Newest Technology

[davco1]

Where would I need to look to research remote monitoring for snack machines. I have a successful bulk vending business and now I'll be moving into full line and I'm very intrigued by this technology.

What is the cost associated with this technology and what capability does a machine need to have to use this?

[dogcow]

u need to have DEX ports on the equipment, most older equipment wont have this.

the costs vary check out USAtechnologies, they have some of the more reasonable set ups

ive seen around. i think its $20 a month (?) for monitoring if u dont want to take credit cards

theres a thing on alibaba ive linked before that plugs into a cell phone sim and has a bunch

of inputs, as a low tech solution you could get that and connect it to sold out switches

or some other kind of micrswitch and it will text you the data. its very DIY and low tech

i would not recommend it unless u are handy and own very old equipment. probably

easier to just upgrade the equipment tbh, if you'reinterested ill try to find the link again

[davco1]

Thanks for the help...we're buying a USI Mercato 4000. We're gonna check with Inone and USA, for cashless and monitoring.

[wheelermj]

Thanks for the help...we're buying a USI Mercato 4000. We're gonna check with Inone and USA, for cashless and monitoring.

I use InOne Technology for my remote monitoring and cashless sales. I chose them over USA Technology when I first started remote monitoring because InOne had alerts that USA Tech didn't have and InOne provided better information with the remote monitoring, at the time USA Tech could only send a Dex file to an email. For my remote and cashless I pay $11.99 a month plus 5.95% transaction fees. 

[Golfdogs]

I use InOne Technology for my remote monitoring and cashless sales. I chose them over USA Technology when I first started remote monitoring because InOne had alerts that USA Tech didn't have and InOne provided better information with the remote monitoring, at the time USA Tech could only send a Dex file to an email. For my remote and cashless I pay $11.99 a month plus 5.95% transaction fees.

Did you go to remote monitoring and cashless after you had established sales, or did you dive right into the technology? I am curious to know what happens to sales after making 'the switch'. Did service intervals change? What size route(s) do you run? Thanks

[wheelermj]

Did you go to remote monitoring and cashless after you had established sales, or did you dive right into the technology? I am curious to know what happens to sales after making 'the switch'. Did service intervals change? What size route(s) do you run? Thanks

I already had established sales, I started remote monitoring about 3 years ago, and started cashless early last year. Remote monitoring wont have a huge effect on sales with the exception of now you know when your machine is empty, your savings with remote monitoring comes from accurate pre-kitting, not servicing machines that don't need to be serviced, you only need to take the inventory you need, and alerts. I have several frozen machines that I can now get a text that tells me if the machine has lost power and when power is restored, I also have been adding temperature probes that will tell me when the temp in the machine goes higher than it should. If you can catch 1 meltdown with the alerts, your device has almost paid for itself. I run 4 routes, my employees each only work about 4-5 hours a day and each service 10-15 machines depending on how far they have to travel. Since I have started accepting credit cards, my sales have increased quite a bit, some machines that are used by mostly college kids have increased by almost 400% but other locations have only increased 10-15%. The thing that really surprised me is that I have not seen a decrease in my cash sales, and my labor has not gone up very much at all. I didn't increase my prices when I added credit cards nor do I do two tier pricing and I am still making more profit per vend than I was before accepting credit cards.

[davco1]

I use InOne Technology for my remote monitoring and cashless sales. I chose them over USA Technology when I first started remote monitoring because InOne had alerts that USA Tech didn't have and InOne provided better information with the remote monitoring, at the time USA Tech could only send a Dex file to an email. For my remote and cashless I pay $11.99 a month plus 5.95% transaction fees. 

I think we're gonna end up going with InOne as well.  Thank you for sharing.  This is going to be our first round with a new machine and this technology, so it definately makes me feel a little easier dropping this kind of money after hearing from a current user.

