typically mounted on walls in hallways to document patient ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) and pertinent care for Medicare billing and to retain accreditation and rating.