atm deployers moving towards wireless connectivity

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ATM Deployers Moving Toward Wireless Connectivity

A growing number of companies are finding that wireless technology provides advantages that benefit both them and

their customers, as well as better position them for the future.

By Steve ArelContributing writer,ATMmarketplace.com

Stay connected. Cell phone companies use those words to woo people away from landlines. Likewise, the ATM

industry wants consumers to “cut the cord” as it tries to make wireless technology more common.

Several information technology firms, led in part by innovation from Australia-based Symstream Technology Group, are promoting wireless communication solutions that promise faster ATM transactions, fewer dropped calls, greater flexibility and higher customer satisfaction. The switch to wireless has less to do with boosting business and improving the bottom line than it does with the simple fact that wireless works.

So it’s no wonder that a growing number of companies in the ATM industry are capitalizing on technology that helps them meet consumers’ needs more quickly.

Despite the numerous advantages, from cost-effectiveness to easy upgrades to reliability, not every company has been quick to embrace wireless. Still, plenty of others are willing to invest now, banking on a future of ATM operations untethered from wired connections.

The emergence of wireless technology

Wireless technology has been around in other industries for some time. But in the ATM world, wireless is a relative newcomer.

No specific figures exist for the actual number of ATMs in the world that use wireless connectivity. However, industry experts say the total number of wireless units lags far behind the number of ATMs operating on traditional landlines.

But the gap is closing.

Symstream solutions are carried in various types of modems, including this one produced by MultiTech.

http://www.atmmarketplace.com/showcase/181/Symstream

atM Deployers Moving toward Wireless connectivity


Growth in wireless technology continues in urban areas, but the most significant leaps are seen in rural areas and developing nations where few or no telecommunications infrastructures exist.

“The cost of a landline is high and a connection may not be available in all of the locations where a bank may want to put an ATM due to accessibility,” said Manjunath Rao, regional services sales director with Duluth, Ga.-based NCR Corp.

In the past, rural areas were not prime locations for ATM installations. Exorbitant costs and logistical challenges associated with laying and accessing landlines had made connecting ATMs to networks cost prohibitive.

The situation is different today.

Through wireless networks, ATMs can connect to hubs around the world.

“Not even emerging markets are putting cable in the ground,” said Mark Gamon, director of strategy and international development for Symstream. “Carriers are moving toward wireless infrastructure [because the alternative is] a waste of time and money.”

Existing infrastructures in developed parts of the world, coupled with the introduction of wireless connectivity, are allowing developing nations to join the ATM race — and in many ways to leap past the technology of ATM-using giants such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The reason: Landlines are restrictive and expensive, but they’re too intricate and well-established to eliminate. Since

current communications infrastructures work, ATM deployers are reluctant to tear them down or replace them with wireless options. Why fix something that isn’t broken? For the average operator or deployer, the expense of reconfiguring or retrofitting thousands of ATMs outweighs the need to switch.

The emergence of wireless connections began to flourish several years ago. Speeding this development has been the inception of advanced wireless networks. Systems such as local and metropolitan area networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS) and satellites have opened up a multitude of possibilities.

Perhaps the most significant network that is furthering wireless communications within the ATM industry is the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, which has become an international mobile phone standard. In use in more than 200 countries, GSM enables greater network capacity and increased efficiency for sending voice and data transmissions. For the ATM industry, the third generation of GSM — commonly known as 3G — has proven to be the best choice for quicker transmission of data.

“Through every optimization, there was a big jump in bandwidth and the ability to support more applications over wireless,” said Natasha Royer Coons, president and managing director of San Diego-based

Carriers are moving toward wireless infrastructure [because the alternative is]

a waste of time and money.”

— Mark Gamon, director of strategy and international development, Symstream.




TeraNova Consulting, a telecom consulting firm. “Before, we were limited with what we could send.”

Advantages of shifting to wireless

Time is money in the business world, including the ATM industry. Whether the situation calls for deploying units, handling problems or completing transactions more quickly, speed succeeds.

Traditional ATMs are tethered to banks or other buildings by hardwires — power cords and phone lines. That setup requires company personnel to regularly check the machines for potential problems; otherwise, a unit could run out of money or paper or experience other problems that a business might not learn about unless a customer complained.

Wireless technology bypasses many of those traditional problems. For starters, and perhaps most significantly, wireless-enabled equipment only requires a power cord. That allows for easy deployment at banks and at remote sites.

A router inside the ATM transmits data faster than an anchored line can. Transactions, however, can be speeded up, depending on the solution used. Transactions on a dial-up network can take as long as 20 seconds to process. That’s because connections must dial into their hubs after users swipe or insert their cards. On the contrary, using 3G processing takes six seconds or less, Gamon says.

“That’s particularly important if you want to move people through as quickly as possible,” he said.

Symstream says its solution is unique because it adds a layer of strong encryption

even for serial-connected ATMs.

“The technology provides a secure data transaction,” Gamon said, “and since GSM voice-channel resources are not shared, the reserved bandwidth makes performance more consistent. This is not the case with GPRS, which suffers from congestion problems at busy times.”

What also separates Symstream’s solution from others is that unlike messages sent over data channels, data is transmitted over voice channels. On the 3G network, voice channels take priority over data channels. Data messages receive lower priority even on other wireless networks, meaning they can be delayed while voice transmissions are sent, depending on the number of voice calls being transmitted at the same time as the data message or messages.

