Recently, Microlog has been working on developing their vending machines, in order to help even more customers meet their business needs. Chief Technology Officer at Microlog, Eirik Finvold, has been in charge of this project, and he says it has been both exciting and educational to work on these new developments.
“We have created a software kit, which runs on our machines, that allows our customers to create their own software to sell products on the machines, while they do not have to worry about the integrations for the payment terminal, receipt printer and other hardware,” Finvold says.
Integrations for a seamless final result
Finvold has been working as a developer for Microlog since 2008. He started working part-time next to his full-time job at the Oslo Stock Exchange, before he started working full-time for Microlog in 2017, and bought shares in the company.
“We have a fairly small IT-department, which right now consists of only me, so I am the one taking care of all the development and all the technical processes. Luckily, there will be two new developers starting this June, who will be helping out in the time to come,” Finvold says.
This newly developed software kit allows Microlog’s customers to seamlessly integrate with a variety of functionality, without having to do the work themselves. Finvold says that this applies to receipt printers, QR-code scanners, alarms, alerts and sensors, to give a few examples. Customers then have the possibility of creating their own frontend look, and sell whatever products they want.
“Next, a simple signal is sent to our kit, with information on how much should be paid for the product. We then take care of storing the transactions, and informing the customer that payment has been made, among other things,” Finvold shares.
Has to work perfectly, all the time
Microlog has plenty of experience with solutions for payment kiosks, which they are currently using for payment of gift cards, ski lift cards, parking and medical centers. Finvold says that this kit is opening up a world of new possibilities.
“With a kit like this, we can take on both large and small customers, in markets we are not already familiar with,” Finvold says.
Microlog’s largest parking customer in Germany has chosen this exact solution, so that they are able to customize the user interface to meet their needs. Finvold says that this was partly because they wanted to have full control themselves.
“Our expertise is not just a kiosk for payment, but it is meant to be a self-service payment machine, where you are able to shop and pay without any help. This also means that everything must be working exactly as it is intended to, all the time,” Finvold says.
Finvold says that this means that the machines for example have to be able to correct any potential errors automatically, as well as notify of any maintenance needs, such as changing the receipt paper roll well before it runs out.
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