[cvending]

We have used InOne on just 2 accounts for remote monitoring. It was our first venture into this technology. We have not experienced the results/consistency in reporting that we expected. We have also not had very good experience with tech support. We are currently checking into USAT as replacement and cashless going forward. Any here using USAT?

[Walta]

Wheelermj what brand system do you use?

 

 Can it send a lost power report while the power is out?

 

Tell me about your temperature probes and how they connect.

 

Walta

[Growliebusters]

Quick question to any Canadians on here as to success with cashless. I have one account that really wants a bill validator which is expensive, so I was thinking maybe going cashless instead. Cheaper up front cost but not sure if it would pay for itself either.

[moondog]

Quick question to any Canadians on here as to success with cashless. I have one account that really wants a bill validator which is expensive, so I was thinking maybe going cashless instead. Cheaper up front cost but not sure if it would pay for itself either.

Here in the states, bill validators are mandatory   The only machines that don't have them are in man caves.  Rather than trying to upgrade an old machine to accept a validator, which will probably cost more than the machine is worth,  you'd be wiser to swap that machine out for something that already has a validator.

 

I know that good machines are kind of scarce (at a reasonable price) in Calgary,  but I hate to see anyone throwing a lot of money at a dinosaur.

 

Ps.  If your machine isn't set up for a validator, there's no way you can do cashless without at least the same upgrades plus MDB and DEX.

[wheelermj]

I think we're gonna end up going with InOne as well.  Thank you for sharing.  This is going to be our first round with a new machine and this technology, so it definately makes me feel a little easier dropping this kind of money after hearing from a current user.

You might try the lease option at first, I think both InOne and USA Tech have a lease option where rather than buying the equipment you lease it from them for 3-4$ a month on top of your monitoring fees, then if after a few months its not doing what you thought it should you are only out $12. 

 

We have used InOne on just 2 accounts for remote monitoring. It was our first venture into this technology. We have not experienced the results/consistency in reporting that we expected. We have also not had very good experience with tech support. We are currently checking into USAT as replacement and cashless going forward. Any here using USAT?

For my remote monitoring, I don't use anything in arrowvision, InOne sends my dex files to Streamware, and I use Streamware for my dynamic scheduling and sales and all of that fun stuff. I also had InOne give me a log in to Nayax,(the worldwide company that makes the devices InOne sells), and from that site I can look at more information at my devices, up  to the minute cashless sales, what signal your device is getting, error history, and temperature inside the machine within the last hour(if you have temp probe installed). When I startedremote monitoring 3 years ago USA Tech only did Cashless, they said they could send the Dex file to Streamware, but I couldn't get any alerts, and the alerts are very important to me. I think USA Tech is doing more with remote monitoring now, but I don't know how much. I have also looked into switching to USA Tech because I think their cashless technology is more advanced then InOne, but I have 110 machines doing cashless and remote, so it would be a big investment to switch, and right now I don't think it would be worth it to me to switch.

 

Wheelermj what brand system do you use?

 

 Can it send a lost power report while the power is out?

 

Tell me about your temperature probes and how they connect.

 

Walta

I use InOne Technology. The remote device has a back up battery the lasts about 5 minutes after a machine loses power so it can send out the alert. I have had some instances where a machine loses power and is immediately turned back on, and I get the alert saying power is restored before I get the alert that the machine has lost power. The temperature probes cost extra, I think it is $30, and you run it from the remote device to the inside of the machine, most machines I have been able to find an easy path, but there have been a couple of machines that I have had to drill holes to get the probe inside. I know I sound like a rep for InOne, I am not, I have had my fair share of problems with them, but that's what I use and what I know, so I can't really give any information on any of the other companies. And honestly, if USA Tech is now providing alerts such as temperature and power, which to me are the two biggest, and also if USA gives you pre kitting reports, then I would probably go with them, just because they are more advanced in their cashless technology. The question you need to ask yourself is what are the most important things you want to get from a cashless and remote provider.