Telemetry Talk » Questions and Answers

How Can You Assess Whether Cashless Technology Makes Sense for You?

Chuck Reed, MEI — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:07:58 +0000

Customers often ask us about the criteria for selecting new payment options such as cashless and cash recycling technology. It really comes down to assessing the following three things:

1) Vend price – the higher the vend price, the more important it is that the machine accept cashless payments or include recycling technology that can accept high denomination bills.

2) Location – the more transient the customer base (eg: airports and theme parks) the more important it is that the machine accept cashless payments or include recycling technology.

3) Clientele – The more customers who don’t have the ability to carry wallets, the more important it is that the machine accept alternate payment methods.

To hear more on this topic, tune in to VendingMarketWatch.com’s latest AudioConnect podcast, “MEI’s Bob Martin Examines Vending Payment Options” or Ask the Experts here at MEI.

What is the normal cost of installing telemetry equiptment in machines that curently are not DEX enabled – for remote and curbside monotoring?

Chuck Reed, MEI — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:28:20 +0000

We recently got the above question from an operator, and so I wanted to share my response with the industry…

You have to begin by enabling Dex in your machines. A few companies including MEI offer a retrofit box, costing $200-$300. Once you’ve done that, you’ve got to understand what alarms your machines can send out. Not every vending machine throws out alarms, and many such as snack machines throw out very few alarms. Typically machines with compressors for cold or frozen applications throw off the important alarms related to whether the compressor stopped working.

Curbside polling can tell you what the machine needs but that requires an investment in software to take the sales data from the machine and compare it to what’s in the machine by spiral to know what to bring in. Again, MEI has this software which we call EASITRAX.

So you can see there is some preliminary work to do to get ‘set up’. We have experts to help you work thru that process so don’t feel that you would be expected to understand all this from the start. To get started, tell me a little more about your business in terms of number of machines you service, are they primarily snack and soda, do you want to monitor all of them or just in certain locations, etc….

Remote monitoring in a bank of machines

Chuck Reed, MEI — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:48:43 +0000

An operator recently asked us what equipment he would need to monitor a 6 vending machine location. I wanted to share my response:

In order to remotely monitor 1 or more vending machines, you’ll need an MEI telemeter in each machine. MEI is unique in only requiring 1 of the machines to use a cellular modem to call out with all the others networked to talk to the one machine calling out. You can set the type of alarms you want to monitor and whether you want the machines to call out at a set time or as soon as an alarm is triggered.

What is the difference between “Curbside Polling”, “Pre-Kit” Forecasting and Dynamic Scheduling?

Chuck Reed, MEI — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:31:17 +0000

Curbside polling, Pre-Kit forecasting, and Dynamic Scheduling each represent an attempt to automate the vending machine replenishment process in effort to increase efficiency, accuracy and profitability associated with machine replenishment activities. Vending machine replenishment activities on the route represent perhaps the single most costly aspect of any vending operation. Too often these activities are hardly more than an exercise in faith. Faith that the machines are being serviced as needed, with the appropriate product and return of an appropriate amount of associated revenue.

Curbside Polling and Dynamic Scheduling represent two types of wireless data communication with vending machines. Curbside polling is based on local area network (LAN) wireless communication from a properly equipped vending machine to the delivery vehicle equipped with a compatible LAN radio in close proximity to each other (usually not more than a couple of hundred yards). The absence of “air time” charges with this type of communication protocol makes it a very attractive, cost effective way of getting the freshest data possible about the replenishment status of a vending machine prior to leaving the delivery vehicle.

Dynamic Scheduling is based on wide area network (WAN) wireless communication with appropriately equipped vending machines and promises a significant change in the machine replenishment process.

What happens if I move a vending machine that is equipped with a telemeter?

MEI — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:36:47 +0000

When telemeters are first deployed, they are configured for a specific location/environment. When they move, they have to be re-configured using a similar process. A WAN only unit simply needs to ensure an adequate signal is available at the new site. LAN only units require that the new LAN network recognizes the additional unit. We recommend you ask MEI tech support to assist with this effort.

Are telemeters compatible with specific brands of vending-management software?

MEI — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:31:12 +0000

I often get asked this question by vending operators, and the answer is “sometimes.” For example, an MEI telemeter requires MEI Easitrax software for curbside polling. However, some telemeters can interface with a broad range of wireless services or vending management software packages to provide remote monitoring.