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KioWare Comparison ChartFor applications that have links to other sites, KioWare can be configured to block or allow domain navigation from an unlimited list of domains. When a domain is blocked, an optional dialog box can be displayed to the user with a custom message. For a given domain, KioWare can also allow or deny access to an unlimited number of individual pages. When a page is blocked, an optional dialog box can be displayed to the user with a custom message.
In certain applications, it is desirable to prevent a popup window from being displayed. KioWare can easily be configured to prevent popup windows. When a popup is blocked, an optional dialog box can be displayed to the user with a custom message. Furthermore, to prevent runaway popups from crashing your application, KioWare can control how many popups can be displayed, and how many levels of popups can be displayed (i.e. how many parent/child generations).
In instances where Internet Explorer doesn't recognize a file and would normally display a dialog box to the user asking whether to download and either open or save the file, KioWare can prevent the dialog box from being displayed and also prevent the file from being downloaded.
Single App Mode lets you "allow" one application to be active and visible. In Single App Mode, your device is able to function as a purposed device, making available only the selected application.
KioWare can prevent the display of dialog boxes and windows. KioWare ships with a list of blocked dialogs/windows and additional entries can be manually entered. If you are connected to the internet, you can update your default list from our website.
KioWare allows you to control which popups appear and can also open allowed popup windows in new tabs for tabbed browsing.
For applications that have a keyboard available to the user, it is important to be able to lock out certain keystrokes. In particular, Ctrl-Alt-Del is critical to lock out. In addition, Function keys, Esc, Alt, Ctrl, Start Menu, Windows, Del, Ins, Arrows, PgUp, PgDn, and Print Screen can be locked out using KioWare.
Where user privacy is most critical, it is important that unclaimed printed material be retracted back into the kiosk. Whereas many printers have a timer that will retract unclaimed paper, if you use a printer that supports programmatic retraction, then KioWare will immediately retract the paper as soon as the user leaves the kiosk rather than wait for the timer to timeout.
KioWare prevents the user from accessing the Windows, Android & Chrome OS desktops. It does this by removing all menu and window functions from the web browser window. All that is displayed to the user is the content window. A special mouse/touchscreen sequence, plus a password, is required to exit from KioWare back to the desktop.
For applications where reliability is critical, KioWare has hardware watchdog capabilities. The hardware watchdog constantly watches the health of the software watchdog and restarts the software watchdog as necessary.
KioWare can replace the default OS Shell. By doing so, your application will boot and run much faster, and your computer will be much more secure because the standard Windows desktop can never be displayed to the user.
KioWare prevents the user from accessing any web browser menus.
Basic Auth (or Basic access authentication) is a widely used protocol for simple username/password authentication. With support for Basic Authentication, KioWare allows kiosks to be configured to allow for end users to log in via Basic Auth credentials. This feature is native to KioWare for Android and KioWare for Windows. KioWare Classic for Windows provides this feature via the use of an Addin.
For applications where reliability is critical, KioWare has software watchdog capabilities. The software watchdog constantly watches the health of the KioWare executable and restarts the KioWare executable when necessary.
In applications that require KioWare's toolbar to support navigation, print, or logoff actions, it is often desired to have the toolbar integrate as much as possible with the application. With KioWare, it is possible to have multiple toolbars with background colors/images and buttons that match your application. The KioWare Configuration Tool has a WYSIWYG toolbar editor that makes it simple to generate custom toolbars.
KioWare can be configured to allow users to open PDFs from allowed websites or applications. This native PDF viewing feature provides a secure way to access PDF documents without providing open access to downloads or operating system files. This feature is native to KioWare for Android and KioWare for Windows. KioWare Classic for Windows provides this feature via a browser plug-in.
The capabilities and customizability of the virtual keyboard vary based on operating system and KioWare product.
You can now set up multiple browsers in your kiosk with the Docked Browser Editor. Browsers can be positioned, sized, and set to “display only” or to “allow user interaction”. Docked browsers allow your kiosks to display useful information at all times, while still providing users with the interactivity needed for the function and purpose of the kiosk. Standard uses include: display current weather, digital signage/advertising promotion, scores, and more.
