Wilson & Gilkes Helps Envent Make Cities Smarter
What an Envent kiosk can do now is astonishing. Digital wayfinding is a given, but then there’s the option of a sanitising dispenser, a defibrillator, EFT cash machine, cameras, keyboards, printers, VOiP phone, loudspeakers, wi-fi access point, magstripe card reader, running water, NFC, RFID, intercoms, A/C units, multilingual options; portable, lockable… Ask Envent for a teleportation feature and you may well get it!
“We offer a custom design service, so people come to us with problems and we design the machines to find solutions,” according to Envent founder Justin Dean. “That’s our own IP, the way we add a whole bunch of new features and functionality to our kiosks, using our creativity.”
Envent machines can be found in many hospitals, universities, retail complexes and as ‘smart city’ council solutions.
FUTURE OF KIOSKS
With Envent’s non-stop passion for innovation, the spectre of Covid, with it public health challenges, is just another hurdle to be overcome with smart thinking.
“We’re working with the University of Newcastle on a new product called Sentinel. Not only does it feature an automatic hand sanitising dispenser, it incorporates AI to count the number of people coming in and out of a venue. An alarm can be deployed when the threshold is reached — ideal for the hospitality sector.”
“We’ve got an Australian patent on the technology behind Sentinel, and hopefully we’ll be selling millions of them around the world in the next 12 to 18 months.”
LONG HAUL
Being a technology product, it’s easy to surmise that an Envent kiosk will be superseded in time for the next iPhone release. Not so. Justin Dean explains:
“We design our kiosks to be modular and bulletproof. We expect at least 10 years out of them, maybe even 20 years. If a better display technology comes along, then we can upgrade the machine, and the same goes for the wifi, the PC, and other technologies; they can all be replaced and upgraded to extend the life of the machine.”
“One thing that’s reassuring, we know it’s not the enclosure that will limit the life of the kiosk. If the kiosk is outdoors, we commission Wilson & Gilkes to use tough 3mm-thick stainless steel. It won’t rust. It will last and last.”
WILSON & GILKES PARTNERSHIP
Justin Dean references times when he’s bowed to cost pressures and engaged cheaper steel fabricators and Asian suppliers but vows to not go down that route again:
“We choose Wilson & Gilkes to manufacture our shrouds for a few reasons: quality of the product, the integrity of the guys — when they say they’re going to supply by a certain time, they always deliver —they’re easy to deal with and the pricing is really good… all the key things you’re looking for in a supplier.”
“Wilson & Gilkes has a good design team. They’ll actually check our designs and come back with suggestions to incrementally improve. We call that kaizen. I’m a big proponent of Japanese philosophy, and kaizen is all about continuous improvement through innovation and evolution. Wilson & Gilkes get it, and our partnership with them is crucial to the success of Envent.”
Envent: 1800 885 648 or www.envent.com.au
Contact via email for specific information and/or a quote.
