This article appeared in the C-store Self-Service Executive Summary, Spring 2006.
More and more convenience store owners are weighing the cost and benefit of transitioning self-service, financial-transaction and POS devices from dial-up to IP or wireless connections. For many, however, security concerns and upgrade costs have stalled the process.
|
It soon will be a matter of necessity.
Moving away from the dial tone
Traditional products allow line splitting between dial-up devices such as fax machines, POS terminals and ATMs. Line Share's 4000 and 5000 series of line-sharing devices, for instance, were perfected for payphones and marketed to the ATM industry — an industry historically dominated by dial-up machines.
Now, as the industry moves toward IP-based connectivity, Line Share is marketing its Paylink IP device, which offers dial-up ATMs IP connectivity.
Converting to broadband saves money in the long-term, Jorge said, because it eliminates the need for dedicated phone lines. And wireless connectivity, while still only used by a small fraction of the industry, is expected to spread quickly.
"Wireless is going to be one of the major players. But the bottom line is still the dollars and cents."
Money, security and wireless connectivity
C-store operators, on average, don't want to spend more than $200 on upgrades, and altering an ATM for wireless connectivity can be pricey, Jorge said.
Beyond cost, operators also are worried about security.
But Jon Green, a senior project manager for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Aruba Wireless Networks Inc., said wireless networks are more secure than one might think. In fact, wireless networks are more secure than their copper or fiber-optic forebears.
When encrypted, Wi-Fi signals look like little more than garbled noise, if they are intercepted. And outside transmissions are ignored on a secure Wi-Fi network.
On a land-line-based network, however, infiltrators only need open ports to gain complete access, Green added.
"Properly implemented, wireless networks are more secured. And the key to that is ‘properly implemented.' The technology exists: WPA2. That's a standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance. That standard encompasses authentication and encryption. It checks who's on the network and makes sure they are who they say who they are."
A common solution among c-store operators is to use different connections for different applications. While an operator may choose to upgrade one ATM for wireless capability, he could elect to maintain existing connectivity with older systems to save money.
"Dollar wise, using ATMs with IP — if you're working with very small companies or chain stores — can work beautifully forever," said Al Monk, Line Share's general manager. "You may find yourself in a situation where you want, for whatever reason, wireless. If you have a chain with 500 to 1,000 stores, the difference between $195 a unit and $300 or $400 per unit to go wireless could make a difference in the decision."