The Chrome browser allows users to open new websites within an open browser, as a new “tab” rather than as a new window entirely. This tabbed browsing option is now available to end users via KioWare and tabbed browsing can be allowed by default, allowed for only specified pages, or not allowed at all.
It is important to clear any trace of the user after they leave. For example, when a user's session ends, KioWare can optionally clear the user's cookies, history, and the printer queue, as well as reset the volume level.
Often times, it is best to warn a user that they have been idle too long and are about to be reset into attract screen mode. In these cases, KioWare can display a warning dialog box for a defined number of seconds before reset (e.g. 15 seconds), as well as optionally beep every second for the last defined number of seconds before reset (e.g. 3 seconds).
Often times, a kiosk is designed to have multiple graphical screens that cycle to try and attract the attention of a passerby. KioWare can easily be configured to display an unlimited number of attract screens. The length of idle time before the attract screens initiate, as well as the time each attract screen displays, is configurable. Furthermore, each attract screen can have its own entry point into your application. This is especially useful for advertising applications where each attract screen is an advertisement and clicking the ad loads pages applicable to that ad.
KioWare can automatically trap browser errors, redirect to an error handling script, and pass along the error number and filename for comprehensive error handling.
It is very important for an application to reset back to the home page after a certain period of inactivity. Ideally, the application displays a series of attract screens during periods of inactivity. When a user touches the screen or moves the mouse, the application exits the attract screen loop and displays the start page.
In kiosk applications that require a user to log on, it is very important that the user gets logged off when the session ends. KioWare can be configured to run a logoff script prior to entering attract screen mode, so that you can be certain the prior user was properly logged off.
KioWare has the ability to store sophisticated usage history. Not only do we log the URL of each page loaded, but we also log the title. Because KioWare does not display the title to the user, the title can be used to make the analysis of the usage logs more meaningful. These logs can be uploaded on a daily basis to the KioWare Server where they are reduced and available for reporting using the KioWare Server administration tool. In addition, the title tag can be embedded with optional class information to enable aggregation and separation of log entries. For example, you could have a page with a title "English: View Widget Specs" and the Spanish version with a title "Spanish: View Widget Specs", and the statistics reporting could give usage for the View Widget Specs page for English only, Spanish only, or both combined.
KioWare has the capability to take usage statistics one step beyond standard web traffic reporting programs. Since KioWare doesn't display information contained in the HTML title tags, we log not only URL data, but also title tag data. This enables the application to be designed so that readable log information is stored. Rather than an incomprehensible URL, a straightforward description of the page can be stored in the title tag. Furthermore, we enable class information to be stored in the title tag. For example, if you have two pages that are identical except that one is in English and the other in Spanish, the title tags can be created in such a way that when the usage data is uploaded to KioWare Server, it can be displayed either as English usage statistics, Spanish statistics, or the aggregate of both. KioWare Server is a program that resides on a centralized server and manages the display of the uploaded usage statistics. Usage statistics can be displayed for an individual kiosk, or all the kiosks in a project. They can also be displayed between a defined date range, as well as by title tag class information.
Support for KioCall allows kiosk deployers to set a “call” option for kiosk users to contact a live person, allowing for video chat or video conferencing with a preset caller on the other end. This can be used to centralize reception, customer service, human resources, medical professionals, and a plethora of other instances in which a video conversation could close the deal, solve a problem, and/or consolidate resources.
Web applications don't typically have an easy way to dial a phone, but it is common to have a kiosk application that requires a phone call to be dialed (e.g. user presses a button on the screen to be connected to customer support). KioWare has a clever way of using the HTML title tags in your application to know when and where to dial an attached modem - no need to reprogram your application. There are an unlimited number of phone numbers that can be configured in KioWare.
For applications that need a clever means of passing barcode data to their application, KioWare can be configured to listen to an input device, and when data are received pass that data along to a specified URL for processing. This eliminates the need to write complicated code interfacing the scanner to your application.
