Istanbul Fast Ferries Deploy Self-Service

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Istanbul Fast Ferries Co, which carries a record number of passengers and vehicles every year, goes through a particularly hectic period at the start of each summer season. In Istanbul, a city of ten million people, residents make frequent use of opportunities to go to nearby beaches and enjoy the sunshine. The most simple and inexpensive way to go to these beaches from Istanbul is to take a trip using Idomatik.
 
At its busiest periods, around 50 thousand tickets are sold every day, with IDO organising around 450 round trips to the summer resort areas surrounding the Sea of Marmara. The self-service ticketing kiosks produced by Kiosk Innova are in constant use during these busy periods. In order to avoid waiting in a queue, passengers are able to procure the printout of tickets they have previously reserved at the kiosks, so the process takes only a few minutes.
 
IDO carried 100 million passengers and 6.7 vehicles in 2008. 40% of the ticketing process in 2008 was performed over the internet and the call center. 99% percent of these passengers who bought their tickets electronically chose to use the kiosks to print them, and in busy periods the kiosks successfully delivered up to 15,000 printouts daily.
 
Currently, Ki Kiosks are on duty at a total of 87 IDO piers. These kiosks, designed and produced by Kiosk Innova, one of the leading kiosk manufacturers in the European kiosk market, provide an increase in the efficiency of the IDO piers. While the printing of a ticket takes about 1.5 minutes when carried out at a manned ticket booth, the same process can be completed in only a few seconds at the kiosks. A ticketing officer working can sell, at the most, 500 tickets per day, whereas each kiosk can print out up to 15,000 tickets per day.
 
IDO has to print physical tickets for all sales through the internet or the call center. IDO, which had originally opened manned ticket stations, started to consider a solution to reduce the long queues using self-service in 2005. Kiosk Innova won the tender and produced and delivered 15 kiosks in the first phase. These kiosks solved the queuing problems on the piers and increased customer satisfaction.
 
Some of the Idomatiks used by IDO are now placed indoors to serve passengers taking a trip on the hydrofoils. Most of the kiosks, though, are placed outdoors, usually installed at the entrance of parking areas so passengers can get their tickets without leaving their cars. Even though the temperature outdoors varies from -15oC to +45oC, the kiosks have withstood every snow and storm during their three years of use. The outdoor kiosks are made of polyester so that they are water-resistant and dust-proof, with the inner temperature continually monitored by a micro-processor to ensure that the temperature is kept within the optimal range.
 
At the IDO service line, spread around the Marmara Sea, Kiosk Innova support personnel regularly perform maintenance and take proactive measures against potential technical failures to ensure that passengers enjoy a trouble-free process. The technical and functional conditions of the Idomatiks can be monitored constantly through the observation centre located at the General Center of IDO in Istanbul, and the centre can then remotely take action when necessary.