Auto-Parts Chain Goes Modern, Stays Frugal - ' Hardware, Infrastructure Needed ' (
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Such an extensive search function "makes for a very intuitive system," but "it does require a lot of horsepower and a lot of disk," Buresh said. CSK purchased much of that hardware from Dell Inc.
When installing multiple kiosks in more than 1,100 stores, even small costs can mushroom, so Buresh was trying to push the new system for any savings he could. Instead of having electricians install additional power outlets, for example, the kiosk displays are running on power provided by the network's Ethernet connection.
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The Ethernet's primary role will be to connect with the chain's new WAN, which CSK is still finalizing with some competing vendors.
"It may be a straight DSL connection, with a minimum of 1.6-MBit down and 128 up," Buresh said, adding that the company is also looking at a new, higher-speed satellite from Hughes Network Systems. The satellite approach delivers some speeds that are comparable to DSL, he said, but it doesn't handle interactive communications as well.
But a new network also includes decisions about capabilities that will not be initially pursued. Among the technologies that are getting a pass from Buresh's team will be RFID (radio-frequency identification) and biometric authentication.
"From what we have seen, RFID is not ready for prime time" given the low accuracy of reads, he said. "It's going to have to have a whole lot more popularity before we will go for it."
As for biometric authentication of customers at a POS terminal, "We're capable of having that [with existing Ingenico POS units], but I don't think there's customer acceptance, at least not widespread customer acceptance," Buresh said. Asking for a thumbprint "has a negative customer connotation," he said.
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On the employee identification side, Buresh appeared more optimistic and said he wanted the add-on capability "because we don't want to make it difficult to put in if we decide to do it." Current security methods, for example, connect the password database with the time-card system, so that the system can flag management if a particular employee's password is used when that employee isn't on duty.
Buresh is also exploring various RF capabilities with the company's new POS systems, but he wants to be super-cautious "to tighten down any exposure on credit cards. We don't want to be a store where someone sits in the parking lot and sucks up credit card numbers."
Evan Schuman is retail editor for Ziff Davis Internet's Enterprise Edit group. He has tracked high-tech issues since 1987, has been opinionated long before that and doesn't plan to stop anytime soon. He can be reached at Evan_Schuman@ziffdavis.com.
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