To maximize branding or for digital signage applications, KioWare can display scriptable content on a second monitor.
Magnetic stripe readers are a valuable method of collecting relevant information from an input device to a specified URL for processing.
KioWare supports certain bill acceptors and card dispensers. This eliminates the need to write complicated code interfacing the devices to your application.
KioWare now supports certain chip reader devices that conform to the EMV Standard (https://www.emvco.com/best_practices.aspx?id=217). As of October, US terminals for MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express must be using these new terminals, or the liability for fraudulent transactions will shift to the merchant (as opposed to the credit card processor). This is also known as "Chip and Pin" or "Chip and Signature" technology.
Support for a variety of flatbed scanners (listed in the TwainDotNet library).
Where user privacy is most critical, it is important to know when a user has arrived at the kiosk and also when they have left. KioWare can easily be configured to use a security mat or proximity switch to initiate the user session and more importantly to end a user session, including running an optional logoff script. When a user trips the security mat or proximity switch, KioWare exits attract screen mode (if used), and when the user leaves the security mat or proximity switch, then KioWare runs a logoff script (if one is defined), optionally clears cookies and cache, optionally retracts paper printed but not retrieved, and enters attract screen mode (if used).
With TV tuner integration for digital signage and kiosk applications, you can bring easily configured entertainment and engagement to your kiosk display.
Like Barcode Reader Support & Magstripe Reader Support, input devices like RFID devices can be used to communicate information from the device to your application.
KioWare for Android has the ability to port content using Google's Chromecast. This feature allows for simple configuration of digital signage for use with your kiosk.
The addition of ad hoc data structures is useful for storing custom data about each kiosk (e.g. hardware, location, contact info), which can be imported from a spreadsheet.
For stand-alone applications that store content locally, KioWare has the ability to manage the remote updating of that content. KioWare Server is a program that resides on a centralized server and manages project content using revision control. The kiosks will contact KioWare Server on a daily basis, and when there is new content they will automatically download the new release.
Manage, maintain, and monitor multiple kiosks from a central server. Through the Server console, kiosk errors can be received, reports can be generated, and kiosks, content, and projects can be organized.
In many kiosk deployments, it is important to know whether individual kiosks are running and their current health.
It is very easy to create users that have full or limited access, controlling what your kiosk administrators can access and/or change. Completely flexible user accounts, roles, and permissions control user abilities at a functional level.
This feature enables ad hoc grouping, meaning kiosk projects can be sorted into groups beyond the project level. Groups can contain other groups, projects or individual kiosks. For instance, a company may have its kiosk projects organized by territories for easy categorization. With ad hoc grouping, a company can also sort those same projects by an unlimited number of groups, such as high-performing versus low-performing stores or urban versus suburban stores, and then push out different content based on those groups. This way, the company can easily display a different promotion to urban stores than suburban stores. The addition of ad hoc data structures is useful for storing custom data about each kiosk (e.g. hardware, location, contact info), which can be imported from a spreadsheet.
Our API feature enables the addition of 3rd party Add-ons. The Add-ons are used to extend KioWare Server functionality, meaning if the feature does not currently exist, anyone can develop the feature to be compatible with KioWare Server. Add-ons can also be used to more tightly integrate the KioWare Server functionality with kiosk application functionality. For example, a survey application could integrate the survey management and the KioWare Server kiosk management functionality into a single user interface. The integration into a common interface would allow for easier management of the kiosk project as a whole.
The power of KioWare to "kiosk-ize" a web application is due to its extensive configuration capabilities. KioWare can be configured to try and download a file from a central location every time it starts up. The file contains configuration entries. If KioWare finds the file, it downloads and installs that file, instantly reconfiguring itself. This is a very useful feature for making configuration changes to large deployments.
KioWare fully supports operation in a Citrix/Terminal Server thin client environment. One very useful feature is the ability for individual clients to run different configurations of KioWare. For example, half of the clients could run an HR application that requires a proximity switch security device, and the other half could run a retail application.
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