Most ATM users don’t know or care what kind of connection ATMs use, Gamon says, but wireless makes a considerable difference where transaction speed is concerned.

Wireless technology also allows for

Installing wireless cards, such as the one seen above, allows ATMs to break from traditional hardwires.




flexibility. An ATM using a wireless connection easily can be moved from one end of a store to another or be deployed in an unlikely place, such as on a pier, train or boat. When it comes to moving wired ATMs, there always is a significant cost involved, those in the industry say.

Wireless also enables portability, which can be critical when it comes to setting up equipment at special events such as concerts or fairs, where running a landline doesn’t make much sense.

Installation and time-to-market speed are other considerations. A wireless ATM can be deployed in one day; deploying hardwired ATMs often takes weeks.

“I can get an ATM out the afternoon a customer orders it,” said Tim Wildash, managing director for Customers ATM, an independent ATM deployer in Australia. “Otherwise, we have to wait for hardwire, running lines down buildings and having to dig out busy driveways to get lines boosted. To get it done properly, we have to pay a premium service.”

Such delays don’t always sit well with clients, whose business hinges on quick deployments. Customers ATM, which has worked with Symstream for more than four years on its wireless connectivity solution, has some machines that conduct as many as 14,000 transactions a month.

“Delays upset the client,” Wildash said. “With wireless, you get the job done and passed over to operations.”

When installing new ATMs, some building owners aren’t inclined to allow drilling in walls and floors for the sake of installing lines. Also, regulations in many cities

around the world forbid work on historic structures that could threaten to mar the interior and/or the exterior.

Management from afar

Symstream is among those companies that have made an impact through wireless solutions that allow machine owners to oversee their equipment from a distance. For companies such as Customers ATM, which has ATMs deployed across Australia, such solutions eliminate the need to have someone physically check each machine for maintenance.

“We can’t afford to fly people to look after these machines,” Wildash said. “We have to have a simple machine and wireless technology. They have to manage themselves.”

Remote management allows operators to read the heartbeat of their equipment. Programs provide real-time reports, showing which machines are functioning properly and which ones have encountered an issue, such as running out of money or paper, an electrical problem or another type of malfunction.

Software programs continually produce reports that show activity on each machine, such as transaction time and success rate. The same programs also allow operators to wirelessly and remotely install patches for security protections, download technology upgrades and change graphics on the ATM screens.

Working toward change

Customers ATM, which operates 5,500 ATMs, is focusing on the future — a future it sees as free of wired service.




In a move some in the ATM industry might consider unusual — including some within the company — Customers ATM plans to shift most of its ATM network to wireless connectivity. A number of its newer machines come equipped with the technology, Wildash says. The others are being reconfigured, with roughly 150 retrofitted ATMs being reintroduced each week. Thanks to the simplicity of the Symstream solution, such a significant rollout of machines is easily handled.

Wildash estimates he saves almost $1,000 over a machine’s lifespan by moving from hardwire to wireless. He bases that number on a comparison of the cost of a wireless-equipped unit with that of a landline machine, which involves in-store dial-up costs, administrative time to install the unit, transactions lost while waiting for the installation and the inability to upgrade ATMs in fixed positions.

Customers ATM also makes up ground financially when it comes to retrofitted units, since its communications fees are cut in half when ATMs are retrofitted for wireless connectivity, Wildash says.

“If you have a good transmitter and receiver, we can go anywhere,” he said. “It does everything else the others do. It’s a better deal for us.”

Getting more on board

Gamon has spent much of the last several years making presentations in an effort

to sell banks and ATM manufacturers on the potential of wireless technology. His pitch has met with success, as evidenced by several businesses switching from traditional hardwires and some manufacturers producing wireless-ready machines.

Symstream has forged relationships with companies such as MultiTech to have itssolution installed in MultiTech’s modems and with NCR to have the Symstream-enabled modems installed in ATMs.

Gamon says there has been overwhelming interest in wireless and a realization that wireless represents the future of ATM transactions.

As the technology advances, so too will the capabilities of ATMs. Some in the industry anticipate units being used for paying bills and other transactions. In addition, global positioning systems could be installed to track machines that may have been repositioned or stolen.

The bottom line, several agree, is the industry as a whole must first overcome its trepidation toward wireless solutions, some of which stems from uncertainty about security. But experts express confidence in security measures, with encryption techniques complying with tough international standards and rendering a hacker’s ability to crack codes nearly impossible.

Experts express confidence in security measures, with encryption techniques complying with tough international standards and

rendering a hacker’s ability to crack codes nearly impossible.




Coons suggests companies deploying ATMs assemble teams to oversee their wireless future and conversion, attain certifications for networking and conduct trials.

“When we present the differences [between wireless and hardwire capabilities], companies are pretty excited,” Gamon said. “But it’s the biggest risk-averse industry and a slow adopter of new technology — but we’re starting to right the curve.”

About the sponsor: Symstream Technology Group is a technology company that focuses on providing wireless communications solutions. Symstream emphasizes data-transmission methods based on international mobile/wireless standards for public wireless networks. Symstream works in financial transactions, and its customers include international and national banks.
