Whether your business, bank or retail location is large or small, ATM/ITM downtime is one of the most important things to avoid to keep steady productivity and customer satisfaction.
What is Downtime?
According to Unitrends, a company that specializes in backup and business continuity, downtime is defined as a period during which production or business processes come to a halt. For your customers, it simply means that your services or business operations are unavailable. In effect, from a customer’s point of view, your business is closed or unavailable. Downtime, therefore, is synonymous with losing potential customers and profits.
The Benefit of More Uptime
On the other hand, uptime is defined as how long a business is able to remain online. It is a critical metric, inclusive of ATM and ITM productivity. More uptime means a higher probability of more profits since the business is open for longer. According to ATM Marketplace, the industry standard for ATM and ITM uptime is between 98% and 99%. Regarding upgrading any part of your security profile, the key factor for consideration when trying to minimize downtime is analyzing the cost of lost opportunities from failed customer interactions, those which can lead to dissatisfied and disgruntled customers.
Running a successful business means maximizing uptime and minimizing downtime. Avoiding downtime is all about avoiding closing your branch and avoiding disrupting your business transactions.
Since ATMs and ITMs are one of Wittenbach’s foundational pillars, we have put together three examples of how Wittenbach can help your branch or retail environment avoid downtime while maintaining and updating your ATM and ITM fleet:
1. Preventing Transaction Failures
The first way to avoid downtime is to stay ahead of any transaction failures. The transaction failure rate describes just how well a customer can navigate their way around each function of the machine without encountering any issues or interruptions. ATM Marketplace reports that clients gravitate toward self-service transactions more frequently than they do toward in-person teller transactions. So, an ATM-active business needs to “ensure their ATM channel is available 24/7 to deliver services to customers.” This can include any transaction, from fund transfers to bill payments to high-value cash withdrawals to cash or check deposits. In other words, if a transaction option is available through either ATMs or ITMs, there is the possibility of a transaction failure. If you can get ahead of these failures, you can prevent closing your branch or disrupting valuable, everyday transactions.
2. Software Maintenance
Another way to reduce downtime is to undergo software maintenance. It is equally as important for both ATMs and ITMs to have up-to-date software, in addition to modern hardware. Staying on top of regular software updates protects your machines from future software bugs and potential threats, such as a security breach.
This is especially true in the case of ITMs, which typically require more software updates than ATMs, due to the advances of newer and newer technologies. It makes sense to update any software necessary during times of lower traffic, so as not to interrupt busier business hours and avoid downtime.
3. Hardware Security
There are two crucial hardware security areas to address to avoid downtime: Skimming and Cash Replenishment.
Skimming
According to CSOOnline, skimmers are tools that enable fraud. A skimmer has traditionally referred to any hardware device designed to steal information stored on payment cards. The data they capture is used to either clone physical payment cards or to perform fraudulent card-not-present transactions online. Skimming devices are those which criminals use to illegally obtain personal data from the customers of an ATM or ITM. Criminals place skimming devices physically on teller machines, on a gas pump, or any other sort of POS terminal. They camouflage the skimming device and transmit data through the use of a magnetic stripe or a chip to commit fraudulent transactions.
Cash Replenishment
Cash replenishment can extend downtime because it can be a time-consuming service and adds up to more time with cash in transit and the need for a security detail.
Today, it is possible to upgrade your ATM / ITM fleet with machines designed to address skimming. For example, Wittenbach partner and leading innovator in ATM and ITM manufacturing, Hyosung Innovue, has developed products that come with built-in physical defenses. These products come with a multi-level locked down operating system, anti-skimming, white-listing, and encryption. These features work by jamming the signals of any possible skimming devices that have been placed on the machines.
Teller cash recyclers (TCRs), like the Hyosung MS500, use cassettes that are interchangeable with modern recycling ATMs, which means a branch ATM can be refilled quickly by a teller. It’s another benefit that ensures your ATMs will stay ready for use around the clock and thereby reduce downtime. These machines basically refill themselves with deposits from your customers, so they can go longer between manual refills. In this way you can reduce the amount of idle cash in your network and optimize your organization’s cash transit strategy, saving on labor and decreasing downtime.
Wittenbach’s Managed Services
Wittenbach also offers Managed Services, which can help ensure that any emergencies regarding the ATMs or ITMs are addressed immediately. Our team makes sure that any software that needs to be installed or services to be performed will be done so during a time of low traffic. This minimizes downtime for institutions of any size and ensures a quality experience for any potential customers.
In Summary
At Wittenbach, we bring together a team of experts, from engineers to project managers, who operate like a specialized team of physical security consultants, to keep your business up and running during any branch transformation or physical security implementation. Preventing transaction failures, maintaining software and updated hardware, are just a few ways Wittenbach can play a role in maximizing the uptime of your organization. With Wittenbach at your side, you can trust that maximizing productivity is a shared, paramount value. Contact us to learn more or to schedule a consultation.
